Facing surgery / time off- or just deal with it.

[racsan]

Waaay back in early june I went in for a yearly physical, While I was there I was asked about getting a pneumonia shot. I should of said no, the day after I had the normal pain from a shot, but the day after that I couldn’t raise my left arm above my shoulder, extremely painful. Made a appointment to go back & toughed it out all week. heat didnt help, muscle creams did nothing. My mother (who is a RN ) thinks the shot was gave too high on the shoulder. at the next appointment I was told a mri could be done but I had to go through physical therapy first due to insurance reasons. So- I go through 3 months of that, twice a week, at home iceing (which did actually help a little) and then I was “allowed “ to have a mri. that happened friday. Today I got the results, Im told a have two torn tendons, one partially, one full. and brucitus (however you spell it) Im still thinking its all about that shot, nothing has changed about how I do my job or what Im up to at home, and If anything my right shoulder should be injured if it was something I did (im right handed) . So there’s this pandora’s box. leave it be or go through surgery. My job has no medical leave, no idea recovery time but I doubt I will be up & ready after a week vacation. the pain is sometimes not that bad, always worse in the mornings. I doubt it could fix itself, I realize you heal slower with age (im 55) but This aint no sprain. I dont think Id lose my job but Id surely lose income for awhile. Haven’t heard from orthopedic yet to know all the details but im stressing over it all. Anyone been through this? Im reluctant to get any more shots-ever! pneumonia would of been faster & easier to deal with!

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

My dad had to have shoulder surgery… they said it was worse than they thought once they got in there and it was 3 months in a sling before he could even start therapy…

 

[racsan]

thats part of what worries me, and Ive slso heard other stories where the person was worse off than they were before surgery. Neither option sounds good.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

My left shoulder has been giving me grief for years. Not my dominant shoulder either. Severe arthritis, bursitis, torn something, and some other shit wrong I dont remember the name. No mention of surgery so far, but I'd rather have it done and over with than futzing around for years with " therapy" and cortisone shots.

 

[sgtsandman]

I had shoulder surgery after my right should dislocated. They found old injuries as well as the new ones from the dislocation and had to repair a bicep muscle that had torn. This was only about 5 or 6 years back, so roughly when I was 50. If your job is like mine and is paperwork intensive, you might be able to talk them into letting you come in and do paperwork, reducing the amount of time lost. Of course, I'm partially ambidextrous because of the nature of the work I do. So, that helped.

Anyway, there were three small incisions where they went in to repair the rotator cuff and repair the bicep muscle. If memory serves, I was off work for about two weeks before the surgery to recover from the dislocation and do physical therapy. Then about another two or three weeks after. I went into work as much as I could before and after surgery to minimize the amount of sick leave used and because I was bored from not being allowed to do any of the normal stuff I do.

The pain was worse from the dislocation than it was from the surgery. I tried taking the pain medication they gave me, it made me hyper and jittery. It also made my stomach queasy and I could not sleep. So, I just stuck with aspirin as I needed it after that.

So, talk to them at work and see if there is some kind of arrangement where you can still go in and be productive, even if you are in a sling. You might be surprised with how much they are willing to work with you since you are willing to come into work.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Oof, all this talk I really want to get my left shoulder looked at... ignoring the issues for 20 years worked for a while until it didn't and now it's been another 3 and isn't fixing itself... starting the doctor journey again doesn't sound fun, once you start going again they don't let you stop and always find something new to keep you there...

 

[sgtsandman]

Oof, all this talk I really want to get my left shoulder looked at... ignoring the issues for 20 years worked for a while until it didn't and now it's been another 3 and isn't fixing itself... starting the doctor journey again doesn't sound fun, once you start going again they don't let you stop and always find something new to keep you there...

The surgeon I dealt with wanted to stop at rehabilitation. I was the one who pushed for the surgery. With the work I do and being in the military, it was going to happen again if it didn't get fixed. And I most definitely didn't want it to happen again!

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Yeah, the system up here does surgery as a last resort.

 

[scotts90ranger]

The more I exercise mine the "right" way the more mobility I have but the range of motion is garbage, putting the T case in my F350 was pathetic, had a real hard time and was even using a transmission jack... of course the 4407 is huge, not particularly heavy but awkward and was at the wrong angle...

I'm not talking about not wanting surgery, if it would help I'd be for it, it's just the monthly checkups, whether they'd put me on blood pressure meds or something for weight loss again, trying not to act wrong where they think I'm depressed (fine line with a doctor between sarcasm and issues... ), it just seems like once you start you can't stop until you just stop going... granted I know I'm not getting younger, yearly checkup is one thing but it didn't stop there last time...

If you have torn ligaments myself I don't think that'd be from a shot unless they had really horrible aim and finished one off, I've slept wrong and screwed myself up... not torn ligaments and tendons bad yet though...

 

[rumblecloud]

Sandman has the right approach. If you've been a good reliable employee, they might cut you some slack.
Good luck with whatever direction you decide.

 

[Shran]

I assume you are working part time? You maybe could use FMLA leave: "Part-time employees may be eligible for FMLA leave if they have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and for at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months before their leave begins. If eligible, they are entitled to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period, which can be taken all at once or intermittently."

You have to request it prior to taking it so plan accordingly. It's not something you can use tomorrow like you would with sick leave.

 

[superj]

it has to be a previous unknown injury. even when my jeep rolled on me and my shoulders got crunched inwards a few years back, i only have any left over pain on the right if i sleep on it all night. there was no other damage inside. did you use to play baseball or something like that? i tore something in my arm doing that in elementary school

 

[Uncle Gump]

You might get short term disability...

My shoulders have been giving for awhile.