Cathy's Shoulder Replacement...

On Monday Dec. 2nd 2024 Cathy had a left shoulder replacement. Arthritis had been dogging her for about two years and ignoring it, exercising it and taking an injection from the doc had not helped making surgery the best option. Dr. McCall did the surgery and she was discharged from the hospital a little less than 24 hours after the procedure ended.   ,  

The rotator cuff was in pretty good shape but the supraspinatus muscle of the group which lifts the arm away from the body was torn. There's two kinds of shoulder replacement, anatomical, which is a prothesis just like the original joint or a reversal where the ball of the joint is placed on the socket side. The doc thought this was the best choice for Cathy.       
 

Surgery took about 2 hours and she came through fine. Pain control at Woodland Heights Medical Center was world class. The nerve block lasted well into Wednesday. In fact Cathy was so good I was a bit reminded why we don't let her drink. Prescriptions for home use have been adequate along with the use of the circulating ice pack. 

How much do you have to tip the surgeon so he avoids your ink? She won't say.   

Today, Wednesday Home Health Nursing came out and changed the surgical dressing and the Physical Therapist performed an evaluation. We had been performing a home exercise program as directed by the doc and the hospital therapist but though things will be pretty mild for up to 6 weeks he did add in a couple more exercises to be done 5x a day for 5 minutes or so and adjusted the immobilizer for more comfortable wear since it will be a friend and companion for the next 6 weeks. 

So far so good this experience has been smooth and it's been fun encountering old friends we used to work with and they have taken good care of us. We may be off the fishing and camping trail for now but the therapist said casting and reeling will be an excellent rehab. There will be some limits to what she can lift but as long as Cathy keeps catfish under 25 pounds she should be good.