I went back to see Dr. Hershon yesterday. It was another short visit but I received some good news. After an hour long bus ride from 23rd St. to 60th St. (I hope I feel comfortable to get on the subway soon!) and an hour long wait in the waiting room of the office I finally got in to see him. I was pretty damn beat at that point but happy to finally get my turn.
When I was put in the exam room I took of the immobilizer and my shirt so I would be ready, unlike my last visit. Dr. Hershon came in, asked me how long it had been and asked me to move my arm. First he asked me to move my arm out in front of me. I was able to get it to about 45 degrees thanks to the shoulder flexion I had been doing for the past week and to the little over 90 with his help. When he asked me to move my arm out to the side it was slightly comical. i could not get my arm more than 2 or 3 degrees away from my side. I just looked at him and he said "Let me help you with that." He lifted my arm a little further, to about 30 degrees, and he looked at my shoulder as he did it. My arm would just not move.
After that he said "Okay, let's get you some PT and get this shoulder moving." I was told to wein myself off the immobilizer and start using my arm. He wrote me a script for PT and advised me to keep the immobilizer on in situations where I might have someone unintentionally grab, bump or hug me. We chatted for a minute or two, I asked about the aches I was experiencing and he reassured me it was perfectly normal. Dr. Hershon asked me to come back and see him in a month and left. That was it.
I had become so attached to and dependant on the immobilizers that I was afraid to give it up. I knew my arm would not just start working after surgery and 5 weeks and I was not sure what it was going to feel like. On the other hand, I was really ready to get the hell out of those things so I was willing to give it a try.
Once I got home I, happily hung the immobilizer up and went about doing what I had been doing for the past few weeks at home. It was nice that I was allowed to now use my arm but I quickly found that it was not much use. I could not quite get my hand up to my face to wash it when I got in the shower and I couldn't exactly get my arm all the way extended to turn on the water but at least i was able to try. I still slept with the immobilizer on last night. I'm still worried that I'm going to roll over in the night and wake up in pain.
Being able to take the immobilizer off at work today was very helpful. While I had to walk my hand up to the keys on my keyboard, I was able to type with two hands. I would have to say it increased my productivity, well, two fold. It also made things like going to the bathroom a lot easier. I kept the immobilizer off while I was at my desk and on my floor and I put it on when I went off my floor or went out side and on the commute home. That was more as a visual reminder to others than for me. I was in a little pain by the time I came home but it is not that surprising.
The thing that is most interesting to me is that I did not experience much pain during the initial recovery from the surgery. It would seem that I am entering the period now where pain is going to be an issue. The way I see it, I have a prescription sitting here for 18 torture sessions.
I also got the list of recommended physical therapists from Dr. Hershon's office. I was pretty excited to have the list and get started with PT but I kinda had my bubble burst. I had chosen a place from the list, that a friend from work had been to and was happy with and was very convenient for me to go to from my office. However, when I called them they would not take my insurance and that was the case with most of the places I called. I finally called One on One Physical Therapy in Brooklyn and they took my insurance. The problem is the only appointment I could get for an evaluation that fit my schedule was next Thursday. So I have to spend the next 8 days with a barely useful arm while waiting for my evaluation. I want to get this started so it's frustrating having to wait.
Two bright notes to end this post. 1. I am now officially caught up so now I can start posting in real time. and 2. I'm wrapping up my first two handed post. Woo Hoo!!!
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