Shoulder surgery postop follow-up

I'm almost 6 weeks out from my arthroscopic right rotator cuff surgery. Here's my post about the first part of the journey.

I'm feeling much better. I can now remove the sling while I am sitting. It has to be on when I'm walking, and I still have to sleep in it. It's a bulky thing that prevents me from moving and possibly damaging the healing tendon repairs.

Sling selfie

You can see that I can't raise my arm or move it too close or too far from my body.

Tendons are not as sturdy as ligaments, fascia, or even skin, so they must be given a lot of time to heal. Excess active motion could disrupt the repair. That would be bad.

The problem is that the immobilization causes the shoulder to "freeze." It quickly becomes very stiff. At my physical therapy sessions, the therapist passively moves the arm into places the shoulder does not want it to go. Passive motion does not stress the repair. We go for more range of motion at every visit. It hurts. I'm also doing some carefully selected exercises at home every day.

Some funny things have happened. The other night I dreamed I was playing tennis. I was hitting the ball really well, but I kept thinking, "Mary (my wife) is going to kill me if she finds out."

Last night's dream was about me standing in a large group and explaining over and over how I hurt myself, what the surgery was like, how long the recovery will take and on and on.

I don't need Dr. Freud to help me interpret those dreams.

Later on this week, I'll be able to discard the sling and even starting driving again. The physical therapy will continue for a few more months. I hope to be back to full activity by February.