OUCH! YOU’RE HAVING ROTATOR CUFF SURGERY - BLOG #11

Week three. As week three began, I found some of the same old brain challenges were still there.

If I’m not paying close attention, my old shower and life habits that normally kept my brain happy would still try to take over. It tells my right arm to reach up and wash my hair, or that I can push further than that when I’m doing my PT. So, the minute I take the brace off, I have to keep myself focused on what I’m doing and not let my brain wander off to think about other things I need to do that day. It’s challenging, but I know it’s important to keep me from doing the wrong thing.

I’ve also learned that sitting down when dressing is the best way to do it. This has allowed me to focus on getting dressed without getting my surgery side involved. Little tricks like keeping that hand on my knee or keeping my elbow next to my hip will keep me focused on not using it.

As the end of the week approaches, I find I am getting more comfortable wearing the sling. I remind myself to look for those wonderful little tasks that needed to be done that my Type-A personality never slows down to do. One day, I sat in a chair for almost an hour and a half doing nothing but going through all the pictures on my phone and narrowing them down. That included taking the 30 pictures from some concert down to just the one or two that I wanted to keep the most. I felt accomplished, and now I have room for new memory pictures. And I didn’t do anything to use my arm.  

I’ve also realized I was reaching the halfway mark of wearing the sling. And while that excited me, a tiny spot in my brain seemed concerned. In three more weeks, I will reach the day when I remove the sling and be free! But it would also mark the start of the next phase, mobility work. My brain felt a little nervous about what kind of pain and difficulties the next phase would bring. So, I took a deep breath, pulled my shoulders straight, and reminded myself to leave those worries for that time. After all, the first six weeks had not been too bad. Surely, I could figure out how to make the next phase successful with controls on pain.

So, I’ll close with our favorite reminder ice, ice, ice. It’s your best friend.