Over the months since my accident and breaking the heck out of my right arm and bunging up the shoulder, I've been slowly improving following surgery, recuperation and physical therapy. Slow, but continuous improvement.
The last several days, however, I've been feeling intermittent scraping and grating sensations in that shoulder, accompanied by renewed pain. Not as bad as the intial injury, or right after the surgery, but definitely a major step back from where I'd gotten to in recovery.
I'm babying the arm, and even thinking about putting the sling back on, to see if it'll recover by itself. But I have a tendency to catastrophize the future, and my true worry is that the prosthetic joint may have started to break loose or that the shoulder bones (which got compressed together pretty badly in the accident) have moved into a position where they're rubbing together. I've tried to move up my next appointment with the orthopedic doctor at Mayo, in mid-April, but his schedule is booked solid; his secretary said she'll try and move me into any opening that becomes available.
Worst-case scenario: I end up having surgery again, possibly a complete re-do of the joint-replacement procedure, putting me back to where I was right after the first surgery. But I won't know for sure until I get new x-rays and an evaluation. I'll keep nudging the doctor to try and squeeze me in sooner. (Because, y'know, the uncertainty is just one more bit of worry on top of worry.)
The last several days, however, I've been feeling intermittent scraping and grating sensations in that shoulder, accompanied by renewed pain. Not as bad as the intial injury, or right after the surgery, but definitely a major step back from where I'd gotten to in recovery.
I'm babying the arm, and even thinking about putting the sling back on, to see if it'll recover by itself. But I have a tendency to catastrophize the future, and my true worry is that the prosthetic joint may have started to break loose or that the shoulder bones (which got compressed together pretty badly in the accident) have moved into a position where they're rubbing together. I've tried to move up my next appointment with the orthopedic doctor at Mayo, in mid-April, but his schedule is booked solid; his secretary said she'll try and move me into any opening that becomes available.
Worst-case scenario: I end up having surgery again, possibly a complete re-do of the joint-replacement procedure, putting me back to where I was right after the first surgery. But I won't know for sure until I get new x-rays and an evaluation. I'll keep nudging the doctor to try and squeeze me in sooner. (Because, y'know, the uncertainty is just one more bit of worry on top of worry.)
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