September 15, 2010

Going under the knife

Or scope, or whatever. My MRI showed "hypertrophic changes at the AC joint" and a "slight downward hook of the distal acromium." In addition, there is a "rim rent tear which may be full thickness" of the supraspinatus tendon.

But my labrum "appears grossly intact." So I have that going for me. Which is good.

In English, I have a bone spur that is poking a hole in my rotator cuff and causing my discomfort and swearing. So the surgeon is going to go in with a scope and grind that bone spur down and check the tear to see if it needs any stitches. I am a little nervous just in that I am not used to being completely under and am a bit concerned that the recovery is going to be painful. The shoulder, as I have discovered, tends to move when the rest of your body moves, and so soreness there tends to be hard to avoid. But, the doctor was also quite positive that at the end of this, I would feel better. I would like that. While my shoulder hardly stops me from living my life right now, it is a constant discomfort and sometimes sharp discomfort when I move wrong.

Speaking of that, during the endless paperwork (exaggeration) at the Orthopedic Surgeon's office, the form asked what caused my shoulder to hurt. I listed those motions, including mowing the lawn, pushups, raising my hand above my head. The second question was what made the pain better. I added, "not doing the above motions."

Kind of thought that was implied.

So anyway, I am looking at surgery in a couple of weeks, assuming I can get my courses all scheduled correctly. I will need some help from some colleagues, but think that I will be able to do so with minimal downtime. Hopefully.

5 comments:

Noah said...

Ugh. Well...I'll drink to a speedy recovery!

Ken Summerlin said...

I never realized that it was bone spur that was causing me to swear. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

BTW, how is the dog doing?

Streak said...

Thanks, Smitty. And Ken, yeah, the bone spur is my swearing issue, but I am not sure the surgery will fix that part.

Streak is doing well right now. For the last week, he has eaten and rested well and has even lobbied us for walks. Still more to come, of course, but it was very nice to have a good weekend with him.

Anonymous said...

Streak, As we have discussed, you are braver and smarter than me about these health issues (and these issues alone :) ). I know if I go in for an MRI, I will walk out with two surgeries not one! Good luck and tell us how the process goes - so I can find another reason to avoid my own MRI and shoulder surgery.

-- Your friend, CIL, WIV, whatever

Monk-in-Training said...

Let us know the day, and I will surely pray for you, and that your doctors would be highly inspired!