Progress

It's three and a half weeks post surgery and I'm actually typing this with two hands. I'm not supposed to be out of the sling, but I need to exercise my wrist and forearm a little bit. My elbow is still tightly tucked to my body. I'm noticing small improvements in things which is a promising sign since for a while I felt like I was going backwards. As the swelling subsided so did the muscle mass so there seemed to be an abnormal amount of movement in the joint. Now the only real concern revolves around sneezing.

For the first few weeks, washing my arm pit was a challenge. When I would lean to the side the create a gap between by arm and my body, standing back upright caused a lot of pain and catching in the shoulder. That has calmed down a bit. Here is a tip that I have discovered. With the arm contained against the body all day, it's no surprise that it will get sweaty. Deodorant does the job containing body odor but I like to feel nice and dry. I like to put baby powder under my arm from arm pit to elbow. The challenging part though is sprinkling the powder down and hitting the correct spot. I discovered that if I shake the powder container in the upright position and squeeze it hard, I can shoot the powder up to wear I need it to go.

I'm supposed to be doing my range of motion exercises five times a day. That has been a real challenge since the normal breaks in my day are morning before work, when I get home and before I go to bed. I'm averaging three to four times per day. The external rotation exercise is painful but bearable. It's more a tightness than anything. Having to raise my arm though is a different story. I lie on my back and grab my left wrist with my right hand and raise my arm straight out. I then lift it up to an angle about ten degrees higher than straight up and hold for five seconds. I do that ten times. The painful part is returning the arm down to my body. For some reason that is bar far the most painful thing I do. I have figured out how to lesson it by relaxing my shoulder muscles as much as possible. Even when I think I'm relaxed, I find I can go further releasing a hidden tense muscle.

I have another three weeks to go in the sling and it won't come a moment too soon. Sometimes I feel protected by it and others I feel like a prisoner. My sister bought me one of the fake sheep seat belt liners. I hate them on a seat belt in the car, but it has been a life saver on the strap of the sling. The Velcro was eating my right shoulder.

I discovered a numb spot today about the size of a half dollar on my upper arm. It seems to be just below where the bicep tendon attaches to the shoulder just to the left of my arm pit. Being New Years Eve I will have to wait until Monday to call the doctor and see if this is anything I should be concerned about.