I got an MRI on my shoulder, the one I dislocated nearly 14 months ago, about 2 weeks ago.
The orthopedist office called me and said we can review the MRI with a physicians assistant an a few days, or with the doctor in a few weeks.
Depending on those readings I would have to decide whether to upgrade my insurance, and do so basically the day of the appointment with the PA, or have to wait 6 months The upgrade would save me a lot of money on Physical therapy and followup visits.
The PA pulled up the MRI and was like you have a full width/ thickness tear of the Supraspinitus.
I was like āwhat about the subscapularis?ā I know I completely fail the three tests one can do to see if their subscapularis is ruptured.
āOh, we are not really worried about the Subscapularis!ā
āReally, well I kind of am!ā
She quickly scrolled thorough some other images but never having looked at an MRI before i had no idea what to look for and she just hemmed and hawed and returned to the obvious break of my SupraSpinitus saying there is no way that heals without surgery, and the topic of subscapularis was therefore somehow irrelevant, and I was getting annoyed.
I am not doctor and had foolishly not had a list of questions to ask, but I was ālike there looks like a lot of retraction. How can you grab that tendon and stretch it all the way over here and reattach it.
Did I wait too long?
Oh no they can just go in and grab it pull it over and bla bla bla. you definitely didnāt wait too long but you want to do it ASAP!
āThat seems like it would take a huge amount of force, like there would be a huge amount of stress on the remaining tendon and the sutures and the anchors.ā i said
Oh dr so and so does dozens of surgeries per month, you will be in good hands. Dont worry
I snapped this tendon 14 months agoā¦.. I said, but she was already headed for the door.
āThe front desk will call you to schedule your surgeryāā and like a fart in the wind she was gone.
That was on a friday.
First thing monday morning I get that call, and I am like WTF, I have no Idea if I can even afford this or if i want to even go through with it, I didnt even get to ask if there were any options or other considerations.
Oh well we will mail you an estimate after talking with your insurance.
Why didnāt you do that first?
That came back as 1200$ not including this that or the other thing and subject to change, and the surgery center said they would need a minimum of 1500 dollars but the anasteologist is not included and we have no idea what they will charge, and all this other stuff is not covered and bla bla bla.
Just call us up when you want to schedule.
So a week has passed. The recovery from this surgery looks like a pretty major ordeal. 6 weeks in a sling and then months of physical therapy.
Researching how long is too long after the traumatic rototor cuff tear, the answer is basically sooner is better but 6-12 months is the maximum and chances for a successful repair drop dramatically after that high likelyhood the remaining tendon is too weak and the sutures pull right through, and I am worse off than I am right now.
Factors like the degree of retraction and fatty infiltration of the atrophied muscle are huge factors as is age and overall health.
I could plainly see on the MRI that the retraction of the Supraspinitus was well past the glenohumeral joint, well past the 22.5mm ādanger zoneā.
Fatty infiltration means even if they were to grab the broken tendon and run a suture through it, it might just cheese wire the remaining tendon, and the surgery would be a failure, and iād wake up and theyād be like sorry, you need a full shoulder replacement.
Overall, I feel if I were to go ahead with this painful and expensive and life altering procedure during the recovery, I have no faith that it will be successful.
6 weeks in a sling basically means instead of helping my 88 year old dad take care of my Alzheimmered mother, he gets to take care of both of us.
It means I canāt effectively or safely do any of the house or yard maintenance, or cooking or cleaning or shopping, or even drive, for at least 6 weeks.
It means I canāt Pull Fiona in her chariot, Which is basically my only fucking Joy left, And Fionaās mammaries are growing lumps again. She might not have very long left.
It seems like the system does not care one whit whether the surgery will be successful, only that it will earn them money. All of my concerns and questions were dismissed or just unanswered.
Fuck this shit.
My fault for waiting too long, but I couldnāt afford the 9K$ bill for the emergency room, I had no insurance, i couldnāt afford an MRI. The ortho i saw initially was the same way. I wanted to know how likely it was that I had a full tear and which rotator cuff was the most likely damaged and what to exercise and what to avoid, but the GD Mfāer could not get out of the room fast enough, to go snort another line of Coke. I left the office 190$ poorer, with a generic printout of basic rotator cuff exercises and a growing anger and hatred, and NO answers.
4.5 months later had the MCI, Three coronary stents added, and my shoulder seemed the least of my worries.
So I am thinking That there will be no shoulder surgery, I will never be able to paddle into a wave again, or hold my arm up above shoulder level ever again without poppy clicky crunchy grinding and some pain on the side.
But I will be able to help my dad take care of my mom, and I will be able to tow Fiona in her chariot for as long as she has left.
The shoulder is not hugely painful. Does not affect my ability to sleep anymore.
It is emotionally painful knowing I will never surf again, that re-dislocating my shoulder will always be too easy to accomplish, and that Fiona will likely not be with me too much longer.
Makes me want to go bundle up and pull out the Esk8 and the chariot and go bark up the hood with her in the middle of the night, and fuck all the self important people in this neighborhood who will complain like I am personally responsible for the cattle prod up their rear ends.
, is going to be made from TenPower 50XGās.
