week 15 Bicep Tenodesis update!

I can't believe how bad I have been this week! With my brother and his family driving from Washington State to Minnesota for the week, I have been very lax in my physical therapy. I maybe did 1/2 of 1 session every day, vs. 2 sessions twice a day. And, I didn't do any strengthening.

And, I am feeling it. A lot of stiffness. More pain during the night/morning. When you are so exhausted, and dead on your feet from all the sightseeing, cooking, visiting, etc. the last thing on your mind is to go through an hour of stretches and strengthening exercises.

So, I am back to the grindstone. Still exhausted, but by Monday I will be on a roll again (this weekend I am playing catch up, focusing mostly on my stretches!!)

I have almost full use of both arms now. 15 weeks post op, and while I have tenderness during the day and pain during the night, and of course, stiffness in the morning, I am able to open heavy doors with either arm, carry bags, lift things, etc. What limits me now is my strength (which I am slowly working on).

I can now reach behind my back with both arms, even though it is still painful. That stretch with my left arm, and the one where I bring my arm across my front, to the other shoulder, to stretch, are still the most painful stretches that I do.

I definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel. Even though I am tight and stiff from not doing my physical therapy this week, (well, for 5 days since my appt on Monday where the PT said I was doing well), the pain is actually getting better, day by day. little by little.

Next week I hope to have a better update for you!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Rebecca

left shoulder: bicep tenodesis, subacromial decompression, and distal clavicle excision 8/12/2010
right shoulder: subacromial decompression and distal clavicle excision 9/16/2010

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Week 14: Bicep tenodesis and SAD/DCE

I am doing good. Moving right along on my recovery. Not much difference to report this week, except that I started seeing an S.O.T. chiropractor about 2 weeks ago, and that has made a remarkable difference in my range of motion with his active release techniques.

I have to admit I have been slacking off the past few days on my physical therapy. I have basically been doing the stretches to make sure that I can go as far as I have been able to go previously, and then I move on to the next one. I can't believe how busy I have been, and as a result, have been so exhausted all I can think about is sleep.

So, I have to get back on the bandwagon. Physical therapy is key!

My range of motion is getting a lot better. The pain is decreasing. The pain at night is still pretty bad, and I can't get comfortable, but oh well. That will decrease as time goes on, I just know it! I can reach behind my back now, but not move my arm up my back very far (my left arm). With my right arm, I can go halfway up my back. I am still working on those specific stretches. Those are the stretches that I have been slacking off on, mostly. And, Steve has been helping me with the sleeper stretch.

I am up to 2lbs on my left arm, and 3 lbs on my right arm, while doing most of the shoulder strengthening exercises. I know, that doesn't sound like a lot, especially after 3 months since surgery. But, well, you don't really go much more than that at all, ever. And with the arm curls, I am up to 5lbs on my right arm, and 3 lbs on my left, so that is good. I can see some muscle definition starting to show. Woohoo!

Long hard process. Tough. Painful. You have to be persistent. And patient. And follow the instructions of the physical therapist and the OS.

Oh, just a note... I am not icing very much at all anymore, maybe a couple times a week, at night. The doc said that there was really no need to at this point now.

The most painful things for me are the tricep muscle where it meets the teres minor rotator cuff muscle.(in my left arm). I am still using Soothanol X2 before bed and sometimes in the morning. And in the morning I am taking either Aleve or Advil, but only once per day. I know I should take it more often, but it just isn't happening, I forget, or am too busy to think about it. Then before bed I am too tired to go all the way downstairs to get it, and already brushed my teeth and can't take on an empty stomach, so I just say oh well, and go to sleep.

I have been using the Far Infrared Sauna about 4x a week.

So that is my latest report. My thoracic spine area has been causing me pain, but I don't know if it is still the chronic pain that I experienced before my surgery, or temporary. I did have a rib pop out early last week, but the chiro put it back in and it was the most amazing feeling of relief. But I still have some muscle pain between my shoulder blades.

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Times change. People don't.

“Times change. People don’t.”
—John Caples

This is regarding marketing -- reading between the lines you are told that yes, times change. We are not the same society as we were in the 1700s. But... people stay the same -- we are all the same. We want acceptance, love, companionship, we want to feel important, proud of our accomplishments, and make something of ourselves. This can be said of people in 800 B.C., and it can be said of folks in the dark ages, and in our modern time.

So... regarding marketing, so many marketers think it is is important to do things differently because times are changing... the media we use can be different, but the marketing itself has no need to be changed. The concept, the ideas, the ones that have stood the test of time -- can all be the same.  Here is a list of emotional hot buttons that work in all media, regardless of whether it is online, in print, in a direct mail piece, or on television (just watch the ASPCA ads for confirmation that this works!)

The emotional hot buttons that work in all media: fear – greed – guilt – anger – exclusivity – salvation – flattery.

These ideas that I wrote about are from an article that Denny Hatch wrote, and can be found here

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Week 13 post op bicep tenodesis and subacromial decompression

Is week 13 unlucky? I don't know, but I am sure stiff and sore!

I have realized a few things:

1) if I miss a morning or evening of doing my physical therapy exercises, or if I don't do all the exercises (especially the sleeper stretch, which is the "death stretch"), then I am going to be extra stiff the next day

2) while it seems like the pain isn't going away, yet, I do have to acknowledge that I am doing MORE -- more weights on my strengthening days, more repetitions. So all in all, I would say I am improving.

3) alternative therapies do help. For example, I started seeing an S.O.T. chiropractor last week, and I walk away from his office feeling great. And the medical massage that I get every other week seem to help, as well.

I am borrowing a TENS unit from a colleague who had a frozen shoulder a few years ago. I wake up being super sore after using it, like I had a huge workout the night before.

I also had some issues with my thoracic area, a rib had popped out, which caused a lot of pain in the surrounding muscle groups around my shoulder blade.

But, overall I am doing good. Sleeping still sucks big time. I am not taking any pain killers at night, but I do take an anti-inflammatory in the morning with breakfast. I switch back and forth from advil and aleve. Last night I didn't do my stretches -- I did a sauna, but I got home late and had so much to do that I scrimped and cut out my stretches. Bad mistake. This morning when I did them, I was super stiff!! I have to remember not to do that anymore. Even if it means going to bed later, I have to do my stretches. That is key!! Even more important than sleep!

The only movements where I do not have full range of motion in, are putting my left arm behind my back to try to scratch my back, for example. That is a very difficult move. I can get my arm behind my back, with the help of my other arm, or with the wand. Another movement that hurts is bringing my arm across the front of my body to the other shoulder. I can do that, almost full range of motion, but it hurts like heck!! And not a stretching too much kind of hurt, but real, honest to goodness pain!!

Well, I am 13 weeks out. The doc says I am going along just fine for the time it has been. I am ready for it to be a month from now... I hope I am feeling amazing then! Week 17 will be my magic week!

My right shoulder hurts near the acromium (up at the top of the shoulder where they cut the clavicle and took out the bursa). That will take months to stop being so tender. I am ready for that to be done, now! It has been 8 weeks now, and from what I have read and heard, it is doing fantastic. Full range of motion, not much pain at all doing the movements I do, and it is easily bearable.

Posted via email from rhauptman's posterous

A different kind of chiropractor

I have this annoying rib that always pops out from my thoracic spine. It is the T-4 vertebrae. It has plagued me for almost 20 years. Unfortunately, once it pops out, it is hard to get it back in place. I have gone to chiropractor after chiropractor, and I leave my appointments in pain.

So, I think about 2 years ago, maybe a little less, my rolfer told me about a modality of chiropractic that I had never heard of before. It is called S.O.T. (for sacral occipital technique). So I searched online and found one within 20 miles of me. That has made a difference in my life!

So, the past week I had horrible thoracic pain, and really needed some relief. It is bad enough that I am struggling with my shoulder pain from my surgery recovery, so I went to New Brighton Chiropractic and saw Dr. Andrew Kollar. Not only did he pop my rib back in without any pain, it was done with pure ease.

And, he did active release technique on my shoulders, to help me in my rehabilitation from my shoulder surgeries. It is amazing. I go in with limited range of motion and I leave with full range of motion.

And, he doesn't "crack" your back by jabbing you real hard with his hands on your back. That isn't how SOT chiropractic works.

So, if you live in the area of the north metro in the Twin Cities, I would strongly suggest checking this clinic out. And, they are all so nice! Even the other patients that you get to meet are very friendly!

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I wear my detox foot pads only on the weekends

I have been wearing my detox foot pads only on the weekends. Since I workout and shower before bed, (thanks to the time it takes to dry my hair, I don't bother with it and just let it air dry overnight), I don't have time in the mornings to stick my feet in the tub and scrub the goo off them. So on weekends that is what I do. I wear 3 on each foot for 2 nights a week.

I can tell when I haven't worn them for awhile. There is a big difference in how I feel, and how I sleep. I know I am recovering from 2 shoulder surgeries, so sleeping is difficult as it is, but it is a bit easier when I wear the foot pads, which is nice, since the weekends are my only available times to sleep in.

Every person is different. Some parents use them for their kids, for the sole purpose of helping them sleep better. They make a huge difference! Other parents use them for their kids because their kids are showing signs of ADHD. The detox pads help these kids by pulling the toxins out of their bodies. As a result, they are acting like normal kids vs. hyperactive, no attention span sugar-junkies. I believe diet plays a role as well. The more you can get your kids off of high fructose corn syrup, the better!

Right now I am offering 40 free detox foot pads with the order of 200. So for only $190, you get 240 detox foot pads, which is enough for 1 person for 4 months. That is a crazy good deal.

Check them out if you haven't. I give away free samples if you email me.

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