Hey, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted but there’s been things happening. Some good and some bad. About two weeks a go I started to develop tendonitis in my shoulder. My therapist always says “we listen to the patient” which means the shoulder, not me. I have been following the prescribed exercises at home and it was just too much for “the patient”. We backed off the 2 pound weights and using the thera-bands and went back to stretching and assisted movements. Two weeks later, I’m back to trying weights and was successful for the past two sessions. We are using only 1 and 2 pound weights and it is amazing how quickly the muscle gives out given the fact that there is no muscle right now. The atrophy has been pretty severe and the rehab to bring me back to the point of being a firefighter/paramedic again will take some time.
I am impatient at times and feeling like I could do more but I was told numerous times not to overdo it and ruin the therapy. I’m pleased with the progress so far and am amazed at the range of motion I have regained. It’s not much but it is more than the two inches I could raise my arm after surgery.
There is still some every-day pain in the shoulder and bicep area. Ice helps the throbbing and sometimes medicine helps me sleep but for the most part, you get used to a certain amount of daily pain and just “suck it up”. My advice to anyone reading this who may be going through this therapy and rehab it to be patient and let it work. If you try to lift more than you are able, you could tear something and put yourself back to square one, surgery.
