Slow and Steady

Just a quick update on my progress. It’s been an interesting 6 months. I progressed well with physio and was given the okay to fly to our winter home in Palm Springs on January 1st. . We enjoyed five weeks there and it was fun to see our friends, enjoy the sun and go in the swimming pool.

I did notice my shoulder was clicking when I did my exercises but there was no pain so I continued on. I had unconsciously reached behind my back to grab my bra. Reverse shoulder replacements only allow your arm to go to a back pocket.

We flew home early February and I had an appointment to test to see if the nerves were growing in my hand. The 4 medical professionals were pleased with my progress and believe that my nerve is growing back.They stressed it can take years but at this point I won’t need surgery.

Next I saw the hand physio and my shoulder physio and both were pleased with my progress. The shoulder physio did stress I needed to see the surgeon before we flew back to Palm Springs.

After looking at the x-ray, the surgeon came into the room and had bad news for Bob and I my shoulder was dislocated again. He moved it around, but it would not pop in so I was scheduled for surgery February 25 exactly six months after my first surgery.

The recovery is as expected and much more quickly than last time. We knew the drill.

Bob flew to Palm Springs April 5 to summerize our rig. Today April 10 th he will begin driving our vehicle home. He should be home late Saturday April 12.

I’ve learned more life lessons and my good friends say they are learning right along with me.
1. No matter what medical professional I saw I was asked how I was sleeping. It is so important to your healing, both physically and mentally.

2. If you have pain, keeping it manageable is important to healing and general health. the medical team I had worked to find pain medication that suited me. It’s no longer a badge of honour to power through pain. You body needs to focus on healing.

3. if you live by yourself, consider assembling a team of friends you can call on if you have an accident. You need an advocate as you meet medical professionals. A single acquaintance fell in her home. It was 2 AM and she was able to call an ambulance when she arrived at the hospital she fell alone. There was no one she could call as her family lived out of town once discharged. She contacted five friends and ask each one if they could be a support team. Each one said yes, and she then hosted a coffee party so they could meet each other and exchange contact information. now she has peace of mind that a friendcan immediately be by her side if this happens again.

4. I’ve learned to slow down and think as I get dressed and as I go to do some household chores. I’ve also learned that store-bought baking is just as good as my own, and there are plenty of frozen meals and easy to prepare foods if you look carefully, they’re even healthy and taste good.

5. Friends are important for healing. I think this picture says it all I have drivers, and people constantly phoning. I’m not alone on this journey.

I hope for the most part this blog makes sense. I’m typing it on my iPad and it keeps doing strange things, sometimes it lets me edit and sometimes it doesn’t so I give up and I’m gonna hit publish so I’m going to hit publish.