Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Surgery

Tomorrow I am having surgery to fix a long time injury that I have lived with for at least 7 - 8 years. I fell (read - tripped over the stump in the middle of the back yard) while playing softball in the back yard with my boys all those many years ago. I have worked around the arm, shoulder, and everything for a long time, but this summer while getting ready for a show, I woke up and was in incredible pain, and couldn't move my arm at all. A quick trip to urgent care had me on muscle relaxers that helped a little bit but not much, so I was at the orthopedist 2 days later looking for more answers. They found a calcium deposit in my shoulder. They gave me some pain killers, and the option of a cortizon shot (I didn't do that) and I was on my way.

After a month had passed, I was doing much better, had regained most of the movement I had before, but I was still in a lot of pain. I went back to see if surgery would be an option to get ride of the calcium. A friend had been through the same thing, and it worked great for him. He didn't have any pain after that.  So I went in for an MRI to see what was going on, and to my surprise found out I had broken my collar bone (way back when) and had a half torn rotator cuff, and my bicep tendon was partially detached as well. No wonder I have had so many problems.

If you were to fold your arms and place them in your lap (at the 90 angle), I can only life my left arm about 2 inches away from my body in that position. Pretty darn sad huh. Well I can't wait to have it all fixed. I am going to be a good girl and listen to my dr's and do my physical therapy, and with luck, be all fixed up in 2 months. The hard part is being in a sling for 2 months.....me? not be able to torch, bake, etc? It is going to be a long 2 months, but it will be so worth it.

2 comments:

Laura Twiford said...

Kari, my prayers are with you for an uneventful surgery and a quick recovery! I can't imagine not using my arm for that long either but the fall usually goes by pretty quickly so before long you will be out of the sling and back in the saddle! Good Luck! See you saturday for soup!

Heather Umsted said...

Kari,
I know firsthand about living with an injury, as living with severe back problems since 2004 after a car accident. Do what the doctor's ask you to do and try to use the painkillers only when you need them. As you know, I just had my second surgery two months ago and can honestly say I feel wonderful. My prayers are with you as you go through the recovery process. It gets better every day. If you can stay positive and keep your spirits up, it will do wonders for you. Take good care of yourself and allow people to help as needed.

 

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