I have been getting a lot of questions about my up coming shoulder surgery , so why not write a blog right?! Alright so here is the deal, when I got into the accident I had a wide array of injuries. Ranging from life threatening to minimal. Because of my life threatening injuries the doctors missed my broken shoulder. It wasn't until 4 days after the surgery and a doctor walked in touched my shoulder and I screamed from pain. They had it x-rayed, turns out my humerus was snapped in half right below the shoulder joint. A heavy cast was placed on my arm in hopes that the bone would correct itself because the head of the humerus was displaced. About 6 weeks after the accident a surgeon came into my hospital room saying that I was scheduled for surgery the next morning to correct my shoulder. He wanted to rebreak my arm and set it with 6 pins, which would set my recovery back by about two months. Meaning I would miss my first day of school, that just wasn't an option. I wanted to go home, I wanted to go to school, and I sure as hell didn't want another surgery. So my parents told the hospital no and decided to address the problem later.
Well when you are using a wheelchair as your main mode of transportation, a shoulder surgery just isn't ideal. Overall I have functioned very well for how damaged my shoulder is, but I didn't know and as the years have passed my pain level has increased. I decided that after the wedding I would see a shoulder surgeon to see exactly what the problem was. I went into the appointment thinking that I needed the bone rebroken and pins and all kinds of craziness.
The doctor took some x-rays and told me that my bones look great. He had a hard time even seeing the fracture. So he did an ultra sound to see what my soft tissue looked like. And that is where my problem is. Turns out because of the way I flung forward in the car I got what is called a SLAP tear (which means a tendon has separated from the bone), torn Rotator Cuff, arthritis, and bone spurs in my AC joint. If that sounds like a lot, thats because it is! I had a very long discussion with my doctor about what to do and we both concluded that surgery is the only way to fix the problem. He realizes the seriousness of me not having use of my arm for an extended period of time but he feels that if I don't correct the problem soon I will need a total shoulder replacement. Which is definitely something I want to avoid, especially since we are wanting to start a family very soon :).
So that is the story, my shoulder is a complete mess and the surgeon is shocked I have made it this long without losing my mind from pain. The surgery is scheduled for next month and I won't be able to use my arm for at least a month and I won't be able to do transfers for FOUR months! But I want my shoulder to heal correctly so I will listen to the rules and be dependent on my loved ones 24/7 for a little while, in hopes to gain even more independence.
