Anyone have rotator cuff surgery?

[Robb]

I stumbled hiking out of the lakes at the top of Rollins Pass, too busy talking and not looking where I was going. Ended up with a humorous fracture and tore up ?? in my shoulder. A year and a half later I still can't lift 5lbs above shoulder level in my non-dominant arm.
I did P/T and still do it at home but it bought me nothing really.
Just curious how your surgery went, was it worth it, what I should be aware of, etc, etc. If you wanted to share some tales & advice I'd like to hear it.

Thx
Robb

[brutal]

They say one of the worst to get and longest recovery, but so far glad I did. I couldn't go on without getting it done. Got to where I was having trouble sleeping unless I took pain meds. Couldn't put a cup of coffee in the microwave. I had enough strength to lift things, but almost none with the shoulder doing any of the work.

I had surgery May 1.

Meridian Ortho, Dr. Fine is the best if you can swing it. He's the Chief of Ortho for Parker Adventist as well. I was already going there for my knees so knew they were good and was not disappointed.

I suffered through about a year of pain until finally seeing someone in January. In office x-ray and exam indicated cuff tear and likely bicep tendon tear. Stupid Aetna Insurance required I do PT before they would authorize an MRI. Took weeks to get into PT. Then 3 weeks in, PT guy said there's zero progress and told docs to request the MRI. Duh.

Finally get the MRI 4/5, wife (Nurse) pulls some strings to see the doc 4/7, get on his schedule May 1.

Pretty severe damage inside and out. No single event, just age and general abuse lifting heavy things and maybe a few wrong moves here and there.

Nearly a 3 hour surgery for me where cuff alone is typically 1.5 hours(?). Fine estimated 2 hours and change going in but the damage was much worse than the MRI showed (happens). Full thickness tear inside and out. Also that bicep tendon tear so that was cut off and reattached. They put 3 anchors in for everything. Surgery pics were pretty gory. Looked like a pulled pork in there.

First 3 days are pretty rough. The 24 hour block is annoying AF being numb from the neck to the fingers. The anesthesiologist should ask you how long of a block you want and can dial it in if you want shorter. I didn't want it to wear off in the middle of the night so did 24 hours. As long as you stay ahead of the pain with meds once that block starts to wear off, it's tolerable but still a pretty miserable couple of days. Hard to do much of anything for yourself, plan on living in shorts/sweats and have fun pulling them up with one hand! :-) Find some shows to binge watch and get plenty of rest.

They sent us home with an ice machine so you get to wear that pretty much 24x7.

They want you (mostly) upright for 72 hours min. 3-4 weeks sleeping in a recliner so unless you have an adjustable bed, plan for that. The sling has a thick pad to keep the arm away from the body to reduce tension on the sutures and being a side sleeper, it was impossible to sleep with it even being on the topside.

Started driving a bit as soon as I was off Oxy (7 days). But it's a challenge for sure. About the same getting back on the keyboard for a bit of work, but that's still a struggle and mostly one handed, and I have an adjustable sit/stand desk.

6 weeks in the sling 24x7 minimum and I really hated that fkn thing after about the 2nd week. Can shower after 72 hours, but you'll need help doffing and donning the sling and taping up the incisions. Get a box of 100 Tegaderms on amazon for $25.

Button down shirts only for probably 4-6 weeks. You might need help getting into a t-shirt, but I was able to do it pulling the shirt onto the bad arm first, then head, then good arm.

PT starts at 6-7 weeks and the sling comes off unless you feel you need it or go out in public (to keep someone from bumping into you). 1st visit (6/9) was mostly eval and just some range of motion and massage (bicep fix) I'm still early in at only 3 weeks PT (9 weeks post surgery) and still on a 2lb weight restriction for 10 more weeks, but making good progress even though I've been slacking on my homework. PT twice a week and I think I do enough other stuff around the house without breaking my weight or range restrictions that it helps. Next week he's starting me on resistance bands. I was cleared to make 22 PT visits and they'll do more if needed.

I expect I'll come to hate the PT guy soon enough (from what I've heard) but if I put the work in, I should have 90-100% range of motion by Christmas. Surgeon said it could be up to a full year before I'm 100% range and weight recovered. I'm hoping to do a little dove hunting still but we'll see how things go. I did not draw a muzzle loader tag and neither did my hunting partner so that's out. Elk crew is taking a pass this year so 3rd rifle is out. Guess I picked a good time to get it done.

We're luck y to have (mostly) decent health coverage even though Aetna can really suck, but since my wife works for Adventist, it was all in-network. Cost me a few shekels day of surgery to hit my max out of pocket for the year, but the total non-discounted cost was north of $80K. Now my PT, med refills, etc. are all 100% covered for the rest of the year.


Ask me any questions, I'm happy to respond.

[StagLefty]

Yup Brutal did a great job of describing. While mine was not quite that bad and it was 20 years ago,rehab is tough after surgery. I've noticed in the last year that the surgery shoulder aches a lot after some hard work but at 79 I kind of expected that. Good luck if you decide on surgery.

[Aloha_Shooter]

I put a 1 mm hole in one of my rotator cuffs a few months before leaving Korea. It took a while through DoD medicine to get it surgically repaired but when I did, it was night and day. Pre-surgery, my shoulder was basically locked up with very little flexibility. I spent 2-3 weeks with my arm in a sling to recover and then had to rehab the shoulder. Do NOT skimp on the rehab exercises. I did to my eternal regret but I am back to about 95% of my pre-accident flexibility.

The surgery itself was painless. I think I was at the hospital mid-morning, they checked my vitals and verified I hadn't eaten anything. They knocked me out, performed the surgery, and I woke up on a bed where they had me rest a bit more to make sure there were no lingering effects from the anesthesia before I got to drive home. Got home and had a simple dinner (not much you can cook with just one free hand). I had been warned about the sling so I prepped the house where I didn't have to move anything around.

Humorous aside: as luck would have it, my mother, sister, and sister's kids arrived for a visit a few days later when I was more mobile but still in a sling and on convalescent leave. That was good, someone else could cook -- but the first dinner Mom made was steak ... I looked at it on my plate and my sister started laughing when she saw me staring and realized I was thinking there was no way I could cut into the steak with one hand. Mom asked what was up and I replied, "I haven't had to have you do this in about 35 years but ..."

[HBARleatherneck]

I had mine done when I was about 35. I never stopped working. I didnt take any pain meds. It was no big deal. It made my life much easier afterward. I would guess the experience is age dependent.

[Robb]

Whew, wide range of experiences. Funny as I can't lift anything but have full range of motion and no pain, just weakness.

[asystejs]

My brother had it done in 2023.
His experience was pretty much what brutal described.
The damage was worse than the surgeon anticipated, the surgery took longer, the recovery time was
around 13 weeks to get out of the sling.

[brutal]

On the sling, make sure they get you one that has a cuff around the good side shoulder, not just the strap that will surely just cut into your neck.

I didn't fit their usual "universal" size cuffed sling cuz I'm a fatass with a 52" chest, so they got a large and it had the strap of death. I couldn't tolerate it after the first few days so ordered another with extra straps similar to the cuff but that sling had zero ventilation on the arm support part so I cobbled to two together.

They were all the DonJoy / DJO brand.

Office item that didn't fit but probably the best option:




Item they ordered for me that made me want to eat a pew - though the sling was lined with a breathable soft mesh:




They didn't have the large when I ordered, the x-large arm sling was WAY too long. The straps were all too long but we made them work as they're lots of adjustability and they can be cut down. The velcro tab ends are removable. The sling lining on this one was also hot.




Get some fuzzy/soft child seatbelt pads to cover the scratchy velcro tabs. My arms were all chewed up and rashed after just a few days.


Basic on/off (plug in) Ice machine:

Use half pint frozen water bottles to help keep the icewater colder longer.

[brutal]

My brother had it done in 2023.
His experience was pretty much what brutal described.
The damage was worse than the surgeon anticipated, the surgery took longer, the recovery time was
around 13 weeks to get out of the sling.

13 weeks in a sling. Wow, that's "brutal."

[def90]

I tore mine some years ago while white water kayaking. Couldn't sleep on my side or lift my arm up past my shoulder for close to a year. Didn't get surgery, just sucked it up and it healed on its own in about a year and a half or so. The things you did back in the day when you were broke and didn't have insurance.