Shoulder Rehab Week 5

Tuesday and Thursdays I do physical therapy with Susan, who has done both knee surgeries as well as some back and hip rehabilitation with me. This week we did measurements on Tuesday to see where I am from my first evaluation on October 6.  I am making great progress getting my arm up above my head and am at 152 degrees now, (180 degrees is straight up) and 2 1/2 weeks ago I started at 115.  I can lift my arm out from my side to 98 degrees which is 18 degrees better than at the beginning.  I am now adding a few more movements and exercises to my day to get more flexibility. 

Tuesday was also my second time swimming, well kicking, in the pool. I managed to get 2,000 meters in with the aid of fins for some of the 1 armed swimming.  I will try to post video of that next week.  Right now I feel literally like a fish out of water since my last real swim workouts were in early August.  Here is my current swimming accessories until sometime after Christmas, a sporty grey band to keep my arm down.  So far it works but when I do flip turns I really want to raise both arms.  I swam a blistering 4 minutes and 30 seconds 200 meter 1 armed free. Thus, the bar has been set, ha ha. 

Wednesday found me at Dr. Carlini's office for my 2nd post surgery follow up appointment.  I had all my reading materials and a letter to write and a charged phone (usual wait time is around 45 minutes or so) but I needed none of that today.  The computers were down and the doctor was running a little ahead of schedule.  Hmm think they are connected? Regardless I was able to see Dr. Carlini in a timely fashion and it he was really pleased with my progress, so far. He said my flexibility is coming back really well, I am still on track to swim a real stroke around Christmas time, and am now on anti-inflammatory to help me get to the next step and beyond.  I don't have to wear my arm sling anymore unless I want to around large crowds and my incisions look good.  There is a period of healing that has to take place before we can move onto using light weights and building up strength again.  The anchors that are in must really be able to hold the tendons in place.

 I have to say my shoulder still hurts, and sleeping isn't always that easy to do. After the PT and swimming yesterday it's tired today and I am looking forward to the anti-inflammatory starting tomorrow.  Up until now I have just been taking Tylenol.  This weekend will be a challenge since I will be at a water park with my daughter and I don't think I want to call attention to myself in the pool area with a grey band around my arm.  I also don't know how many, if any, slides I will go down but I am looking forward to hanging out in the pool with Piper.  More next week!!