August 1 through 10: 

Sunday,  8/1 – Dad and I watched the Palm View First Baptist Church service at home.

Monday, 8/2 – My rotator cuff surgery has been scheduled for next Tuesday, August 10.

Tuesday, 8/3 – I did my last volunteering for a while at both the North River Care Pregnancy Center and Palm View First Baptist Church.

Friday, 8/6 –I went to the grocery store to buy what I hope will get us through most of the next month while I will not be able to drive.

Saturday, 8/7 – Dad and I are excited that we will be visited by his granddaughter, Mary Alice Cambre Howard along with her husband, Richard and both of their children, Savannah and Ethan.  They are visiting with her Dad, my brother Rick, and wife Tammy through lunch in the Orlando area and will then drive over here for a quick visit and spaghetti supper.

Sunday,  8/8 – Dad, Emma and I watched the Palm View First Baptist Church service at home.

Monday, 8/9, was a busy day for me.  I did three loads of wash; stripped my bed and remade it (I have no idea how long it will be before I can change sheets again.); made tuna salad; restocked my pill case so I don’t have to unscrew caps for a while and crushed Dad’s pills to last the next two weeks all before going to lunch with my friend, Jane.  Then, I stopped by Publix to pick up pain meds to use for the week after surgery.  I talked to the surgery center in the afternoon and was told to be there at 10:30 in the morning.  They said I should be able to leave there about 1:45.

Tuesday, 8/10 – Today was my granddaughter, Emma’s, first day in the third grade.  She was a little nervous about going into her new class.  She came over 3 times before seven:  first, to say good morning; then to show me the dress and new tennis shows she was going to wear on her first day; finally, to show me the shorts and t-shirt she decided made much better sense to wear.  I took a picture of her each time.  The only thing that was the same were the shoes.

Left Shoulder Rotator Cuff Surgery

(Note:  I am including more details than usual because my nephew, Tim, might have similar surgery and I want to let him know some things he might expect.)

Mid-morning, JP took me to the Coastal Orthopedics East Surgery Center.  He stayed with me until they took me back to prep me for the surgery.  The prep included an IV through which they gave me some kind of “happy juice” and a shot of nerve block which numbed my entire left arm.  Then, I went to sleep while Dr. Arthur Valadie performed some magic.  JP brought me home about 2:15.   He and Dad stood close by while I got in bed and promptly went back to sleep.  He woke me up shortly after 5:00 saying he had come to cook supper for me.  I decided that I wanted a tuna salad sandwich and that I wanted to try to make it myself.  I managed to put together most of my meal with just a little assistance from my son.  Just a little later, Kellie and Emma came over.  Kellie helped me change into the long-sleeved pajamas that the doctor recommended.  That involved removing and replacing the sling on my arm which didn’t hurt at all since I still have no feeling in that arm.  Then, Emma cut the medical ID plastic wrist band off for me.  She told me how she loved her first day of school.  When I asked her who was sitting at the table with her (they use tables in place of desks), she told me that a girl that she thought didn’t like her was sitting right next to her. But they talked about it and everything is all right now.  I told her how proud I was of her for facing her fears.  Later, I iced my shoulder for 20 minutes and enjoyed looking at the flowers that the family surprised me with when I got home.

August 11 through 16: 

Wednesday, 8/11 – Around 9 a.m., I got a call from one of the nurses who took care of me in the surgery center yesterday.  I told her that I slept well last night because the nerve block was still working in my left arm.  But, I was beginning to feel my fingers now and along with that feeling also came pain.  She advised that I start taking the pain pills now and stay ahead of the pain by taking a pill every four hours for the first two days.  She also reminded me that I needed to eat every time I took a pill.  I followed that advise for the rest of the day, but I admit that I had a pretty miserable night.  I could not find a comfortable position in which to sleep.  Thank goodness Kellie had made some delicious supper for me and Dad tonight.   About 4:30 Thursday morning, I decided that I was just going to have to sit up.  I ate something; took a pill; sat in the bed; and promptly went to sleep.

http://www.learningworksca.org/dof2/ cialis 40 mg It is a boon for men as well as while it can be additionally acknowledged, IMPOTENCE.
Thursday, 8/12 – I am proud to say that I woke up this morning; changed out of pajamas into “real” clothes; and did one set of “at home” exercises.

Friday, 8/13 – I started the morning wishing my sister-in-law, Mary Cambre and her granddaughter, Louisa Cambre, a very happy birthday.  After a mid-morning appointment, JP and Kellie took me out to lunch.  Kellie took the bandages off of my shoulder and replaced them with a few band aids.  Then I rested for the balance of the day.

Saturday, 8/14 – Today, my goal was to take a shower and wash my hair (with one hand).  It was a success and I feel much better for it.  I asked Emma to take a picture of my shoulder.

Sunday, 8/15 – I made Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and sweet peas for supper which Dad and I enjoyed.

Monday, 8/16 – JP took me to my post-op appointment this morning with my surgeon’s P. A., Melinda Jeter.  After removing my stitches, she showed JP and me pictures of the bones and muscles in my left shoulder which were taken during the surgery.  She explained that they found much more damage than the MRI had shown.  They placed permanent stitches inside the shoulder to tie the muscles in place allowing the muscles to reattach to the bone over the next few months.  I will need to restrict movement for the next three weeks with the exception of six at-home exercises that I will do daily.  These include:  bending at the elbow and wrist; squeezing a ball; squeezing my shoulder blades together and bending over to let my arm dangle.  When she asked if I was having any problems, I told her that it was very uncomfortable to lay down to go to sleep, so I have been sleeping sitting up in bed.  She said this was very common and I should continue sleeping that way.   I will start physical therapy, twice a week on August 31.  And I will see her again in one month, September 16.

August 17 through 31

On Tuesday, 8/17, my daughter-in-law, Kellie, announced her retirement after 23 years with the Tax Collector’s office.  She has given two weeks’ notice.

On Saturday, 8/21, granddaughter, Emma, and I started our morning by going for a walk in the neighborhood.  Dad watched three pre-season NFL football games.  The last one was a miserable loss of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the Tennessee Titans.

Tuesday, 8/24, marked two weeks since my surgery and it occurs to me that this is a good time to give those who might be “looking forward to” similar surgery some tips.

• I washed my hair this morning. I don’t think this would have been possible if I had not bought a pump bottle of shampoo before the surgery.  I think that it also helped that I practiced washing my hair using only one hand several times in advance of the procedure.
• You can only play so many games on the computer, so I planned a couple of projects to work on (with one hand) that could last a few months. One of those projects is reorganizing and renaming thousands of photos on my laptop.
• I find I need a lot of breaks from this as well.
• I still have pain every day, but I try not to use pain medication until I go to bed.
• I am very blessed to have extended family close by who are all willing to help, but, for the most part, I am doing all of my regular at-home chores by myself.
• I am still not allowed to drive, so I take advantage of what I call “JP’s Taxi Service.”

I reached a couple of milestones on Friday, 8/27.  JP said he’d take me to run an errand today. He also needed to take their dog, Theo, to be boarded for the weekend as they are having a huge pool party for Emma’s birthday on Saturday.  I asked him if he wanted to take my car as it had not been driven for a few weeks and he agreed that would be a good idea.  Then, I asked him if he wanted me to drive it around the corner from my garage to his driveway.  He said yes, if I thought I could do it with this huge sling on my arm. This adventure was a huge success!  He drove to the boarding place; then to Beall’s Department store for me to pick up some gifts for Emma’s 8^th birthday (which is Tuesday); and then to Publix for me to pick up medicine and some groceries.  My second milestone was that this was the first night I went without taking any pain medication

Saturday, 8/28 – Emma and I spent most of the morning together.  A company delivered and set up a huge water slide just after 7 a.m.  We went for a short walk around 10:30. Her party started at 3:00.  Kellie said she thinks there were about 60 people here, including children and parents.  Everyone had a good time and consumed 14 pizzas and a huge birthday cake.

On Tuesday, 8/31, I had my first physical therapy session.  Of note:  No pain meds used for the last two days.  The therapist said that I was doing very well.  I just laid on a table while he moved my arm around.  On the way home from therapy, JP took me to the store to pick up meds and some groceries.  When we walked in, he immediately saw a unicorn balloon – about 4 feet high!  Since this was the theme for Emma’s birthday (today is her actual 8^th birthday although she has already celebrated at school last Friday and at home with friends on Saturday) JP had to buy this for tonight’s celebration with her parents, grandparents, and great-grandfather.

Emma loved all of the gifts she received and we all enjoyed some more birthday cake.