Thursday, March 24, 2011

Lake Sasheen


Sasheen is a beautiful mountain lake about 40 minutes north of Spokane Washington. I drove here to visit some wonderful friends whom I hadn't seen in several years. I had always been here to visit in the summer months, and didn't expect the lake to be frozen. This is a full time residence so they enjoy summer and winter sports here. I am standing on the lake on a 40 degree day. The ice must have been 8 to 12 inches thick and it was not unusual to see snowmobiles out on the ice. I still don't like the cold weather but this was a fun visit. I wonder if this means I can actually walk on water.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Shoulder Arthroscopy







This is the Shoulder surgery I had done last week here in Wenatchee, Washington, USA. These are a few magnified pics taken with the scope during surgery. The first shows the subscapular tear, which is the tendon coming across the front of the shoulder. The second shows the tool identifying the tear and the third shows the stitched and repaired area. The bicep tendon was also torn and had to be reattached with two Lupine Anchors which were drilled into the bone. These anchors are made of a biocomposite material which have a total bone absorption within 24 months. I don't think I can explain or even understand the procedure very well. The cost was $1892.00 per anchor and that is also something I don't understand either. I am sorry but I didn't have enough room or time to write the total cost of the procedure in this blog. After a week I'm recovering well it seems. It's still most difficult to get comfortable and sleep at night. My right shoulder was injured while lifting weights at my gym in London last fall. This is my 6 th sports related injury that has required surgery. I still have never even slightly been injured by falling off of a bar stool. We all live and learn don't we! When I die, I will leave my heirs instructions to remove and sell those anchors. With inflation, I'll bet that would buy me a hell of a pine box.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Life With one Arm







This hasn't been all that easy of an adjustment for me. I'm not supposed to lift anything that might use my right bicep for 6 to 8 weeks. So The sling on my right arm is really only necessary to remind me not to use that arm. I've had to drastically alter my lifestyle and think, for a change. I am now cleaning up my yard in the one armed style which isn't to dificult. I've found a pair of shoes without laces, use my phone with my left hand and actually drive just fine with my left arm. But it's the most basic simple daily tasks that seem to cause the biggest problems. I got a few examples with the camera. It's not that easy being a one armed blogger.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Surgery










I showed up at 10 AM yesterday for shoulder surgery and was finally taken in at 2:30 PM, with no food all day. The procedure took 2 1/2 hours fixing a tear in the front tendon and also a tear in the bicep requiring permanent stitches and screw anchors in the bone. I woke up at 5:30 PM and decided to stay the night in the hospital. With a full dose of pain killers the shoulder still hurt like bloody hell every single time my heart would beat. Actually the rest of the time it didn't feel bad at all. I shared a room with another sad dude and was hooked up to several wires and tubes. The drugs made me sleepy but each time I dozed off an alarm would sound when my pulse dropped below 50. I have a resting pulse rate in the low 40's so I tried to find a girlie show on TV to get it up over 50. Of course I didn't find the inspiring show that would work so I had them recalibrate the alarm. As always I had the greatest care from the Wenatchee Hospital staff. My nurse finally released me at 10 AM this morning after an enormous breakfast. I said good bye to my gas passing room mate and walked out into more fresh snow. UGH!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

More Trouble




I planned my Wentchee visit early this year and this is the main reason. My right shoulder has been hurting for 3 months so I got an appointment with my favorite orthopedic surgeon in Wenatchee, and here are the results. A tear in the front shoulder muscle showed up in this MRI yesterday. So since it won't heal on it's own I will have the surgery next Tuesday and that's right after a root canal last week. I'm trying to get my projects finished at my Lake home as I will not be able to use my right arm for several weeks. I have the kitchen torn apart and will get it back together this weekend. So I got it all figured out right? not quite, I get another call from the radiologist...He says another problem showed up in the MRI, it appears that I have too much blood in my alcohol stream. It's Saturday night so I'm heading to town . I know how to fix that problem. I just wish I had known sooner and maybe all this wouldn't have happend.