Wednesday, February 25, 2009

MRI results are in!

I had a shoulder MRI on February 16th. I met with the orthopedic specialist on February 23rd (Monday) and it is now official:

Arthroscopic shoulder surgery is required.

Looks like I have the following issues:

  • Seriously inflamed/thickened tendon (not the rotator cuff tendon, another one)
  • Bone spur impinging on the rotator cuff tendon
  • Potential partial tear of the bicep tendon (there's a dark triangle spot where the muscle should be on the MRI picture)
If they have to repair anything inside (instead of just remove), I could be in a sling for up to 6 weeks. With 6 months to full recovery.

If they don't have to repair anything, I'll be in a sling for 1 week, with 3 months to full recovery.

I'm waiting on approval right now, then they will schedule the surgery. It will be on a Wednesday, since that is his surgery day. I'm hoping it will happen on March 4 or 11...too much later than that and I'll still be wearing a sling at the STC conference in Atlanta if they repair anything.

1 comment:

John Hedtke said...

Marilyn had arthroscopic shoulder surgery when we were stuck in Indiana. It sucked, but it did the job it was supposed to and she's all better now.

The big message I have is that when they tell you whatever the physical therapy is to do, you need to do it religiously and you'll recover quickly.

And thank you for understanding about Bernie the cat. Yes, it's very hard but it's the way things work sometimes. :(