[Image credit: Lessons Learned in Life, a Community Page About Self Help on Facebook]

Certainly, recovering from two surgeries since September 2012, the most recent one this March, I’ve had lots of time to consider “how I’m doing now” as well as choices I’ve made.   One’s perspective of life changes in a heartbeat when they have a sudden jolt of “reality”–a “Cosmic Thump”  that forces them to face their own mortality–especially if they are on the “downside of the mountain.”

“What’s up for me” is the common question raised by such an experience:  “what do I REALLY want to do?”

My original plans had been to launch a new blog about the two-year walkabout experience that altered my life course dramatically–Trekking with the Wuu-wuus (working title).  I had also intended to revise my NaNoWriMo-gernerated YA book, Claiming her Power, about the teenage girl with extraordinary super powers who only wanted to live a normal life (my celebration of the profundity found in everyday, quite ordinary life).  To re-do my award-winning screenplay, Hot Licks & The Bag Lady as a novel because I believe that’s a better form for that particular story.  And, my imagination keeps tempting me with a novel based on a hitch-hiking-through-Europe experience from my early twenties.

About the blog

This blog was started as an experiment, a personal journey if you will, to discover my life purpose, which is rather amusing considering that I have taught college courses in “Find Your Bliss” and offered workshops in “Discovering Your Life Purpose, having read almost every book written on the subject at the time.

Truth is, I already know my life purpose as defined by the authors of Life 101, (a favorite “spiritual journey” resource twenty years ago along with You Can’t Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought by the same authors).  Life Purpose is the essence of who we are; it is not what we do.  The essence of who we are serves as a guide, a decision-making tool for what we choose to do because options either resonate with it or don’t.

In my present frame of mind, there’s also the “hassle factor” to consider.

In my life, when I’m “on course,” everything is easy and fun.  When I’m trying to “swim upstream,” going against my purpose, it’s not.

Writing as an Indie Author has not been hassle-free.  Instead, it has been a ginormously steep learning curve including bizarre-to-me issues of branding, social media, complex computer skills like creating different formats of my books, and the unknown-to-me-even-as-a-former-professor issue of dealing with the amazing “stoop so low pettiness” by a group of wannabe critics.

So naturally, in this extended time of reflection created by recovery from surgeries, my mind automatically dials up a hassle-free time that was fun and easy-going:  my 12-year period as a Holistic Health Practitioner.

Now I’m thinking about going back to that–teaching yoga, exercise, and DansKinetics; offering body-mind massage therapy, a.k.a. “bodywork;” holding Alchemical Hypnotherapy sessions and workshops;  and helping people with health issues to adopt a healthier lifestyle–in some tiny town, perhaps in the Smokies, where no one knows me . . ..

Either way, this is the last post for SkatingThru2012.  I am wounded, I need to focus on my recovery from this shoulder surgery that makes sitting at the computer excruciatingly painful, and . . . I will re-appear in the not-too-distant-future if  blogging and writing is indeed in the stars for me.  [How will you know?  Follow me on Twitter:  @drpamyoung]

Before you leave, if you have not already seen these book movie trailers, they’re quite brief and any feedback you want to share will be appreciated:

Movie Trailers:

My Final Quit – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzIZ8bTPyac
Night Sounds – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSYTY30lX40

Thanks for following! Best wishes! Jai Bhagwan!

~Pam

Some Related Posts:

• Where do you want to go?
• Beginnings
• Taking a Moment to Reflect Discloses True meaning
• Lessons from Deer
• Another Thump from Cosmic Cops
• It’s Gotta Come From the Heart
• The Secret of Life
• Hassle is Just Another Word For Guidance
• Do What You Love And . . .
• Ask Yourself, “How Am I Doing Now?”

During the first six weeks after shoulder surgery, I was stuck in that special sling with a strap around the waist, a pillow between my arm and my body, a shoulder strap that always needed adjusting, and no way ever to get comfortable enough to sleep in the recliner because the damn thing seemed to move wrong just as I nodded off, applying pressure to my injured shoulder, waking me with sharp pain.  As each day passed, I felt myself growing more and more “edgy,” feeling trapped and claustrophobic like a wild animal in a very small cage.

Then Came The BALL

Twelve days after surgery (!) my PT at home was rolling a large ball—back and forth (away from me, towards me)—on my table three times a day for five minutes each session, strong arm doing the work, injured arm going along for the ride, arms only, no shoulder involvement.  The PT made a video of the exercise to remind me not to use my involved arm, and I posted it on Face book.  And the twice-a-week PT away from home was limited to passive manipulation of the injured arm by the

physical therapist who hurt me more than once despite his saying that “this phase is pain-free, we go only to the edge of pain then stop.”  Uh huh.  What is it about guys who always want to “torque it down a little tighter?”  Grr.  That was followed by “stim/ice” (stimulation similar to “tens” machines and icing the shoulder with a heavy “ice bag” that covered most of my upper body (Brr!) which was administered by their techie.

But at the six-week mark, everything changed!

At my six-week follow-up appointment with the doctor, he said, “Take that off (the sling); you don’t need it anymore,” and he finally gave me the link to his “Computer-Assisted Rehabilitative Exercises” with a pulley I could set up over my door.

Voila!  My world changed.

Suddenly, I was out of the sling, and my shoulder was carrying the full weight of my arm that had been supported 24/7 by that cumbersome thing (!)—Huge motivation to restore the muscles in my injured shoulder.

More Physical Therapy at HOME!

The exercises are on his website under the “Care for Patients” tab and I had to have an email “invitation” with password to enter, “…because of some regulation,” he said.  But other websites have similar exercises*.

I looked at the videos for Weeks 0-3:  been there, done that on my own. (It was “how to get into and out of your sling” without hurting yourself even more).

Then I looked at the series for Weeks 3-6 and ran to the other room to grab the pulley so I could get started.  Six exercises to address range of motion included flexion with pulleys, the “pendulum” arm swings, and isometrics—holding the injured arm in different positions and pushing it out against that resistance, without movement. They were relatively easy, felt good, and I felt even more motivated because knowledge is power!

I did not receive these exercises until my week 6, but that’s cool.  I’ll do those from Week 3-6, Weeks 6-8 and just keep adding the new ones as I’m ready.  Since I’ve lost the sling I’ve already engaged the shoulder-surgery arm in housework—and just doing my life– and I am reminded frequently where those limits are—mostly in reaching or lifting.

I am so happy that I now have a program I can do in the comfort of my home, on my time schedule, with two cats who adore me and stand ready to lavish me with love.

Bravo to my doctor for empowering his patients by setting this up online.  While he is either forgetful or distracted to the extent that he let me leave without setting either limits (for movement and weight lifting) or even the next appointment, he certainly understands what a patient needs, he’s got tools, and he shares them.  Works for me!

Till next time, I’ll be Skating Thru my days with confidence that I will, in fact, be delivering my hot leftie’s serve (play tennis) summer of 2014 (if I still want to)!

My intention with this series is to share what worked for me when I had two surgeries in a five-month period—my gift to anyone facing a similar ordeal—especially those on their own, who have no tribe to take care of them.

[Written by an older woman who lives alone in an attic, who has no tribe taking care of her, who had her surgery during winter when it snows, who has to go up and down her outside stairs for trash, groceries, and laundry on an old-surgery knee that sometimes buckles so she has to hold the hand rail with one hand leaving no hands to carry stuff, who has only her non-dominant hand for doing stuff—in short,  The MOTHER of Invention.]

Related Posts About My Experience With Rotator Cuff Surgery:

• After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Week 1
• Rotator cuff
• Day 1 After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Pampered!
• Day 2 After Rotator Cuff Surgery
• Living in a Shoulder Sling 24/7
• After Shoulder Surgery:  Clothing & Hygiene
• Having Shoulder Surgery?  Stock UP!
• Managing Pain
• After Shoulder Surgery:  Managing with One Hand
• What I Learned About Insurance, Money and Helpers After Surgery

* PT REHAB After Rotator Cuff Surgery:

• After Surgery Torn Rotator Cuff Exercises
• Rotator Cuff Tears;  Rehab after a repair (video)
• Rotator cuff problems:  exercises you can do at home
• REHABILITATION AFTER ARTHROSCOPIC ROTATOR CUFF REPAIR: CURRENT CONCEPTS REVIEW AND EVIDENCE-BASED GUIDELINES
• Rotator Cuff and Shoulder Conditioning Program (A.A.O.S., pdf you can print)

My intention with this series is to share what worked for me when I had two surgeries in a five-month period—my gift to anyone facing a similar ordeal—especially those on their own, who have no tribe to take care of them.

Insurance and Medicare

New to Medicare?  I was.  Did you know that Medicare sets the standards for what is covered and how much will be paid?  That Medicare pays only 80% of whatever they do cover?  Your secondary insurance might or might not pick up the 20% that Medicare doesn’t pay; mine pays half of that balance.

Fortunately, I have an accident policy as a tertiary insurance because I’m so healthy that I figured if I ever had to see a doctor, it would be the result of an accident, like the time I fractured my leg playing tennis, and that is what saved me during this two-surgery experience because they both resulted from the same accident.

Once Medicare has paid their 80%, your provider will bill your secondary insurance, and if you’re lucky, your tertiary insurance.  I got so overwhelmed trying to keep up with who paid what to whom that I threw myself on their mercy and asked if they would please include my tertiary insurance for the highest good of all concerned—i.e., they’ll get paid quicker because they “speak insurance” and I don’t.

This wasn’t my idea, but came from a gal in billing for ER at the hospital where my friend took me the next day after the fall that exploded my elbow and tore my rotator cuff tendon.  Happily, they complied and this second surgery billing has gone more smoothly.

Even so, between now and the next open enrollment in November, I definitely will be shopping for a better secondary policy!

Did you know that you can appeal a judgment made by Medicare?  And that sometimes a bill will be denied because the code isn’t in alignment with Medicare guidelines? Perhaps  it was the doctor’s “diagnosis” stated with the requests for tests that were denied; getting the doctor to rephrase that diagnosis might change eligibility for that bill.  Maybe the code the provider submitted was not in alignment with Medicare’s codes.  Each time I phoned, I found the Medicare agents to be courteous, knowledgeable and super helpful.

Learning to ask for what I want has become the theme of this experience.

As a result of my experience from the first surgery, I set up a special “Health” bank account to track expenses—especially those not covered by insurance.

Money

I found it helpful to withdraw a sum of money in different denominations (like a “bank” for a garage sale) to make it easier to repay people who might do things for me—e.g., pick up something for me on their routine shopping trip. It helps to have a way to pay close to the exact amount; it’s foolish to imagine a helper will make change, and handing over a twenty-dollar bill can result in an unpleasant situation.  Ouch!

Helpers

Before your surgery, spend a minute listing friends’ names and phone numbers.  Ask if they would be willing to help you and in what way.  Type the list and post it where you can easily access it.  Don’t be offended if half those cannot follow through and help you; focus on the ones who can.

Of the ten who said they would help me, only two have been available—an 83-year-old woman (who was also my after-surgery-caregiver) who did it out of “loving service”* and a 14-year old boy who has come twice in the month since surgery for $10/hour—a new-to-me friend.  (*And, for the record, I was so overwhelmed by her generosity and loving care that when my tax refund arrived, I shared it with her!)

Getting help after surgery can be like Homecoming—everyone assumes you’ve got a date!  You might have to call your friends and ask again, or you can be like me and just do it yourself.

For the five months that I’ve been disabled by surgeries, I have taken my laundry to the Laundromat, bought my own groceries, picked up my mail at the post office, and done my own cooking and cleaning.  What I mean to say is that if you’re alone, you needn’t feel helpless.

Probably the most important thing I’ve learned since that fall in mid-September that began this journey is that no matter how bad it is, I CAN Do It.  And that’s huge.

[Written by an older woman who lives alone in an attic, who has no tribe taking care of her, who had her surgery during winter when it snows, who has to go up and down her outside stairs for trash, groceries, and laundry on an old-surgery knee that sometimes buckles so she has to hold the hand rail with one hand leaving no hands to carry stuff, who has only her non-dominant hand to do stuff—in short,  The MOTHER of Invention.]

Related Posts:

• After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Week 1
• Rotator cuff
• Day 1 After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Pampered!
• Day 2 After Rotator Cuff Surgery
• Living in a Shoulder Sling 24/7
• After Shoulder Surgery:  Clothing & Hygiene
• Having Shoulder Surgery?  Stock Up Before Surgery!
• Managing Pain
• After Surgery:  Managing with One Hand

Other Resources for Rotator Cuff Surgery:

• Power Healing for Surgery by Dr. Sinatra
• So you’re having shoulder surgery
• What to expect after rotator cuff surgery
• Post Rotator Cuff Surgery: Ten Factors to Consider During First Six Weeks

My intention with this series is to share what worked for me when I had to manage with one hand–a gift to anyone facing a similar ordeal—especially those on their own, who have no tribe to take care of them.

Managing without your dominant hand

Eating with my non-dominant hand got easier when I started using a small salad fork and a bowl balanced on my shoulder while kicking back in the recliner.  And these lightweight, special-rimmed Calibowls made an even bigger difference because the rim acts like the knife-edge one might use if they had two hands.  I wear less food now.

How to unzip a baked sweet potato with one hand:  After it’s baked, cut off each end.  Slit the potato skin lengthwise.  Lift up the skin and let the cooked potato unroll into your bowl. Voila!

Make sure your RX bottles can be easily opened with one hand.  Flip lids are easier than the reversible caps that have to be screwed down.

Don’t torque the lids down on products you use every day.  After surgery, especially if it involves your non-dominant hand, you’ll be happy you can open that puppy. Be sure to tell anyone who might stop by to help that you’ve done this; my first caretaker sprayed iodine on a wall that had been hand-painted with a sponge; I’ll get to repaint the kitchen.

Use your dish drainer to position dishes for washing, to keep them from dancing in the sink. Wash, put in sink, then run water and rinse them all at once and return to drainer.

Grip large items between your knees to open lids.

Use the flatware cup of dish drainer to position and hold small jars for opening the lids.

Use dish drainer to hold bags (berries, nuts, etc.) upright before cutting off tops with scissors.

Cutting your hair off doesn’t necessarily make it easier to wash with one hand and it can make you feel bad or even go crazy if it’s a bad haircut.  Arggh!

Technique for drying one hand:  hang a hand towel over a lower cabinet door.  Dry the back side of the hand by rubbing it downwards across the towel, then turn your hand over to get the other side.

If you live upstairs, invest in reinforced garbage bags that are less likely to tear when you bounce the bag down the stairs with your feet so you can hold the railing with your one hand against falling–much cheaper than paying someone $20/hour to take it out for you.

[Written by an older woman who lives alone in an attic, who has no tribe taking care of her, who had her surgery during winter when it snows, who has to go up and down her outside stairs for trash, groceries, and laundry on an old-surgery knee that sometimes buckles so she has to hold the hand rail with one hand leaving no hands to carry stuff, who has only her non-dominant hand to do stuff—in short,  The MOTHER of Invention.]

Related Posts:

• After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Week 1
• Surgery Today
• Rotator cuff
• Friendship
• Day 1 After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Pampered!
• Day 2 After Rotator Cuff Surgery
• Living in a Shoulder Sling 24/7
• After Shoulder Surgery:  Clothing & Hygiene
• Having Shoulder Surgery?  Stock Up Before Surgery!
• Managing Pain

Other Resources for Rotator Cuff Surgery:

• Power Healing for Surgery by Dr. Sinatra
• So you’re having shoulder surgery
• What to expect after rotator cuff surgery
• Post Rotator Cuff Surgery: Ten Factors to Consider During First Six Weeks

My intention with this series is to share what worked for me when I had shoulder surgery—a gift to anyone facing a similar ordeal—especially those on their own who have no tribe to take care of them.

About Managing Pain

About those pain meds:  anything your doctor prescribes for pain (a narcotic of some kind) is likely to cause incredible constipation—even if that has never before been an issue for you.  The secret is to take a stool softener each time you take a pain pill, and drink lots of water throughout the day (at least 1/2 your body weight in ounces, according to Batmanghelidj, M.D.).

Rent an ice machine! I learned that from the elbow surgery (when I used ice packs) that preceded this one by five months.  (Please see “After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Week 1,”  below).

This time, I made blocks of ice in my freezer with plastic boxes for that life-saver. My friend stored bags of ice in her freezer after her surgery.  My blocks lasted longer and were more accessible, even with one hand—they didn’t weigh as much nor were they as difficult to handle.

Have at least one of these pain relieving creams on hand: Arnica Montana or Traumeel; I use both, but this time the Traumeel trumped the Arnica for alleviating muscle pain.

Have at least two vials of these pain-relieving homeopathy pellets on hand:  Arnica Montana and/or Traumeel.  I use both.  There are no drugs after the first week but the pain can last up to six months, according to my doctor’s nurse whose husband had the same surgewry two weeks before mine.

Sip water (half your body weight in ounces) throughout the day.  Having enough water in your system mitigates pain (You’re Not Sick, You’re Thirsty, F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.).

Learn how to do pranayama before you need it—especially “Ujayyi” a.k.a. “ocean-sounding breath.”  It relaxes the body, and “relaxed” equals less pain.  (See, for example, http://dancingcrowyoga.com/ujjayi-breath-2/)

Become a master at “switching the focus of your attention” before you need that skill.  Start now, because focusing on your pain only makes it worse. It helps to be able to switch your attention the instant you find it lingering on your pain. I’ve written a handful of articles about this, but this one came to mind:  “Choose Where You Put Your Attention.”

No time to master your thoughts?  Get headphones, a tiny Mp3 player and load it up with instrumental music.  Focus on that instead of your pain.  Consider Deuter,  Patrick Bernard, Bali for some especially good, “spacey” music.

Aim for an alkaline diet–more fruits and vegetables than meat, bread, and dairy. Alkaline equals less pain, especially pervasive body pain.  Got apples? Almonds? Green stuff?

Truth is, the pain from shoulder surgery was no where near as bad as what I had experienced with the elbow surgery–probably because while the “exploded elbow had been fixed,  the injured shoulder was not and the horrific pain came from lying on that shoulder.  This current pain is constant and irritating, like steel claws in my shoulder muscle, but it is no where near as intense what I felt then.  Even so, I felt a lot better about the month in the sling, sleeping in my recliner, knowing that “if pain happens, I’m ready!”

Hope this helps!  Next:  Managing in the Kitchen with One Hand!

[Written by an older woman who lives alone in an attic, who has no tribe taking care of her, who had her surgery during winter when it snows, who has to go up and down her outside stairs for trash, groceries, and laundry on an old-surgery knee that sometimes buckles so she has to hold the hand rail with one hand leaving no hands to carry stuff, who had only her non-dominant hand to do stuff—in short,  The MOTHER of Invention.]

Related Posts:

• After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Week 1
• Surgery Today
• Rotator cuff
• Friendship
• Day 1 After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Pampered!
• Day 2 After Rotator Cuff Surgery
• Living in a Shoulder Sling 24/7
• After Shoulder Surgery:  Clothing & Hygiene
• Having Shoulder Surgery?  Stock UP!
• Attention & Emotion

Other Resources for Rotator Cuff Surgery:

• Power Healing for Surgery by Dr. Sinatra
• So you’re having shoulder surgery
• What to expect after rotator cuff surgery
• Post Rotator Cuff Surgery: Ten Factors to Consider During First Six Weeks

Because I tend to notice such things (former girl scout, firm believer in “Be Prepared!”), I have a fair idea of how much of each household staple I use—e.g., cleaning supplies and toilet paper.  And, I typically make weekly menus before shopping, so I know how much food to buy for a week.  How about you?  Know what and how much stuff you use? If not, might be a good idea to notice a couple of weeks before your surgery.

My intention with this series is to share what worked for me re’ shoulder surgery–a gift to one facing a similar ordeal—especially those on their own, who have no tribe to take care of them.

Put recliner at the top of the list.  My doctor told me to get one for elbow surgery;  I didn’t and I suffered. It’s too painful to lie on that arm, even on all your pillows; recliner shifts the weight to your butt.  (I got a used one for $125.)

A Wedge pillow can be helpful in transitioning back to your bed, but buy yours from a Medical Supply business familiar with shoulder surgery and “try it on.”  I got mine from “parent giving,” an online business.  It’s not the same as one used after surgery,  and they wouldn’t take it back even though it wasn’t used.  (It wasn’t used because it wasn’t wide enough for this skinny adult female wearing a shoulder sling 24/7).

Stock up on household items like toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, pet food, etc.  I keep mine in the trunk of my car (because I live in an attic:   no space).  Having important stuff on hand is less effort than going to the store all the time–especially after surgery!

Reinforced plastic trash bags for kicking your trash and garbage down the stairs.  Much cheaper than paying someone $20 to carry it down for you.

Liquid soap dispensers are easier to use with one hand than a bar of soap.

Stock up on comfort foods, high-protein foods, and vegetables you can use with one hand–protein for body repair after surgery, vegetables to keep you sated so you aren’t always in the kitchen.  What worked for me was ready-to-eat fresh produce (plastic boxes, plastic bags, etc.) topped with tuna, sardines, chicken or salmon (that come in foil pouches, easy to cut tops off with scissors);  hummus with crackers or raw vegetables (already chopped); meal replacement shakes (like RAW Meal by Garden of Life); and (gasp!) frozen entrees that I could nuke.

Buy jars of powdered greens (e.g., Green Superfood by Amazing Grass) and other dried vegetables (e.g., Veggie Vitale by Reuvila.) to supplement your diet.

Invest in the best multivitamin you can afford, accepting the fact that you will not eat 9-11 servings of vegetables/day after surgery if you’re on your own with only your non-dominant hand.  I bought packets because it’s easier to cut open one packet with scissors than to open all those bottles to get the vitamins and minerals I had been taking before surgery.

Plastic water bottle you can easily open.  My cat drinks out of any glass left unattended.  Eww!  My BPA-free plastic bottle from Wal-Mart has a plastic straw, the mouthpiece can be closed (Ha!), and the bottle holds one quart which makes it easy to keep track of my water consumption; I drink three quarts/day.

Get lightweight tote bags in different sizes for carrying groceries and laundry on your “good shoulder” (the next one up for surgery from such overuse) up and down stairs. They’re easier to load and unload if they resemble a paper grocery bag.  (He was in the shower with me this a.m., so naturally he’s in the middle of this.)

Hope this helps!  Coming up next:  Managing Pain

[Written by an older woman who lives alone in an attic, who has no tribe taking care of her, who had surgery during snowy winter, who has to go up and down her outside stairs for trash, groceries, and laundry on an old-surgery knee that sometimes buckles so she has to hold the hand rail with one hand leaving no hands to carry stuff, who has only her non-dominant hand to do stuff—in short,  The MOTHER of Invention.]

Related Posts:

• After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Week 1
• Surgery Today
• Rotator cuff
• Friendship
• Day 1 After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Pampered!
• Day 2 After Rotator Cuff Surgery
• Living in a Shoulder Sling 24/7
• After Shoulder Surgery:  Clothing & Hygiene

Other Resources for Rotator Cuff Surgery:

• from My Rotator Cuff blog:  “Post Rotator Cuff Surgery: Ten Factors to Consider During First Six Weeks” by Tom Matys
• Power Healing for Surgery by Dr. Sinatra
• So you’re having shoulder surgery
• What to expect after rotator cuff surgery

Reblogged from Blogging on The Brightside:

To live with purpose. To say the courageous thing. To celebrate the simple gift. To follow your dreams. This is a happy life. ~ Wayland Henry

This was the quote on a birthday card from a friend I received this morning. She knows me too well... an optimistic quote is the perfect gift.

For the past 24 years, I have had a happy life.

Read more… 274 more words

Even so, my first questions were the same:  what will it be like re’ dressing myself, maintaining personal hygiene, taking care of myself, etc.  Because I live alone in an attic apartment with an outside entrance, “heads up” information was priceless.

However, my incommunicative doctor offered zip insight into “life after rotator cuff surgery.”  Left to my own devices, I searched the internet, asked questions of people I knew who had had similar surgery, but mostly, I drew from what I’d learned during the elbow surgery experience.

My intention with this series is to share what worked for me–as a gift to anyone out there facing a similar ordeal–especially those on their own, who have no tribe to take care of them.

Here’s what I learned about personal hygiene and clothing

About Personal Hygiene

Buy items-on-a-stick–loofah-on-a-stick, sponge-on-a-stick, and a flat surface sponge-on-a-stick–for personal hygiene and applying lotions and analgesics.

Use diluted liquid soap on your wash cloth or “stick” item—like Dr. Bonner’s, diluted 1 to ten as directed, in a small plastic bottle with an easy-to-open flip lid

Stock up on flushable wipes. Need I say more?

Practice now with your electric toothbrush so you can use it with either hand.  A toothbrush is a poor choice with your non-dominant hand unless you think walls and clothes with white dots is chic.

Practice with your water pic unless you enjoy being sprayed. Water pic can replace flossing for this brief time, or you can buy those little dental “pipe cleaners” to use instead of floss.

About clothing

Get over wearing a bra if you have either elbow or shoulder surgery.

Dark tees of 100% cotton with a print on the front are more modest than tees without prints in lighter colors.

Give yourself permission to go without panties; pulling up one waistband with one hand is lots easier than pulling up two.

Give yourself permission to “be in it” and wear the same clothes every day when you’re at home—especially true if you have to haul your laundry downstairs and drive to a laundry mat.

Buy a couple of pairs of sweat pants with elastic waistbands if you don’t already have them. Better yet, get some skirts or kilts—so much easier than wrestling pants up and down.  Caution!  Forget the sweats with ties at the waistband instead of elastic.

If you live in a cold, snowy climate, invest in a pull-over-the-head serape and a cheap “rain poncho” for shoveling snow so your sling doesn’t get wet. Or buy a jacket several sizes too big after trying it on over a “pretend sling.”

Pull-on shoes, not lace-up nightmares.  Anklets (no-show socks) are easier to put on with one hand than regular socks.

Hang your clothes inside out on a coat hanger in a south-facing window; let the sun freshen clothing.

Hope this helps!  Next:  “Stock up before surgery!”

[Written by an older woman who lives alone in an attic, who has no tribe taking care of her, who had her surgery during winter (snows), who has to go up and down her outside stairs for trash, groceries, and laundry on an old-surgery knee that sometimes buckles so she has to hold the hand rail with one hand leaving no hands to carry stuff, who has only her non-dominant hand to do stuff—in short,  The MOTHER of Invention.]

Related Posts:

• After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Week 1
• Surgery Today
• Rotator cuff
• Friendship
• Day 1 After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Pampered!
• Day 2 After Rotator Cuff Surgery
• Living in a Shoulder Sling 24/7

Other Resources for Rotator Cuff Surgery:

• from My Rotator Cuff blog:  “Post Rotator Cuff Surgery: Ten Factors to Consider During First Six Weeks” by Tom Matys
• Power Healing for Surgery by Dr. Sinatra
• So you’re having shoulder surgery
• What to expect after rotator cuff surgery

Calvin & Hobbes cartoon by Bill Watterson

So long ago that I cannot recall where, I read a commentary about relationships told as a tale of two ships; it went something like this:

Two ships lashed tightly together

will sink at the first storm,

but let them sail on their own towards the same port

and they’ll both arrive safely.

If I represented his analogy correctly, the author was implying that relationships require two independent adults to safely navigate life’s challenges.

I’ve had the pleasure of observing all kinds of relationships in my life, and can report that the majority do not follow his recommendations.   Another observation is that people seem to manifest the same style regarding how they approach their relationships–whether romantic, siblings,  or friends.

The use of personal power,  an important concept in relationship styles, was revealed artistically in what I think was the best scene from the film, The Celestine Prophecy.  What I recall about it:  the main character finds this group in the jungle who have information about the next “insight,” and he encounters an attractive woman.  He wants to get to know her, but she rejects his invitation, and he is dumbfounded.  We see energy fields around both parties and his is trying to engulf her.  The message is clear:  he’s expecting her to respond as he wishes and is using his energetic power to persuade her, to overcome her resistance.  (BTW:  women do this, too.)

What do you think?

Consider the implications from the cartoon, the ship metaphor, and the “power play” illustrated in the film with your take on how relationships should be.   Do you want your partner/friend to be dependent upon you?  Do you want your partner/friend to be independent and able to take care of their self? What role does power have in your relationships?

It’s true I get to remove it for PT and showers, and then I feel the mixed blessing of freedom laced with fear that I’ll hurt myself.

Sometimes it feels comforting, safe, like when I’m moving through narrow aisles in the grocery store against a flow of shoppers who don’t always look where they’re going.

Other times, like when I’m trying to sleep in the recliner bought just for this experience and can’t get it right, or the Velcro straps stick to my sleeping bag, it feels claustrophobic, bulky, and just plain irritating.  Grrr!

Tomorrow I’ll finally have my “4-6 week follow-up after surgery” appointment with my doctor and he’ll decide where we go from here.

Related Posts:

• Surgery Today
• Rotator cuff
• Friendship
• Day 1 After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Pampered!
• Day 2 After Rotator Cuff Surgery
• After Rotator Cuff Surgery:  Week One

Other Related Articles:

• from My Rotator Cuff blog:  “Post Rotator Cuff Surgery: Ten Factors to Consider During First Six Weeks” by Tom Matys
• Power Healing for Surgery by Dr. Sinatra