SHOULDER REPLACEMENT -- number 2

[smokin joe]

Tomorrow morning I will go to the hospital to have another shoulder replacement. I had my right shoulder replaced in November of 2016. Tomorrow I will have my left shoulder replaced. I shoot right handed.

My left shoulder has the same problems that my right one did: severe osteoarthritis, complete erosion of the cartilage on the bearing surfaces, and bone-on-bone grinding. The shoulder is completely worn out and pretty useless at this point, so replacement is the best course of action

My right shoulder replacement turned out to be a blessing and I was shooting within about 3 months after the surgery. But my left shoulder was not too far behind in wearing out.

I am going to chronicle the process here as I did with my right shoulder replacement. I suspect that things might progress a bit differently with a bow-hand shoulder versus a string-hand shoulder -- and time will tell.

I hope that writing about my experience and about how I return to trad archery and bowhunting will help inform others who might face shoulder replacement in the future.

Wish me luck. By this time tomorrow I will have another new titanium and polymer shoulder joint.

[hawkeye n pa]

Best of luck with this in addition to the prayers sent.

[achigan]

G'luck with it Joe, I'll be reading along.

[8upbowhunter]

Good luck and I will be praying for a full and speedy recovery.

[Hud]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[kat]

Best of luck. I will be following this.

[Doc Nock]

have a Marine buddy (retired due to many issues) that had both and he loves to hunt and fish and does well with them...he's had both shoulders and both hips... got messed up in a prison riot he was guarding at Gitmo years back...

You'll do fine... you know the ropes and how to push thru the pain and God is with you, if you but keep the faith and let His will be done!  

   

[olddogrib]

Say it ain't so, Joe!  Nobody should have to endure that twice.  Prayers sent.  I had my doubts that you might be a bit overly optimistic the first go round...but if you can get through the string shoulder I'd think the bow shoulder would be easier.  Then again, what do I know...I'm just a three arthroscopy, panty-waisted whiner...you are my hero (and the only one who'd I take being called that off of, lol)

[amicus]

Praying for a speedy recovery.

[Terry Green]

Joe....thanks for letting us know...your play by play of rehab was great before for other archers that have to have this done....I expect this will be another installment but rehab based on the other shoulder which should help those that have this shoulder done as well.

You are a tuff cookie....I'll be in touch!!!

[Rick Butler]

Good luck with your surgery and recovery Joe.

[Sam McMichael]

I hope this surgery will be as successful as the first one. Good luck!

[jr1959]

Good luck Joe and best wishes for a quick recovery!

[smokin joe]

The surgeon said that the operation went well and that he expects my recovery to be pretty much textbook.

I had a heck of a time for the first few hours after the surgery getting pain relief. after my release from the hospital on Tuesday, i had another "off the charts" pain episode. I am now taking Delaudid, a pretty powerful pain killer. With a little luck I can be on something less powerful by next week.

I have started the first level of exercises -- things like opening and closing my hand. Very simple, but very important, or so I have been told.

[Duker]

Joe:::May you have a speedy recovery    

I will be interested to see how rehab goes for you-- I had my left (bow arm) shoulder replaced in 2014 and still have not gotten my strength back to where it was. I continue to work hard on it, and see some progress at this point.....

[ny state land]

Good luck! Had rotator cuff 8 weeks ago and am being told it may be 6 months before I can shoot again!!??? I will be following this! Susan I ended up getting a heavier bow and popped my rotator! I should have listened to you!!!

[elkken]

Best of luck to you Joe .... wishing you the best results and a smooth recovery

[smokin joe]

In the category of "it's never easy" is this little story.

Before the surgery, the doctors let me know that one of the standard protocols would not be available to me. In nearly all cases a nerve block is used in addition to the general anesthetic so that the pain is already under control before the patient wakes up. It is a set up of a steady drip pump of one of the caine drugs - lidocaine, novocaine, etc. -- that numbs the entire shoulder area for a day or so after the surgery.

Unfortunately for me, I am deathly allergic to the entire family of local anesthetics -- so they can't use that plan with me. The use would cause an emergency situation called anaphylaxis, a potentially deadly situation. They told me that they would start me on some delaudid as soon as I get to the recovery room. I have had delaudid before and it is a pretty effective pain killer.

So I wake up in the recovery room and I was in real agony. I had no pain killers on board.

Here is what happened... There is a nationwide shortage of delaudid caused be the recent hurricane in Puerto Rico. Due to that shortage, the hospital staff is not allowed to inject the drug into the patient's IV anymore -- it can only be administered through a patient-controlled pump, and I had to be awake enough to be aware of the fact that I had to push the control button.

Once I was awake enough to push the button, it became clear that the pump was defective and was not administering doses. So there ensued a panic-driven search for a new pump to hook up so that I could get some pain medication. That took a while.

I was in the recovery room for over an hour before there was any pain control. It wasn't a fun-filled experience. That was not how it was planned to go, but just how things worked out. My recovery room nurse refused to leave my side and I could hear her barking orders at people as she tried to speed things up and get me some pain control. She was a true angel of mercy.

I have found my allergy to local anesthetics inconvenient in the past, but this time it created a pretty big mess -- certainly not as big as anaphylactic shock (what happens to me if I get local anesthetics) -- but big enough.

I am now restricted to home and doing small pendulum exercises 6 times a day......

[achigan]

 having been thru 3 rotator cuff surgeries, I can sympathize with you. Best of luck with the rehab.