Week 6 & Heading towards a New Year - 2013!

So thats it, heading towards week 6 post op and more importantly to the end of 2012! The recovery is going well although it is tough not to race ahead of the rehab, especially as the pain starts to subside and my dominant arm wants to take charge once again!

I have been sticking to rehab exercises; rotational (see below) & passive movement of the joint, trying to increase the range of motion slowly and without pain. At this stage I have around 110 degree of movement on the shoulder through the frontal plane of motion. Abduction is just on 90 degree, and working on external rotation.

I am still really trying to avoid using the arm in any overhead movements and being extremely careful with simple tasks like putting on my jacket! Who ever thought that after the age of 5 this would still prove to be such a difficult task? LOL! However being totally honest with you,  I  did have a little set back on Christmas Day (of all bloody days)! I think it was because I was in full Christmas mode, excited and feeling great after Santa's BIG visit! The day began with the usual shower however, as I stepped out onto the floor, I slipped on the wet tiles and went arse over tit!!! I managed to react quickly (too quickly), keeping my arm close to my body to protect it but that also meant I had nothing to reach out for support so the inevitable happened!? One leg kicked the shower screen into next year, the other nearly went through the bathroom window, my arse crashed down on the toilet seat smashing it real good which all resulted in me ending up in a naked pile on the bathroom floor!!! Its funny because my only instinct initially was to get up and get a towel on before everyone in the household came crashing through the door to see if I was OK! LOL! What a Christmas episode, if only i had been clever enough to film all of it! But all was good eventually, a few strong pain killers, glass of champagne and a day of chilling helped to get me back on track. It just shows you, sods law, it always goes wrong when you think it is all going great!

So, i took more pictures today of the body's composition, at the rough end of 6 months doing absolutely NOTHING, then eating and drinking FAR TOO MUCH!It is now time to get focused on beginning 2013 with brand new inspiring goals and a fresh outlook! I will continue to post rehab and exercise plan together with nutrition and body comp pics as I head back to fitness... which may take a while!

Until then I would like to take this chance to remember an absolutely fabulous 2012 with all its up and downs! It has been a great year in every way, right up there with the best!!!

And last but by no means least, I would like to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous 2013! Make it a year to remember!

So at the stroke of midnight raise your glass, and in the words of the infamous Bard......

Here's tae us

Wha's like us

Damn few,

And they're a' deid

Mair's the pity!

May those who live truly be always believed,

And those who deceive us be always deceived.

Here's to the men of all classes,

Who through lasses and glasses

Will make themselves asses!

I drink to the health of another,

And the other I drink to is he

In the hope that he drinks to another,

And the other he drinks to is me.

All my very best to all, and to a happy New Year! Slanj!

Jist Dae It!

Week 3

The last 3 weeks seem to have flown in, even though I have been confined to the apartment and able to do very little! Maybe it's because Santa’s coming? Truthfully, I am now actually beginning to enjoy the rest and the rehab. I am feeling physically and mentally in tune, all the little niggles that I normally feel have gone, feeling fit and healthy and the knees feel like they did when I was 20 something! However, i am at my heaviest i have been in 5 years - back up to my Hooker weight! Lol.

I returned to hospital on Thursday for my follow up appointment. Its always a little worrying as the mind starts to run through various worrying scenarios and outcomes!? Lesson learnt, no point in worrying about or pre-empting the outcome before you even hear the outcome!

The hospital was bang on time with my appointment, which is always a good start, very efficient. The Surgeon ran through the op procedure again and the course of action he had taken, went into it in a lot more detail thankfully! Upshot was that I had pretty much wrecked the tendons as I did not back off when I first felt the pain! Won't be doing that again, i will learn from the past and  back off every time I feel any sign of 'man pain' in the future! Good news is that it looks like everything was successful and should hope to experience a full recovery! He also said that because of the way he had to reattached the bicep tendon, the actual bicep muscle will look bigger when flexed! Bonus or what!!! Not just fixed but bigger than before! Lol... So I asked him if he could do the same on the right side too!

After I was finished with the surgeon I was sent along to begin physio treatment. I was introduced to Niall, who knows his stuff and assessed the movement of the shoulder, elbow & wrist. Impressive range through shoulder that sets me ahead of the game at this early stage of rehab! It just shows that keeping physically fit and following the advice of the professionals is a great combination to enhance the rehab procedure. He gave me a few passive movement exercises to do over the next couple of weeks and I have to keep the sling on when out in public for the next week to protect the shoulder.  Sleeping well at the moment and that's also helping the rehab lots! Came off the pain killers and anti inflammatories at the beginning of the week and seem to be managing ok at the moment. However, the advice now is to still keep the pain to a minimum so the body can heal by taking painkillers when required. So far it's not been needed, fingers crossed!

I will begin exercise rehab next week. I will take pictures before during and after to show the progress that I will post when fully recovered. I will also log my full exercise program back to full fitness together with nutrition involved and keep you all posted along the way! 

2nd week after...

The pain is finally under control. However, that is not necessarily a great thing since its my dominant hand that is affected! As such, it's really hard not to use it to do all the silly everyday tasks you normally take for granted like: showering, brushing the teeth, making a cup of tea, using the TV remote, and its a good job I'm going thin on top as its a nightmare trying to do the hair!

The hardest thing to deal with so far has, surprisingly, not been the lack of exercise (4 months of 4 spin classes a week, no lifting reduced back to nothing for last 2 weeks!) I guess that is because the body is welcoming a LONG overdue period of rest and recovery!? To be honest, the real problem has been adjusting my eating habits. Trying to restrict the calorie input due to the complete reversal of calorie output from the lack of training/exercising! I have always been used to cramming the calories in to keep on top of training and therefore it's a huge lifestyle change to suddenly switch to the complete opposite!!! The current situation is exaggerated by the fact that restricting movement and doing NOTHING makes me incredibly board! And when I'm board i slip back into old habits, eating! Aaaaaaaargh, the vicious circle! So, i’ve decided the best way to deal with it is clever shopping! Restrict what is available so snacking is impossible!

If you fancy looking further into the details of the ‘Repair of the Bicep Tendon’ then check this out:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ODIgAbq7DxI#

Next week will see a return to the surgeon for a follow up..... Lets see what news that brings?