Shoulder issues- starting the process.....

As dear ol' Dad used to tell me, "There'll be days like that. Then there'll be days that are worse."

Aging isn't for sissies. Aging has been going on since birth. Everything deteriorates a bit more every day until some critical piece of the puzzle fails and they call the undertaker to haul you off. Some say age is a state of mind. I tend to support that analysis. If you think you are old, you will be old.

The common physical ailments that come from years of repetitive small damaging events are much easier to adapt to than sudden, major injuries. When I was about 37 I had a very significant shoulder injury that occurred in seconds. Spent six months wondering if I would ever get that arm higher than shoulder level again. Eventually it healed and I still have virtually full use. On the other hand, my son-in-law had a similar shoulder injury. Three surgeries later he still isn't worth a hoot.

I hope for your sake that your doctor's analysis will lead to a plan of action that will quickly put you on the road to a full recovery. The biggest problem is that most surveyors are doers. We just can't hold back and watch. Doing without irritating the injury is the challenge.

Shoulder pain like that is really odd when it strikes.
Two possible "cures".
First, when I got out of the Army, I went to work for my Dad. He was having a problem with bursitis (SP?). His shoulders really plagued him. One of our co-workers was part Choctaw Indian and somewhat of a "Medicine Man". He bought Dad two buckeyes and told him to put one in his back pocket on the side that was giving him shoulder pain. Now Dad was a graduate Chemical Engineer from the University of Minnesota, so he was more than skeptical, but so as not to make our co-worker feel bad, he tried it. From that day on he NEVER went anywhere without his buckeye. (My theory is that sitting on a golf ball sized seed pod all day tends to take your mind off you shoulders.)
Second event, I started to have that same shoulder pain a few years later. It came and went. Well, I decided that I was going to learn how to hunt deer with a bow. Got a really nice Martin Warthog bow. Spent hours shooting target bags in the back yard practicing for deer season. 60 pound pull compound bow. Haven't had ANY shoulder pain since then.
I recommend the bow. It's much better than having a seed pod jammed up your butt. Plus, should the occasional squirrel of rabbit stray into the yard, you can silently harvest that critter for a really good supper that night.

> Getting old sucks.

I have an assortment of age-appropriate aches and pains, but none are debilitating. My wife, a life-long athlete, seems to go from one musculoskeletal injury to another, and some of them have seriously restricted her mobility for weeks. (She's currently battling some sort of hip flexor thing that's painful enough that she can only walk at the speed of a 90-year-old.) I keep thinking that if anything like that happens to me, I'm in big trouble; being pretty much solo these days, there'd be no one to do the field work.

I'm thinking that the child-bearing thing renders women more prone to such injuries as they get older. In fact, I'm counting on it!

The old adage,

Does doing this hurt?
Yes

Don't do it that way anymore.

After an operation and after an injury, you will go thru a period of therapy to learn to use what they repaired and it will feel better as you continue to ease back in use of the injured shoulder.

Before you begin any treatment, start doing everything in reverse with the left part of your body because while you are healing, that is what you are going to be doing.

Your problem can be strained muscle, tissue damage, nerve connecting to bone spurs, cartilage gone or a number of reasons that cause pain.

The modern medical fixes are a big step ahead from decades ago and with the right doctor they can get you going again.

I am falling apart compared to what I was 10yrs ago and it takes more days to come back from an all nighter, like I could actually do an all nighter at any useful pace.

Pace yourself and do what you can do as well as you can without over doing.

Just get 'er done. My Dad (75) has been bitchin about his shoulder and back for years. He finally "got 'er done" last year and now cusses himself for not doing it sooner. Turned out both operations were just simple out-patient arthroscopy with minor invasion.
Sure isn't like the "Whipple procedure" my Mom went through. You get cut pretty much in half. That surgery went on for the better part of 18 hours and 2 specialists called in.
E

Ended up chatting with an old friend, age 53 or 54, a couple of days ago. Hadn't seen him for at least three years. Turns out he has been out of work for a year and a half and in the three years prior to that went through two surgeries on one knee and one on the other. His employer found a way to fire him rather than have half an employee. At his age and with his medical history he can't find anyone to hire him to do anything. So he is moving home to live in what was his grandparent's house and live off of his wife's income. Fortunately, she can earn nice, but not great, money.

Not every employer will keep you around when the chips are down. Being self-employed may keep you in a job, but income will shrink as you become less physically able to perform that job. Creativity may be essential.

Shoulders are a very complicated joint. Surgery is not usually that painful...its he rehab afterward that can be tough.

The inevitable.....

> Not every employer will keep you around when the chips are down. Being self-employed may keep you in a job, but income will shrink as you become less physically able to perform that job. Creativity may be essential.

Good luck, folks....

I have had 16 rounds with the cut and paste gang. Last February was my shoulder. It was the longest recovery but the best outcome.
Don't let anyone near you with a knife if they can't tell you what's wrong and the plan to fix it. There is a long road of testing before you get there. A decent PT regimen usually keeps you off the table...

I found out today that the son-in-law had surgery number four on his shoulder on Wednesday of this week. It's so common to him there was no need to mention it to family. Bit of a tear around the rotator cuff, a significant problem with a bicep, some arthritis issues and something else. So it was sort of wash, rinse, wash, rinse, wax, rinse, vacuum-kind of a day.

I heard rotator cuff is the worst to recover from

Rotator cuff repair is rough, but there are high points. My wife had that surgery last summer. They gave her this big foam square thing to wear to rest her arm on. one of them strap on thins. One night while she was in bed I took a close look at it. Lot more there than she really needed. She had been bugging me to go out and work the back yard garden, but I reminded her that the doctor said "NO!!".
Then I had one of those moments. A "Guy Moment" idea that would allow both of us to benefit from the experience. I told her that I would do the garden and she could watch and supervise. (Anytime you offer a woman a chance to be in charge, they will leap at the opportunity !)
So, that night I took the foam thingie , cut a flap lid and hollowed that sucker out. Just enough room for a six pack and some ice. I worked the garden, she bossed and toted the beer. Best win-win situation I ever had!!