I haven’t been on the site for awhile. Lots going on. I wanted to ask if anyone has had surgery after having been diagnosed with FM. How was your recovery? About 8 years ago, I had a hernia repair & my life has never been the same. It took until 2 years later for me to be diagnosed with FM. Then came all the meds - lots of trial & error. But I haven’t had a surgery of any kind since being diagnosed. I am supposed to have a shoulder surgery that will clean out the calcification and reattach my rotator cuff tendon that has been mostly torn away. I hope for there to be less pain after the recovery, but don’t know what it will be like. Just a bit nervous about it.
Would love any response to help me understand what this may be like. Thanks!
Rotator cuff surgery is very painful and you have to force yourself through the rehab exercises, They hurt, but if you are going to get any range of motion back and able to have a life, you Must do the exercises faithfully. What kind of work do you do ? or what is your lifestyle.?..that enters into the degree of healing also. I would ask this doctor for any written information he has and ask HOW MANY SURGERIES LIKE MINE HAVE YOU DONE. If he says 200 you could try it. ASK if he can give you any references from any of his patients. If he is honest and said only 4 exactly like yours, I would RUN to a different doctor. He has to have had lots of practice for it to come out well.
Thanks for the response, Carolyn! I know the recovery will be painful, but I am willing to do what I need to get back the range of motion, strength & lack of pain. He said that with FM patients it can take up to year to get the best result you will have. But the arthritis will be gone and the tendon will be reattached as it was meant to be.
He was the orthopedic surgeon that my chiropractor referred me to. He’s has sent many patients to him over the years and they have routinely done well with him. He didn’t roll his eyes, or back away in any sense when I brought this up with him. He acknowledged my concern and answered directly. How often do you see that in a doctor? We are on target to do the surgery on Friday, May 3rd. They haven’t told me what time yet, but will the day before.
My husband is really onboard with my getting this done. He hates to see me suffer, especially if there is a way that I can, hopefully, get some relief. He is very supportive of me, especially in regard to the FM. He is going to be off with me for the first several days, possibly more. My younger daughter is coming home from California to stay with me for awhile to be around if I need her. My older daughter lives in Cincinnati, 2 hours away, & works free lance, so can work from anywhere, if need be.
I had done PT before the decision to have surgery came about. We were hoping to avoid having to go that route, but it didn’t help - if anything, it was making things worse. So, I know I will have good people to help me with the recovery & help me do those exercises.
I work in a cemetery office. I sell graves, flat bronze markers & run burials. I also do some filing & other normal office work. Other than that, we are a pretty sedentary couple. This may be a good time to start some sort of exercise/healthy eating regime with my husband. We could both stand to lose a substantial amount of weight.
I will try to keep you updated about my recovery. Maybe it will help someone else contemplating having this done.
Good morning! Just thought I would give an update from my surgery - rotator cuff tear. It has gone very well, so far. I haven’t had the pain that I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle (because of the Fibro). They gave me opiods for the pain immediately following the surgery. After a few days, I dropped down to Tylenol & ice. I have since only taken Tylenol as needed, but I try to use the ice pack whenever possible.
I am still home from work as it has only been just past 3 weeks since having the surgery. I am to start the PT next week. I anticipate more increased pain level during those sessions as when I have inadvertently moved the arm I have had terrific pain shoot into my shoulder. Pray for me that I can get through this without triggering a flare.
At any rate, when I started this discussion I said I would update you as I travel this journey. Thanks for your support!
it’s been so long since i was on-site. it sounds like you are doing well. i’ll check back to see what things are like now that its ALMOST Christmas. i am hoping everything has worked out well for you …tell us how PT went.