Memory Lane

Back when Matt and I were engaged, and he was living at the U, my matron of honor helped me with a fun little prank. I covered his car in playing cards. Something we still smile about today. I haven't done anything this intensive since, but it was worth it!

Shoulder Surgery and recovery

The day is finally here! Matt had his rotator cuff surgery. Imaging was in October, results in early November. That's when we were told his options were surgery now, or surgery later. His rotator cuff was torn about 30-50%. We met with the surgeon who said unless you're someone like him who looks at hundreds of these images, you wouldn't notice the shadow and whatevers which tell us his rotator cuff is hanging on by a thread. Surgery was set for December 15th. 

Also, a few Matt-isms between October and December: "It hurts to scratch my nose." and "I can't open a banana."

Surgery Day. The anesthesiologist said Matt needed to shave. He had a real nice goatee on him. I saw a little bummed to see it go, but they were all "if something goes wrong the beard will prevent a full seal. I don't think it'll happen, but you need to decide if you'd rather have your beard and die should the worst happen." That's not what he said, but that's absolutely what he said. 

Matt said he'd be dead so who cares and left it up to me. Of course I told him to shave. It grows fast. He's got enough growth now he could have it back again if he wanted. One thing I was excited about post surgery was that he'd finally have a real sling! I got some "one size fits all" slings from Wally World and Walgreens, but neither were big enough for his broad shoulders. I cut the strap off one and sewed (well, when I say "I", I mean his mom. She owns a sewing machine. I don't.) it to the other. The extra sling went around his Hobbes stuffed tiger with a basket handle for a strap. :)

Surgery Day came. A few hours of unconsciousness and voila! He's all fixed. Turns out his rotator cuff was only 10% torn. It folded back on itself giving the appearance of a bigger tear. Most of his symptoms were from a tendon that had a tear like it was a string cheese. They "released" it and that was it. I heard several stories of Elway winning the Superbowl with both tendons released... so I guess it wasn't an important tendon. I'm also sick of hearing about Elway's tendonitis.

Good news is that will make his recovery faster. He had his first physical therapy appointment the 18th. At this point he has four different exercises he does. When he's not doing his exercises he must year his trend setting immobilizer sling. 

To keep his mind off the pain, Matt's sister came to the rescue. We had moved the TV for better viewing from the couch and they played Halo on the Xbox for days and hours. I was able to get some sleep when she came over, which I really appreciated! (I took 2 weeks off work to stay home with him after the surgery. I didn't leave the apartment much, but met my step goal every day! Meals ended us being pot pies and burritos a lot of the time because I'd be too tired to cook.)

Matt didn't do his stretches yesterday, tho. We spent some time in the ER instead. The surgeon gave us strict instructions to go to the ER if he had a fever. Luckily it's not related to the surgery. He doesn't have the flu or pneumonia (which is what I was worried about). Just a gastrointestinal virus. We assume he got it from someone at the New Years party we went to. The doctor said it's a bug usually seen in the spring, but they've seen a lot of people for it lately. Go figure. Matt is hilarious when he's feverish and on pain meds. His conversation consisted of 3-6 words. "I love you." or "I love you, my sweet wife." or "I love you, my Beka." Seriously, he didn't say anything else the whole drive home until after we got home and he slept for 10 hours. It was cute! Today Matt said he thought he was having an intelligent conversation at the time. Hee hee hee.  

Matt returns to work tomorrow. He's taken all the days off he can. He can't type much, so we'll see how the days goes.