By Merle Lee Ann Pratt– Merle Lee Ann’s Kitchen, author of “A Baker’s Dozen”

Seniors Scene

Road to Recovery

Aug 14, 2024 | 9:31 AM

“The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Pattison Media and this site.”

Okay, here it is August and I am on my road to recovery from my right shoulder rotator cuff injury from over a year ago. Actually, my first rotator cuff injury that I can remember is from May of 2020 during our Covid days. That is a story for another day.

You often hear complaints about the health system and the waiting period / time to have surgery. This is perhaps true but overall, I really can’t complain. My injury would have been diagnosed the beginning of August 2023. During that time, I initially did physiotherapy until September when I had another unfortunate incident and tore my rotator cuff another 10mm according to the ultrasound. At this time my physiotherapist told me I would have to wait to see my surgeon and see about having surgery.

In January of 2024 I saw my orthopedic surgeon who was going to do my surgery if I wanted it. By this time, I could use my shoulder to a certain degree and was uncertain whether I wanted to go through the pain of recovering from the surgery. No pain no gain. My husband strongly suggested that I get the surgery as he knew there were certain tasks / jobs in my life that I was unable to do. And I definitely felt I was too young to not be able to enjoy or participate in snowmobile, pickleball, golf, and the various undertakings that I still take pleasure in such as baking, gardening etc.

The decision was made then I would have the surgery done. At that time, I was told it would be a one to three month wait which would take me into the end of April. April came and went and still no word from my surgeon. I was hoping to have it near the end of April and then by summertime I would be on my way to recovering. This was not to be; however, it turns out this was a good thing.

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I got a call early July and was told my surgery date would be July 23rd. One of the nice things about having my surgery done in July is that my job was less busy so it would be easier to keep up with the tasks of my work. Also, being summertime, I would not need a jacket as frequently. The brace I would be wearing is quite cumbersome and hard to fit a jacket over.

As the days got closer to having my surgery my anxiety started to go up. I never used to have anxiety but as I’ve aged even going to a dentist brings my anxiety on. The night before my surgery I didn’t sleep great but I did manage to get some sleep. I also talked to myself throughout the night and said everything is going to be alright.

I was very fortunate that my surgery was going to take place at Prairie View Medical Centre in Saskatoon. The care I received that day was top notch. I have nothing but good words about this facility from the cleanliness, the care, and how I was treated that morning of my surgery.

Upon coming out of surgery and waking up in the recovery room some of the first questions asked were how is the pain? My pain was higher than normal so they very quickly remedied that situation by giving me a nerve blocker through my IV line. I was quickly frozen from the top of my shoulder to the tips of my fingers and would not feel any pain for the next 12 to 24 hours. My total time spent at the medical centre that morning would be around 4 hours. My husband was called to pick me up and take me home. I was wheeled out in a wheelchair, gently placed in the passenger seat and sent home to recover.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with rotator cuff surgery you have to wear a brace for a minimum of six weeks to support your arm and make it unusable. MLA was going to have to learn to relax and let other people do things for her. This was something that was unfamiliar ground for me. I am used to doing things on my own and doing them when I want them done and having them done the way I want them done.

Recovery – this was going to be the hard part for me. Sleeping in a recliner every evening, sitting in a recliner for the majority of the day for at least the first couple of days. Not being able to participate in daily chores that I was used to doing as I now needed help to dress myself, wash myself, help doing basically everything that I was used to doing myself. The first week was the hardest. As my shoulder became a little less tender I was able to do a few more things for myself. Being a right handed person and having to now use my left hand was just one more challenge.

And a tidbit of information – my benefits package wouldn’t cover me as I was over 65. The recommended time off work is 6 weeks. I was going to have to learn how to use my mouse with my left hand and pick away at the keyboard as well with my left hand left only. I was not going to be able to be off work for six weeks. I did take pretty much a full week off though and the second week I worked 2-3 hours a day – enough to stay caught up without getting super far behind.

I am now 3 weeks into my recovery and I can take my shoulder brace on and off by myself (although help is always appreciated), tie my shoes, brush my teeth (left-handed), wash my face, and take a walk every day with my dogs. I can sweep the floor very gently and have to be extremely careful putting the dust in the dustpan. To write this blog I used the dictation option with my Microsoft Word program for the most part. I am now able to move my right hand a little bit to help me with certain parts of typing. But reading out loud and having this blog dictated was definitely an asset. We should probably use it more often than we do!

And just for a little bit of humor the morning of my surgery the admitting nurse had not requested me to take my pants off. When I got into the operating room the nurses noticed this and said they would have to be removed. A nurse removed them and basically stuffed them into my bag of my clothing that would follow me out of the operating room. I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking her to fold them with both pant legs properly straightened, folded in half and half again – the way I would do it. A little bit of OCPD (obsessive compulsive disorder). Fortunately, the pants I had chosen that morning did not wrinkle easily and looked okay when I had to put them on after surgery.

I continue with the daily stretches for my hands / shoulder that my doctor has assigned for me to do while I am in this brace. My pain has been minimal and very manageable. Lots of television bingeing / streaming of programs and of course more Olympics than I’ve ever watched in my life. And that is it for today – I will let you know how I make out on my next blog. Have a great August!

For my song today I have chosen City of New Orleans by Arlo Guthrie. Songwriter Steve Goodman met Arlo Guthrie in a bar called the Quiet Knight in Chicago. Goodman asked Guthrie to please listen to his one song and although Arlo Guthrie really didn’t want to he said, “buy me a beer and I’ll listen to your song until I’m done my beer.” Well, the rest is history – City of New Orleans became a top 20 hit in 1972 and provided Goodman with enough financial success for the rest of his life because of it. Steve Goodman passed away at the age of 36 from leukemia.

This song has been covered by many artists one of them being Willie Nelson. Songwriter Steve Goodman received a Grammy for this song posthumous after Willie released it in 1985 for Best Country song. It was covered by other artists such as Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Chet Atkins, and Lynn Anderson just to name a few.

Merle Lee Ann Pratt

YouTube: @merleannskitchen

merleleeannskitchen.com

Email: merleleeann@gmail.com

This column is sponsored by MacKenzie Funeral Chapel and Crematorium – We will be there when you need us – Bev and Brian Stobbs

130 9th St. E, Prince Albert, SK

Phone: (306) 763-8488 – https://mackenziechapel.ca