Medical Issues/Recovery – Page 7

Belated Happy Thanksgiving!

I had planned to post Thanksgiving, but got sidetracked with mostly good issues here. As I noted, I went very non-traditional since I still can’t do real cooking. That will hopefully change soon…

I did take the time to truly give thanks for all in my life, particularly the good. One thing for which I am very thankful is each and every one of you who come here to read, to comment, and to encourage. You are very much appreciated!

Had PT this morning, then ran some errands and had my tires pumped up at the tire place as one had dropped very low. So low I borrowed the landlord’s air pump to get it up enough to get to PT and the tire store. Right now, the coolant leak is behaving but still trying not to drive it that much.

I haven’t done much for Christmas in the last few years, as I’m renting a room and the landlord actually does a pretty good tree. Even if the cats do start singing ‘Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, Your Ornaments Are History’ as soon as they see it go up. However, for a number of reasons, I decided to do a small one in my room. So, today I found a Charley Brown tree for $6 and am going to see what I can do. There will be photos.

Not sure when I will get to post tomorrow as I have my six week with the ortho tomorrow morning early and I am hoping he gives the go-ahead to push into “real” PT. Have a few questions for him, but the goal is to get release to go back to full PT and the gym.

I’m also trying to find out who put some new diagnoses in my file at the health corporation where he works. You will be hearing a bit more on this, as it wasn’t him and right now no one in his office can tell me who did it. Considering that the diagnoses in question are in the areas of my GP, cardiologist, and maybe one other — and it’s news to them — well…

Oh, keep an eye on Gaza as I started hearing a few days ago that some of the hostages were being held by other factions who were refusing to give them up to Hamass. Yes, there are some other factions there, though they usually keep a low profile, and several of them regard Hamass as wimps. Sucks for the hostages, but will say one thing for which I am thankful is that so many have been gotten out. I seriously was betting only about a dozen were still alive, very glad to be wrong on that.

Lots to cover in the world and I am looking forward to getting back to it. More soon!

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Current PT

Never occurred to me that some might like to know more about the PT. So here’s what we are currently doing. The initial instructions given at the hospital was to do one or two sets of 10 of each; but, my therapist and I changed that up a bit at the start. Instead of sets of ten, I do each of the following for two minutes:

back and forth pendulum of left arm, arm dangling as I bend forward
side to side pendulum, same
arm in circle, same
NOTE: arm movement is generated by whole body movements, and I am thankful that video cameras are not allowed given how you have to move the body while bent over. I am NOT twerking, I swear.
backwards shoulder rolls
shoulder blades together, then lowered
regular shoulder drops
Bicep curls w/2lb weights
Reverse curls
“motorcycle twist”
reverse “motorcycle twist
hands with thumbs up, palms facing each other, move so palms down
hands with thumbs up, palms facing each other, move so palms up
Isometric 1: forward punch into inflated ball
Isometric 2: elbow back into inflated ball
Isometric 3: elbow to the side into inflated ball
Isometric 4: hand to the side into inflated ball

Once that’s done, the therapist does manipulations of the joints and some massage to help loosen things up. Then I sit and enjoy my ice pack for 12 or so minutes. At home I also have some squeeze gel to use to help improve hand strength and reduce swelling.

21 November Update

I really wanted to post yesterday, but life moves at its own pace. I keep getting asked if this time is different: smoother, easier, harder, etc. It is different, but while some of that difference is not to my liking, most of it is.

I’ve said it before, but it seems like things are progressing faster on the whole. My regular physical therapist and I have talked about it, and given that we haven’t been able to start what I call “real” PT yet, we’ve made some amazing progress on range of motion. We have to keep reminding each other that it’s only been a month, and we can’t start real PT until six weeks. Yes, I am counting down the days… That said, we are already getting some results that I did not have until several weeks after the start of real PT.

The increase in range of motion means that I am doing things sooner than before. My ability to get a shirt or coat on has gone from struggle session to almost normal. I can tie shoes again. With the cone of shame, er, sling gone, it makes it easier to pin things so I can work on them with my right hand. I’m still not up to real cooking yet, but I am able to cook eggs for my breakfast now since that is mostly a one-handed process. Figure it’s going to be at least two to three weeks before I am up to knife work and all that’s required to do real cooking.

Officially I am still not supposed to pick up anything other than a piece of paper with my left hand/arm. I am (mostly) being good about that. Makes it hard to cook, do laundry, or many other things. While I’m doing very well on range-of-motion, it does not mean I’m anywhere near where I was or where I hope to ultimately be. Which makes some normal activities, like bathing, a challenge as you can’t reach some places. Still toying with the idea of zip tying a scrub brush to the useless hand hold (the top part is not anchored) so I can scrub parts of the back I can’t yet reach.

Where it has been not-fun interesting is with sleeping and discomfort/pain management. Because we started me on PT sessions earlier than last time, I had to go off the good pain pills in less than a week after surgery. I’ve taken some at need, but mostly I can’t take them as I have to be able to drive. It’s not 24 bottle to throttle, but I prefer 12-16 at a minimum. The idea of trying to drive while on drugs and with one hand (one arm was in a sling for the first four weeks) is a non-starter for me (and the doc).

To complicate things a bit further, I have refused to take the acetaminophen that is prescribed. Hate that stuff. So, have been taking ibuprofen “as needed.” By my standards I’ve had a lot more discomfort this time, but not a lot of pain. Ergo, I probably have not taken the ibuprofen as much as I should have. Not ideal, but livable.

The biggest problem has been sleeping. As I wrote before, I had to transition back to the bed because I was tossing and turning in the recliner. Falling out would be bad, tipping it over would be worse. Sleeping in the bed is another thing that has happened ahead of schedule, with it happening 3 or more weeks sooner than with the left.

Normally, I would take that as a positive but the body is really not yet healed to the point of normal sleep. My body wants to sleep mostly on my sides these days (I used to describe myself as a rotisserie sleeper in that I turn about a quarter turn every so often so that I eventually turn completely around), and neither shoulder is happy with that for long. Trying to sleep on my back also can get uncomfortable. Even using melatonin and other tricks, I’ve only been getting about three hours of sleep before waking up. Sometimes I do manage to get back to sleep, sometimes not, and I’m learning what I can and can’t take to help based on what time I wake up. More often than I care for I’m doing good to be running on 3-4 hours sleep on any given day, six is a wonder, and eight hours of good solid sleep is still a dream.

It will get better, and I think once we can do real PT, that will also help. Hoping to get clearance next week to start back at the gym on lower body and core at least. That too should help with the sleep issues. It will get better, but it is hard to be patient in this case.

So, overall I am ahead of where I was last time in most areas. I think/hope that this will hold true as we move into real PT, which puts me on a good recovery path. Healing from the surgery (both cases) is in many ways the easy part. It’s trying to regain the strength and mobility that were lost in the years before the surgery that is going to be the challenge. There’s a reason that they warn that shoulder replacement recovery takes a year (or more). Thanks to your help, I have what I need and am working with a good physical therapist (and team) for in person.

Who knows, I may even learn some patience out of this. Not likely, but miracles do happen. My methodical determination will come in handy in the days ahead. I feel like I’ve been wimpy on PT so far but results say otherwise.

Even if I could do real cooking right now, there is no way I would try to do a traditional Thanksgiving dinner just for me (no, I would not be inviting the cats to join in). Too much and too much chance of waste. In a week or three I may do something with some salmon in the freezer, looking at a dark rum or bourbon glaze with black Hawaiian salt and smoked sugar when I’m up to it. For Thanksgiving, seriously contemplating left-over pizza, or if the historic diner nearby has meatloaf special tomorrow getting that and having it Thanksgiving. It’s not the food, though I want to have something different and good, it’s that I have options and much for which to be thankful.

More soon, came across something interesting on HamAss and there are some other things going on in the world that I would like to discuss. I may get to some of it later today, but it was a rough night so no guarantees. Up early tomorrow as I have a very early PT session, but I hope to get something up later in the day. We will see.

Onwards.

It’s Been Interesting

My apologies for the lack of posting, but interesting is as good a word as any (printable) that describes the last seven days or so. The best laid plans is also appropriate to parts of it, since I had planned to do a lot more posting last week.

However, life had plans of its own. I was already dealing with stiffness and discomfort before a front came through that lit me up like a Christmas tree. Between temperature and pressure changes, I pretty much locked up.

On top of that, it almost seems like time dilation has been taking place. I mentioned before, I think, that it seems like a lot more time has passed since surgery than is the case. Friday will just be four weeks post surgery. In many respects, both my physical therapist and I feel like we are well ahead of where we were with the right shoulder at the same time. Which also makes the fact that we can’t start “real” PT for another couple of weeks frustrating until we realize how early it is in the process.

On top of that, parts of the body/subconscious seem to be on the same boat. Middle of last week I woke up in the middle of trying to roll over onto my side in the recliner. After making sure I wasn’t on my way over the side, or into tipping the chair over, I got on my side and went back to sleep. And then went right back into rolling from one side to the other in my sleep. Not good.

So, I started trying to sleep in the bed. About three weeks ahead of when I did so on the right shoulder. It has seen mixed results. Sleeping on the right side isn’t bad, but the left arm and shoulder have trouble finding a position that doesn’t pull or strain the healing joint. When I roll over onto the left side, well, that is often an ouch moment. Net result was only about three hours of sleep in three days. Getting a bit more now, but still working on a good regimen that gets me some solid sleep.

So, been trying to deal with both surgical and other pain, lack of sleep, and in trying to keep pushing healing and PT along. Dislike aceto so using ibu on a very limited scale for pain/significant discomfort. Have some good pain pills left, but they really are too much, and may be needed a lot more later after we get into real PT. If I can get good sleep reliably, think things will be a lot better.

The good news is that we are making strides just with the range-of-motion physical therapy. I’m ditching the cone of shame, er, sling, starting today and hoping that will help with some of the stiffness, swelling, other issues. Glad to be able to do it, but also expect to see an increase in discomfort or even pain as we transition. Am also delighted to be able to move back to two-handed typing as the one handed thing was a pain to be polite.

So, for now, at least some limited use of the left arm and hand. No lifting yet, that has to wait until six weeks out. I’m trying to be good, but… Do get to use it a bit in the shower, and can “pin” things in place with the left hand. For all that we are making good progress, hoping that we can get a bit more done without the sling.

On top of all that, my car has developed a major coolant leak, as in clouds of steam from under the hood as I drive. I have not been able to track down the leak, and right now getting to my mechanic is going to be interesting between how busy he is and finances if it is more than something simple. I really need to get something newer, but, again, finances just aren’t there yet. So, nursing it to get me to PT and major shopping, and using the bus for almost everything else. Joy.

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is next week. No idea what I am going to do, other than I am not cooking a traditional dinner just for me (even if I could afford to do so). Toying with a couple of ideas, and also halfway wishing the good local Chinese place hadn’t closed (kitchen fire).

More soon, as there is a lot going on in the world right now. When people tell you who and what they are, believe them. Keep your things where you can find them in the dark, and be prepared. More soon, hopefully after some good sleep.

Gun Law Weekend

First, my thanks to all for the good wishes. I’ve been less-than-happy at the slow pace, but also got reminded today that I’m still not three weeks out from the latest surgery. I could have sworn it was four-plus. Given that, it’s going amazingly well. Trying an experiment in ditching the sling for a bit to write, will see how it goes. Nice not having to be archy or ee for a bit.

Second, thanks to a very nice person I got the chance to attend Guy Relford‘s Indiana Gun Law Class at Indy Arms this last Saturday. For those not in Indiana, Guy Relford is not only the founder of the 2A Project, but a practicing Constitutional Law attorney specializing in the Second Amendment, and has also helped write a fair bit of current Indiana gun law. Still a few changes he would like to see made, and I hope he gets the chance to make them.

Those who know me, know I push for people — especially first time gun buyers — to take such a course. Ignorance of the law never works out in your favor, and there is a LOT of bad info out there. You need a law course as much or more (esp. if you live in an ‘interesting’ state) as you need good firearm/tactical training.

When I first moved to Indiana, a small-town police chief I got to know gave me a decent quick overview as he helped me apply for my carry permit. It is more than just a concealed permit, more on that in a minute. The laws have changed a LOT since then, and I’ve been wanting to take the class for a while now. It’s the first step to getting back to where I need to be after the lightning strike and shoulder replacements.

So, Saturday was five-plus hours of high-quality instruction on Indiana gun law, as well as use-of-force and other related topics. This included getting into the actual laws (and regulations) and going through same. There were a lot of good questions, good discussions, and citation of actual events and cases to make points.

Yes, Indiana is now (thanks in part to Mr. Relford) a Constitutional Carry state. That said, it is still a very good idea to go ahead and get that carry permit as doing so helps you via exemptions (such as within 1,000 feet of a school) as well as being honored in a number of other states. Take the course to learn how and why.

I’m not going to go into details, but we went over everything from who is a prohibited possessor and what convictions can be expunged after various periods of time — and what can’t ever be expunged — to transfers. The course covers when and where you can carry (and how) to the differences between use of force and use of deadly force.

I’ve got multiple pages of notes on those topics and even on things like curtilage as it applies to Castle Doctrine. In short, it was an amazing class where I learned a lot. I also learned a phrase to use if I am ever involved in a shooting or deadly force situation, and some other tips on same.

Glad to learn that phrase and some other suggestions on interactions. The last time I had formal use-of-force training was during Air Force Security Police Augmenter training several (cough) decades ago. Since policy at the time was shoot for extremities, I learned then ‘Sir, in the stress of the moment I reverted to training and fired for center of target.’ The phrases I learned Saturday are a huge improvement and will do a lot more to help keep me out of trouble.

Seriously, if you are a gun owner in Indiana, regardless of if you carry or not, you need to take this or a similar course. I can highly recommend this one, and do so unreservedly. This is time and money extremely well spent.

As I noted above, I’m using this as the start of re-learning to shoot. Between the lightning hit and getting new shoulders, I want to drop back and effectively start over. It’s a chance to re-learn, discard any bad habits, and build up better than before. Funny, I’ve done it a couple of times in terms of shooting and photography, and each time I came out the richer for it. For photography, both at Playboy and then again a few years ago, the concept of ‘forget what you know and relearn from the ground up’ resulted in huge improvements. For firearms, some training around the AFSPA program and some later tactical and related training vastly improved my shooting and response capabilities. Any help so doing now is very much appreciated.

So, an amazing and educational Saturday! It was good to meet Mr. Relford in person, as previously we had only engaged on social media. Give him a follow on X/Twitter if you are on there. Seems like a good man to sit down and smoke a cigar with and get to know.

getting better

met with the surgeon yesterday, and even better i finally got to meet ali in person. truly made my day as she has been my phone and email contact with the practice, occasional champion, and all around great person. got her fooled though as she thinks i’m ‘sweet.’

bandage removed, and incision looks great. get to wear the sling another couple of weeks, but on the mend. no lifting, etc., but headed towards such. need to push on, avoid doing anything too stupid.

funny, haven’t heard a single thing from the hospital since i gave them my feedback. quelle surprise

lot to say about what is going on in the world, hopefully back to more regular posting soon.

progress

typing one fingered i decided to emulate archy/ee cummings for now. things not being done like last time, but that may be for the best.

just got back from my first outpatient pt session with the good folks at ati. meant stopping pain pills early and changing other schedules, but worth it. pretty much what i was doing per hospital pt but a couple of extra thrown in.

hospital/system pushed hard for me to review and tell them what i thought. not sure they will ever ask me for an honest opinion again. praised day shift people, not so much nancy and company on friday night. pointed out that unless big steps taken, would not use that hospital ever again; and, would use another er even if risk posed to my life to do so. that risking coming under the ‘care’ of nancy again was an even larger threat to my life.

now to push on with pt and recovery. thanks to all who have helped me build the home pt setup. it has and is paying off big time. stay alert and keep your things where you can find them in the dark. more to come as i have no plans on earning a military funeral off the fire escape anytime soon. would cheerfully trade landlord and housemates cats for mehitabel though.

I Live

Sorta. The surgery went well and if all the care had matched, I think I would be well ahead of last time. That said, the Friday night shift had issues and I can’t say too much yet but will say I went several hours “off protocol” in regards pain or icing. Still trying to recover and get going. Glad to be discharged as I was prepared to leave AMA rather than deal with that night shift again as am not sure I would have survived.

Countdown

Things are moving along, and in some ways I’m ahead of schedule. Just finished bagging almost three weeks worth of supplements and regular prescriptions (morning and night) and may try to get it to three or four weeks if I can pick up a supplement or two tomorrow. Bagging the pills was one of the things that worked really well last time, and I really am tempted to try for four weeks worth.

I’m also having to deal with a special form of bursitis that popped up late last week. Literally. It looks like someone shoved a ping pong ball into my right elbow, or at least half of one. Not fun and have had to cut back on what I’m doing to try to get it to go down and/or away. The doc recommended a compression bandage so I got two different types from a pharmacy. Neither fit or worked well for me, and in fact one of the two tore up my arm a bit. Got a crazy idea and cut the foot off a compression sock. Fit well, compressed without damage, and therefore was not crazy as it worked.

Tomorrow will be errands and haircut day. Need to pick up a few more things, including some snackage and a bit of food to round things out. If I get the supplement I ran out of, should be able to get a few more bags done. Also, am going to be starting laundry as I have to wash and sterilize blankets, comforters, etc. so I can change out all linens and such on Thursday.

Thursday is the day to figure out what I’ve missed, get it taken care of, and try to relax a bit. If all goes well, I should be home this weekend. Will try to post proof of life when I can. 🙂

Take care, be safe, and be prepared! Keep your things where you can find them in the dark. More soon I hope.

Happier Post, And Why I Was AFK

My apologies for the lack of posting and response to comments since the middle of last week. Thursday was my pre-op appointment for the next shoulder surgery, and it turned into a longer (and somewhat annoying) experience.

The actual appointment wasn’t that long, but it was a different nurse and different doc, and a reminder of why I don’t take portions of that provider too seriously. Yes, I paid attention to the instructions, but could have done without the smarmy attitude and with a bit more paying attention to my answers. Not to mention having all the test results reported back piecemeal (one at 0230 hours no less) which got me separate e-mails and texts (and alerts). Also loved the ‘oh my gosh your urine was dark yellow’ freakout, given that no it wasn’t but it was an odd shade because I took B vitamins as noted. If you’re not going to reference the notes… This is something that went on for three days. Like the surgeon and his office, but this group (not the same office) is something else. Only thing I will give them is they did get the blood first stick — this time.

Then came a truly wonderful thing: I had the house and kitchen to myself for several days, and was in shape to take advantage of it. I’ve had FUN! Let’s start with having a large chunk o beef from the restaurant supply store.

I really need to get with a chef or butcher to relearn how to break down some of these cuts, but managed to do a fair job with this one even with a thick and tough fat cap. Almost enough to make me wish I could render it down into tallow… But, it all worked out.

Got five good steaks out of it, bunch of cube meat for both a savory pie and at some point some chili, some scraps for stock later, and some of what I am calling pseudo-carne. The latter were from various pieces and I cut them small, for later cooking.

Two of the nice thick steaks got frozen as is, the other three got marinated in olive oil, garlic, and pepper. Two of them were grilled and pulled just before done, the other was supper and inhaled. Sorry, too busy eating to get photos but here’s what they looked like just before going on the grill.

One of the prime goals of the weekend was to make a steak and mushroom pie. I had wanted it to be a beef and oyster pie, but there were problems getting acceptable oysters, so… Half the cubes went into this project, and were coated with flour, salt, and pepper then browned with the onions and garlic.

Add in some Taxman Quadrupel in place of stout, add in the mushrooms, throw in the oven at 250 for three or so hours, and you get this after adding some arrowroot for thickening.

I let it cool overnight, and the next day I made my pie crusts using a lard recipe that was roughly two cups of flour, 1t salt, 2/3 cup of lard, and about 5T of ice water. I used smoked salt for part of my salt, and worked the dough by hand. Next time I do a savory pie, am thinking of substituting bacon drippings for part of the lard, using a bit more smoked salt, and turning some dried rosemary, basil, and garlic into powder and adding it. Here’s the start:

Snarksalot on Twitter was a huge help in getting this going, and in referring me to the King Arthur website which has a massive help section. Highly recommended! Here’s the bottom crust getting pre-baked using my fancy and expensive (snort) pie weights:

Filled, top crust in place, and coated with egg wash:

Baked and resting:

Finally, the pie being cut up and frozen:

The pseudo-carne asada got marinated overnight, then cooked and frozen for later use:

The housemate gave me permission to raid his basil patch, so I did up a small batch of pesto. I left the cheese out as it does not always take well to freezing. So, filled the ice tray and froze it overnight.

Next day, popped them out, bagged, and put them back in the freezer. Over the winter, I can pull out a cube or cubes, thaw, add cheese, and make what I want with it. Great way to make it last and have it all winter.

I also cooked up some chicken to replace what was lost in the Wilton incident, and made up a pan of enchiladas that are now portioned and frozen.

Finally, I cooked up a package of bacon, and most of it made it to be individually frozen then bagged for later use. Most of it. It is bacon and I am weak.

My goal is to have as close to a month’s worth of meals frozen before the surgery. Wednesday, even though all will be home, hope to make up a batch of puttanesca sauce and freeze it in individual containers. Then, cook up a dozen or so hamburgers at some point and freeze them as well. I’m going to cheat and buy burritos and other frozen breakfasts once my monthly stipend arrives.

So, that’s what I’ve been up to the last few days. Think I left something out, but those are the high points at least. It also kept my mind off the horror I was seeing online starting Saturday, and that did hit hard. More soon.