Today was my doctor’s appointment, and it is all good. I had another two X-Rays taken; I think I’m about to start glowing green over here. The doctor was very pleased with how my collarbone is sitting. Everything is healing well, and he was happy with my range of motion.
I convinced him that I really wanted to do some physical therapy to start building my muscles back. The danger at this point is still that I’ll overexert it and rip the graft. So regular weightlifting is still out of the question. But I’m allowed to do isometric strengthening exercises: internal rotation, external rotation, abduction, and uh, pushing forward and pushing backward. And I’ll also be continuing with range of motion exercises.
On my way back from the doctor’s office today, I stopped at my friendly neighborhood physical therapist office with a shiny new PT script from the doctor. They checked out my current state, and got me going on those isometric exercises. Afterwards, I got electric stimulation and ice.
I think I might have to get in touch with the doctor prior to my next appointment on May 5. Since that is two months away, I really think I’ll be ready for some additional PT prior to that. In the meantime, I’m cleared for most of TKD, though not for punching heavy bags and other things of that ilk.
And knowing me I’ll continue to push the boundaries of what I can do.
Health
Today marks exactly six weeks since my shoulder surgery. And, based on the original estimate, I can stop wearing my sling today. In point of fact, I haven’t worn the sling for nearly a week. It feels great. If someone didn’t know I had an injury, they probably wouldn’t notice it observing me go about daily life.
I see the doctor again on Thursday, and it will be interesting to hear what we tells me to do. The original estimate was 6 weeks in a sling, the following 6 weeks regaining range of motion, and then 3 additional months of strengthening exercises before resuming contact sports.
Obviously, I’m pushing that particular envelope. I did a few pushups from my knees yesterday. I can throw some punches, though not with full force. Two days ago I hit Kali sticks with my left hand. And today I shoveled the walkway and used a rolling snow pushing contraption to clear the driveway.
Range of motion is also good. There is a little tightness around the incision, but I can reach my arm straight up and then backwards. External rotation is good. I can grab my hands together behind my back. In fact, for someone who has dislocated his shoulder a number of times, it is probably too flexible for the amount of strength in my shoulder.
So, I’m hoping that the doctor will tell me that everything is healing ahead of schedule, and will clear me for some light/medium strengthening exercises. We’ll see.
Health
My surgery was 5 weeks ago today. And for a guy still supposed to be in a sling, I’m doing really well.
Tonight I participated in a martial arts class without my sling for the first time. As it turned out, I didn’t end up being able to participate in a large portion of the class, as the focus was on Hapkido — takedowns and falling. I did do a couple of very small shoulder rolls on my good side, and that felt fine. I did the exercise bike right before class, so at least I got a workout, and I did some extra kicks and ab work off to the side while the rest of class was going on.
I’ve been working on lightly stretching my shoulder. I did some arm circles today. Not full ones, but a respectably large circle. I’ve been doing shoulder rolls forward and back. I’ve been working external rotation (elbow at your side, rotate your fist away from your midsection). And I’ve been stretching it upwards as well. Those motions are all difficult to different extents, but nothing seems abnormally painful.
As far as my daily life goes, I’m hardly wearing the sling any more, except to sleep. And I’m probably safe without it even then. I’m driving without my sling, and in the last few days I’ve begun using my left hand to turn the wheel, rather than turn it exclusively with my right hand. I’ll pick up small objects with my left (such as a glass of water), and I’ve used both hands a few times to lift two-handed objects (such as the cats’ litter boxes).
There is a little bit of a pulling sensation for a couple of movements, like trying to put my right ear to my right shoulder. My elbow/nerve issue that I’ve mentioned a couple of times is still present, though it isn’t as bad as it had been. And there’s just enough of an odd feeling with my shoulder that I’m aware of it most of the time, though it isn’t necessarily painful. The incision itself is healing well, though many of the people I’ve showed it to have thought it a little grisly, despite it being a nice clean line about 4 inches long.
So I’m pleased with my progress, and will be interested to hear what the doctor has to say the next time I see him.
Health
Tomorrow marks 4 weeks since my shoulder surgery. I’ve basically abandoned the sling (except for sleeping) at this point. The problem with my elbow and forearm hurting because of using the sling has persisted. In fact, the pain has gotten worse. I’ve taken a couple of Percocets over the last couple of days due to the pain. This morning I woke up at 4 AM and couldn’t sleep because of the pain. I eventually got a few more hours of sleep — without the sling. I’m still sleeping on the couch because being on a bit of an incline still feels better, and also because I snore when sleeping on my back.
My next doctor appointment is in 2 1/2 weeks, so that should be around the time I start rehabbing.
Health
Last night I took a Percocet for the first time in a while. Interestingly, I’m experiencing more pain now, but it isn’t at the shoulder. The nerve running down my forearm to my index finger has gotten used to my elbow being bent. Now when I straighten my elbow I’m getting a large amount of stretching-type pain. Hopefully stretching it out will bring it back to normal in a couple of days.
My range of motion has been increasing, not that I’ve really been doing much with it. I’ve been trying to keep the shoulder in a relatively neutral position most of the time when it isn’t in the sling. Still, I’m lifting my hand over my head at times to stretch things out. I’m using pain as my guide, and there isn’t any pain doing that.
On the exercise front, not much has changed. After the exercise bike today, inspired by one of the videos over at Martial Thoughts, I put on ankle weights for my side and arc kicks. I kind of liked that, so I think I’ll continue using the weights. Speaking of those videos, the first one wasn’t particularly well produced, and it drives me nuts when people bounce when stretching, but the kicks were good. Second one was pretty well done. They used different terminology than we do, and a couple of the kicks (such as the front heel kick) aren’t in our repertoire. Third one, well, that’s just nasty, and don’t watch that if you don’t want to see a leg break. And, of course, the fourth one was Bruce Lee, which is always good.
As my shoulder gets less interesting, I’m planning on actually having some martial arts content on this blog, so we’ll see how that goes.
Health, TKD, Training
The last two days have been much the same, as far as the shoulder goes. Yesterday, I spent much of the day not wearing the sling. I ran the warmups for the intermediate class, doing a number of kicking drills, then working on wheel kicks and spinning wheel kicks. I was pleased that I could still demonstrate them, even with an arm in the sling. The remainder of class was primarily kicking drills and sparring with a little poomsae mixed in. The final 10 minutes of class involved single and double stick Kali drills. I took part in the single stick drills, but obviously not in the double stick ones. I also rode the exercise bike and did my calisthenics.
Today, I was much lazier. I spent much more of the day wearing my sling, though I left it off during the commute to and from work. When it is 15 degrees outside like it was today, it is good to zip up the coat. My legs were tired, so I took a pass on the exercise bike. Not sure if it was due to overdoing it yesterday, or underdoing it today, but my body is aching enough that I took a couple of Tylenol this evening.
But still, it is going well.
Health, TKD, Teaching
I haven’t posted a shoulder update in a couple of days, because there is becoming less to write about. I’m gradually doing more and more. I’ve been able to tie my own shoes the last few days. I’ve spent more and more time out of my sling, because it doesn’t hurt me to take it out. I haven’t taken any pain medication in several days.
I’m consciously trying to avoid doing too much with my arm, and sometimes I’ll put my sling on because I’m starting to use it too much — carrying a glass of water, opening a door, that sort of thing. Two weeks and a day since surgery, and I really can’t imagine that I’ll be wearing the sling much at all in another two weeks, much less the 4 additional weeks I was told I’d be in the sling. The shoulder already feels much more stable than it did at any time prior to the surgery. So it is all going very well. I’ll definitely be sleeping with the sling on the full amount of time, because that’s the time I’d be most likely to inadvertently do something bad to it.
Tonight I led warmups for the beginner TKD class. The aerobic portion was a lot of kick-1-2-3 (kick with one leg, step, step, step, kick with the other leg), doing front, arc, and inside and outside axe kicks. And some ab work and pushups. I joined in on everything except the pushups (though I did do three middling one-armed pushups). At the class breakdown, I took two of the younger green belts and worked on one-step sparring. Then we started in on Tae Guk Oh Jang, our fifth form. That was somewhat challenging and amusing, since I had one arm in a sling and couldn’t demonstrate fully like I normally do. At the end of class, I found a partner for the long box Kali (stick) drill for a few minutes, which I always enjoy.
Health, TKD, Teaching
As I’ve mentioned several times in prior articles (like this one near the bottom), I fractured a toe in late December. I recently got a bill for their services. The Urgent Care place I’ve now gone to twice is much cheaper/quicker than going to the emergency room, but it is also out-of-network. On this night, they X-Rayed my toe, diagnosed a fracture, and then put a cotton ball between the fractured toe and the next one and taped them together. And they gave me a an orthotic rigid shoe. The physician exam came to $127; the X-Rays to $66; and the toe taping/shoe to $224.
I called my insurance company to ask whether the amount they charged was reasonable. The guy on the phone couldn’t/wouldn’t tell me what was reasonable. I’m not sure if the failure to communicate was on my side. The guy kept insisting that I’d have to call the health provider to see if they charged the right amount. Which made no sense to me. I call the person who is billing me $224 to tape my toes together to find out if that was a reasonable amount?
I really hate health insurance. Fortunately, I make a fairly large amount of money, but with my high-deductible plan, I’m writing a check for that entire sum. Bah. And of course I did it on 12/29, which falls under last year’s deductible, instead of this year when I’m actually hitting the deductible with my surgery… Nope, wait, that doesn’t actually matter, because it is out-of-network, and I’d be paying it anyway. Refer back to the part where I hate health insurance.
Health
I ended up spending the majority of the day not wearing my sling. It is just more comfortable that way. I even made a quick trip to the bank without it on. It was nice to actually wear a coat in 20 degree weather.
Today is picture day. 12 days since surgery (since I started numbering days at 1 rather than 0), and here’s what my shoulder looks like:
For comparison sake, here’s the “before” picture:
And one more picture. The cat sleeping next to my black belt is D’Hoffryn, who gets his bizarre name from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Health
Today was my first painkiller-free day since surgery. No real need for drugs when there’s no real pain. Right now the thing that is bugging me a lot is the pull of my sling against my neck.
My quads were pretty exhausted today, so no workout. Coupled with pizza for lunch (and dinner last night), and I’m falling off that particular wagon. I need to get cracking on my fitness, but I do love unhealthy good.
Tonight was a student promotion exam. 8 students testing, and we had 10 black belts watching them test. It was a very good test. 6 yellow belts and two green belts. 4 adults, 2 teens, and 2 in the 9-10 age group. The exam lasted around two hours; blocks, punches, kicks, poomsae (forms), free sparring, one-step sparring, self defense, and board breaking. A good test all around.
Health