good idea actually. you have to start thinking NOW for what you will just be coming home to and will NOT be able to actually use right away at least. just wondering what you are having done and the extent of the damage within your rotator cuff area? went thru this crap a few years ago myself. it was not fun. the one thing to make dang certain you just have ALOT of hanging around IS ice. ice itsaelf is just a really amazing pain reducing tool all by itself and the ONLY thing that truely helps with the pain while you are dissipating that interscalene block that usually averges about tweleve hours duration with bits of the surgical area geing recognized thru out, or if your lucky, twelve hours after that bock is done for you on that shoulder in the neck area?
the problem with having that block at all(and this is just pretty standard with most orthos even doing any ortho type surgeies, espescially that rotator cuff repair) is that when the body is actually dissapating any block that is holding back surgical pain of any kind, most narcotics will just not work really well til that whole limb becomes rerecognized fully and you have a much more stable base to just capture with the narcotic to pull down all recognized pain. when the block is dissipating, you get to feel the pain in increments and that the pain from just keeps going up and not 'stable' yet, that is why even having the really great icing and compression units that most orthos will rx for patients like with your surgery is just soo freaking crucial. its just that having little bits of pain start to show themselves over time, will just keep going up til that whole limb becomes recognized for you. all i can say is ice ice ice til that occurs and make certain to at least have like three to five of those blue reusable ice packs in your freezer at all times since this really does work well on any of the more intense surgical post op pain really well(this way you will always have at least around two that are freezing and ready when you need them), espescially if you do not have that continuous flow icing unit.
i was planning on getting that icing unit til the very ignorant woman at my orthotics facility who i also got my sling and set up my CPM chair with told me i should save some money and just use the icing untis that the hosps provide for patients post op? while they USED to do this like with both my knee surgeries in 2005? someone never told this stupid woman that they stopped doing that in what just had to be almost right after my last knee surgery back IN 2005 at some point, i awoke in the OR post op(no recovery room since i only used that block with no anesthesia or needing any intubation) with one single tiny ice pack on my shoulder. i almost died when i saw that tiny little thing that was somehow supposed to actually ice ALL needed areas somehow? sooo, if you do have the option of getting that icing unit at all? go for it. this will be your best freind following the surgery and when you get home too. without that full icing, my pain was really wayyy over the top much more than it should have been if i had only had the "appropriate" icing unit. believe me, it just truely matters for you and your comfort THAT freaking much or i would not be taking the time to even post this to you. the very best type is the newer one that does both icing AND the needed compression that just will keep any swelling down to the minimum from the basic inflammation that just occurs from even having anything cut into your skin at all.
is this going to be your dominant hand or the other? it does matter really in just how you can plan ahead for this post op and what you need to start practicing how to do without that hand, espescially if this IS your more dominant hand that will be up in a sling for at least a few weeks on you. for me, this was my dominat hand and i had a very interesting exxperience in trying to even begin to utilze my left hand that was already damaged with fine motor function loss from a spinal cord injury. on yippie.
just what are the main issues with that rotator(per MRI) that need to be fixed? that too does really matter as a whole in kind of everything. just when is the surgical date? i soo wish you lots of luck with this but DO keep on doing what you already are there, just planning ahead for like every possible thing that will be changed when you get home. are you going to be by yourself at home post op or will someone at least be with you there for at least the first ten days or so? trust me, that alone really helped tons with my hubby being able to use FMLA for the first ten days. i wish you tons of luck with this and for a very speedy recovery. please let me know how thigs are going? FB
