Yesterday, I had out-patient, arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery, for two completely torn ligaments. Rich brought me home dressed in his oversized shirt, having a pretty bad hair day, strong meds, and sleeping in a recliner. Prayers and survival hints requested. Today's his birthday, he baked the sheet cake and I did a one handed spreading of the frosting.
Tomorrow I'm allowed to wear my stylish black sling with a waist line padded belt to hold everything STILL, over loose clothing if Rich and I can manage. I am home now, for the first 6 weeks-absolutely no left arm/shoulder movement allowed. My husband has to watch the girls, help me dress, do my hair, and most everything else. (It's taken me two full years to grow my hair below my shoulders and I'm not ready to cut it short.)
I can do some keyboarding, and one handed driving but both are really tiring. I'm trying to focus on the things I'll be able to do when the shoulder is healed and stronger. Things like weaving, dancing, yoga, gardening, kneading bread, opening jars, using two hands to remove a heavy dish from the microwave, putting on deodorant, roller painting a room, lifting little girls out of a crib, wearing button pants instead of elastic waists, plus pull over shirts instead of buttoned, hooking my bra, and fixing my hair in an up do to name a few. If I still can't vacuum, I won't be too disappointed.
A few months back I literally " tripped lightly into a room", though not so lightly. I was embarrassed about falling flat on my face. At the moment I thought that my right knee had taken the worst of the fall as that hurt when I tried to get up without being seen.
The door was into the area where the birthday party was starting. I quickly got back into my Grammy scene as the party progressed. I helped when needed and scuttled back and forth trying to do whatever needed to be done.
Later that afternoon when my husband and I were putting the girls back in their cribs for a quick nap, I realized that my ability to lift above my waist was very difficult and painful. That evening it was clear that my left shoulder hurt worse than my knee.
During this time, I taught 2 days in Pennsylvania and 3 at the Michigan Fiber Festival. My husband did all of the heavy lifting, and my years of working on relaxing my back and shoulders while spinning paid off. The only twinges of pain came when I tried to hold up a shawl or skein for the class to look at. Yea, I could still teach.
Finally, early October an MRI was ordered as my ability to lift my left arm plateaued just above my waist. Bad news two ligaments torn completely apart, with surgery recommended. I scheduled it after my 3 days in West Virginia to give me the winter to recuperate.
