No, that’s not me, that’s a lady on an online ad for a Coreflex rotator cuff surgery immobilizer sling.  Having tried mine on, and worn it for some experiments to learn how it will work, and feel,  I would like to ask why the lady is smiling. Turns out that the tear in my rotator cuff is only part of my problem, cos there is also a bicep tear, so I need that pillow under the arm, that makes the elbow stick out and keeps the arm at just the right angle for the healing that needs to happen.

I’ll wear this all the time between the surgery and the day I go back to have my stitches taken out,  5 days later. (Arthroscopic surgery allows the doctor to do all his magic with 5 small incisions and some unbelievable tools, and his good surgical skills.) Then I’ll be taught how to put it on and take it off myself, without moving the shoulder around and injuring the stitched area inside the shoulder.

My surgeon will repair the tear, and also clean up the inside of the joint, meaning arthritis and bone spurs, which come with age and use. Then I will wear the sling for 4-6 weeks.  Hopefully 4…….  After that, 3-5 months of PT.  As my family doc keeps saying, getting old is not for the faint of heart.  Right.

I’ve made quite a few adaptations around my house to make things easier to do with one hand.  I can use the operated hand, but only the hand on that side, never voluntarily moving the shoulder.  I’ve always thought of myself as being pretty adaptive to whatever life throws at me, but I’ve never been thru anything like this and the kind of recovery it requires.

Sitting at my computer chair, I’ve learned that with the sling on, my hand doesn’t turn toward the keyboard at the right angle to type. Mouse is ok, keyboard is not.  But, I can use voice recognition on my phone into my email, and then copy and paste, like into this blog. I guess that’s pretty adaptive as I think it over.

Back later, with more ramblings.