shoulder/ arm pain (Sue)

[Guest guest]

> Before you saw the ortho surgeon was your shoulder joint swollen?

Hi Debbie,

No, my shoulder wasn't ever red or swollen. The pain I had radiated

down the front of my shoulder toward the inside of my elbow. It also

hurt in the front, directly on my shoulder. It hurt a lot worse

whenever I tried to raise my arm and also when I slept on either

side -- both right and left. Although it was my left arm, it also

hurt to sleep on my right side -- it seemed to hurt when it was just

resting at my side. If I slept in more of an upright position, it

didn't hurt quite so much. In fact, after I had the surgery, it was

several months before I could lie down in bed -- I slept in a

recliner for months with my arm in a sling.

The ortho did both an x-ray and MRI beforehand, and he said I had

some arthritis and possibly some rotator cuff damage. He said it

would be an outpatient surgery. However, when he got into my

shoulder, he said it was considerably worse than it had appeared on

the MRI and they ended up admitting me. The rotator cuff is made up

of 4 tendons. The arthritis/bone spurs had " sawed " through one

tendon -- it was completely severed -- and almost all the way through

another one of the four. He had to shave off the bone spurs then put

screws in my shoulder to tie the tendons to. He said it was like

trying to reattached a rubber band that had snapped.

Before the surgery, I'd noticed that my left arm had become very

weak -- I couldn't even pick up a half gallon of milk. Since the

tendon wasn't attached to the muscle any more, the muscle in my arm

just wouldn't work.

I had a lot of PT after the surgery, and I now have full use of my

arm. It still hurts a little once in awhile, but nothing like it

hurt before the surgery.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I'm sure I've

forgotten to mention some of the details you might want to know.

Take care,

Sue

[Guest guest]

Hi Sue,

Thanks so much for telling your story about your shoulders. I had out

patient surgery in 1998 to fix the pinch joint in my right shoulder. It

started acting up in 2002. After my MRI in 2003, 2 doctors said my

joint was pinched again but I didn't want surgery at that time. It's

good to know that my joint may have tears in it now even though it's

not swollen.

hugs,

Debbie L