Eight days post-op

When I told my surgeon that I had an ice machine, he was enthusiastic. He told me to bring it with me and he would have it on me when I woke up from the procedure. I have been wearing it almost 24/7 since surgery, using the smaller shoulder pad at night and the larger one during the day. It's the Polar model that holds six 16.9-oz water bottles.

The first day I took oxycodone every four hours as prescribed but after that the icing has kept the pain at a level that I reduced it to one at bedtime. I tried sleeping without the icer one night because the hoses really are cumbersome, but I won't do that again any time soon. The continuous pain relief is worth it.

Today is the first day that I haven't put on the icer after I got up. As long as I don't move my arm, the pain is pretty mild.

I have a waterproof dressing over the incision and can shower just fine, although it's a slow process.

I have used a sling during the day but it is too difficult to sleep with both it and the ice machine, so I'm not wearing it at night. If I move my arm during the night the pain is enough to wake me up and stop moving.

After the nerve block wore off (about 13-14 hours after surgery}) I started regaining use of my hand and forearm. After a few days, they work well enought for me to unscrew caps, get dressed, work a zipper, use a keyboard, etc., which has made life much better.

I have been wearing sweatpants, long-sleeve undershirts, zippered sweatshirts, and slip-on shoes. I switched to long-sleeve tees because otherwise the straps from the icer were chafing the undersie of my upper arms. The oversize tees I bought were a waste of money.

After a pretty dismal week, I feel like I have turned a corner on the pain. It's still there but it's not disabling any longer. I'm not looking forward to Physical Torture, er, Therapy.