Here's #18
Thank you for the Ream & Run procedure. I'm doing everything I want to and most importantly, doing the activities pain free. Although I'm 71 , I'm extremely active - road biking, handball, backpacking, swimming and still functioning as a pediatric dentist . The three words that best describe why I'm where I'm are patience, discipline and dedication. The healing process is long and you need to be patient and not become discouraged during the recovery. It requires lots of discipline to perform all the exercises when you sometimes don't think you're improving whatsoever. There are numerous plateaus in the total recovery process. Finally, you have to be dedicated and commit to a lifetime of exercises to maintain strength and range of motion to insure continual health of the shoulder. I know looking back it was worth it. I'm living life on my terms at least in regards to my shoulder.
JS
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Here's #19
Upon returning home from UW we followed the Physical Therapist instructions. My raised my arm to 180 degrees at least twice daily. After a month or two I was able to do it by myself. Every morning after breakfast I would lay on my back & raise my arm to 180 degrees. As I gained strength I added weight. I kept this up for 2 years & now am able to do anything especially golf & work with no pain even to this day. My advice to anyone considering this surgery is to do the therapy religiously for best results.
RB
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Here's #20
First and most importantly was the incredible skill and surgical experience that ha been brought to the mechanics of the operation. Without that, whatever I did would have had a lesser outcome or no significant improvement of my greatly deteriorated shoulder. The skill of the repair was tantamount to the success because it created the platform for what I could do to build on that perfect foundation and rehab the shoulder.
Pain management was also a crucial component. Aggressive management of the initial trauma enabled me to meet the immediate movement protocols. I was not prepared to begin rehab within an hour from being moved out of recovery, but pain management gave me the confidence to embrace what was requested and stay with that protocol throughout my stay at the hospital. Same for my recovery and rebuild at home- not pain free, but manageable so I could engage all the exercises- initially using the cable raise, then self-assisted movement to about 150+ degrees overhead. By the way, that was a move that had caused partial dislocation prior to surgery and a position that required no small of measure of mental "bracing" to engage in.
The single element that allowed me to succeed in this replacement is simply this: I believed I had the best surgical team available; I followed every direction and completed all rehab instructions and religiously logged completion of every exercise and the time of exercise provided by the world-class physical therapy team at the medical center. Believe, Trust and Do. When it hurts- push through. It was amazing to me, that the initial prescription for oxycodone appeared to me running out before my followup exam, so I called for a refill, which arrived in the mail (paper Rx) just three days before my return to the office. I still had a couple doses left, so I filled that Rx on my visit. Because the recovery had caught up with the pain threshold, I no longer needed the oxy and could manage on the Tylenol alone. That prescription remained sealed with the red tape until I flushed it a couple of months later. The rehab protocol had taken me from surgical recovery to pain free, not even tylenol needed, by mid-November (merely 60 days). From my perspective, that's nothing less than amazing and it has changed my life. I am most thankful and appreciate everything you and your team have done to give me a pain-free life back.
RO
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First and most importantly was the incredible skill and surgical experience that ha been brought to the mechanics of the operation. Without that, whatever I did would have had a lesser outcome or no significant improvement of my greatly deteriorated shoulder. The skill of the repair was tantamount to the success because it created the platform for what I could do to build on that perfect foundation and rehab the shoulder.
Pain management was also a crucial component. Aggressive management of the initial trauma enabled me to meet the immediate movement protocols. I was not prepared to begin rehab within an hour from being moved out of recovery, but pain management gave me the confidence to embrace what was requested and stay with that protocol throughout my stay at the hospital. Same for my recovery and rebuild at home- not pain free, but manageable so I could engage all the exercises- initially using the cable raise, then self-assisted movement to about 150+ degrees overhead. By the way, that was a move that had caused partial dislocation prior to surgery and a position that required no small of measure of mental "bracing" to engage in.
The single element that allowed me to succeed in this replacement is simply this: I believed I had the best surgical team available; I followed every direction and completed all rehab instructions and religiously logged completion of every exercise and the time of exercise provided by the world-class physical therapy team at the medical center. Believe, Trust and Do. When it hurts- push through. It was amazing to me, that the initial prescription for oxycodone appeared to me running out before my followup exam, so I called for a refill, which arrived in the mail (paper Rx) just three days before my return to the office. I still had a couple doses left, so I filled that Rx on my visit. Because the recovery had caught up with the pain threshold, I no longer needed the oxy and could manage on the Tylenol alone. That prescription remained sealed with the red tape until I flushed it a couple of months later. The rehab protocol had taken me from surgical recovery to pain free, not even tylenol needed, by mid-November (merely 60 days). From my perspective, that's nothing less than amazing and it has changed my life. I am most thankful and appreciate everything you and your team have done to give me a pain-free life back.
RO
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Again, this is a small sample of the rehabilitation tips we have received from the many superstars. Hopefully these experiences expressed in the words of the patients is informative.
Be sure to click on this link to the Shoulder Arthritis Book.
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