having surgery?

[wabi-sabi]

Hi Everybody,

I've ripped up my rotator cuff wrestling with my wheelchair. I had a virtual visit with my doctor this morning and she recommended PT to start with. (One good thing about the virus! telehealth) But if the PT doesn't restore enough functionality then the other option is surgery. I am terrified of this, but I think that's where I'm heading. There doesn't seem to be much good info on how surgery effects ME/CFS. Surgery was also part of my initial disease trigger. I can't keep on with my arm as broken as it is. Can't use my wheelchair at all, let alone wash my hair.

Does anyone have thoughts or experience with this?

 

[Sushi]

Does anyone have thoughts or experience with this?

I had surgery last year and had no repercussions--only the few days it took to get over the general anesthesia and a very sore throat from intubation. But, as we know too well, we are all individual in our responses. An important question might be what type of anesthesia they would be proposing? I gave my anesthesiologist guidelines for working with ME/CFS/Dysautonomia/EDS patients, and he respected them. Good luck with PT>

 

[Judee]

Until you can get it x-rayed or something to confirm the damage, can you try some natural things to see if they help? I was reading about gelatin today because of a doctor's recommendation to increase my mother's protein levels and some people were getting joint relief from that. It may be a lame suggestion as it sounds like you are truly having a rough time of it but it was just a thought.

I've also heard of someone getting rotator cuff relief with prolotherapy (a co-worker's husband) but when we tried that for my mom's back issues we got very mixed results. If I remember correctly, they were recommending surgery for him as well but it usually is not covered by insurance and it is an uncomfortable treatment to endure especially if you find a practioner who does not use some type of numbing agent first.

I also had two treatments on my neck and TMD/TMJ but didn't really get any relief from the treatments.

Sorry to hear you are going through all this. Hope you get some relief soon.

 

[wabi-sabi]

I have a PT appointment tomorrow and I am hopeful for that. I just feel so broken already from the ME/CFS that I'm having a big temper tantrum against life that a broken shoulder just isn't fair! I'm an adult, and I know life isn't really fair, so I will eventually get over this.

I guess what I'm struggling with right now, is if I don't get enough function back with PT, do I do surgery? I guess those questions of what can be recovered surgically and what recovery would look like can only be answered by a surgeon, which is a long way off.