Shoulder replacement. Live alone w/no help. How to prepare and cope?

Yes true definitely have a dilemma of issues coming up. The bidet would have been the only thing I could have added sounds like you're prepared. Have plenty of oversized wipes from the child section they may help on occasion and just wipe up in case you need it. Good luck to you my friend. Enjoy your day

Hi. I had shoulder repair surgery on my dominant side at age 76. Im not sure replacement is the same recovery as repair. My arm was in a sling for several weeks.

If you have a local senior center find out if they have a grocery shopping service and an aide service to help with showering/bathing. They may also provide transportation to medical appointments. Do you have a neighbor who might be willing to help intermittently?

Ask for in-home pt if it’s part of your recovery.

Start now using your non dominant arm for everything.

I had a recliner and had the lever switched to the other side. If yours is electric make sure the control is reachable.

Have extra bed pillows ready to use.

Buy canned food with lids that don’t require a can opener (an electric can opener might work ok). I was able use my fingers so opening twist off caps wasn’t a problem. If there are foods you like that are in jars (refrigerated) loosen the lids and stick in the fridge the day before your surgery.

Make sure you start right away with stool softeners if you are given pain meds.

I wasn’t able to raise my arm so I had LOOSE tops that buttoned up the front and elastic waist pants. I practiced getting dressed…buttoning etc with other arm.

Best wishes for an easy recovery. Feel free to ask questions privately if you’d like.

I went through the total reverse shoulder replacement, living alone. There are many things to prepare. Get small and long reachers, an electric can opener, electric jar opener, wear front opening shirts/tops, wear elastic waist pants, wear decent slip-on shoes (not the kind that increase falling), later get a soft device to put on socks, get a toileting device for wiping, get a dressing stick, make or find prepared meals that can be microwaved (many go from freezer to microwave - Clean Eatz is one provider), have Meals-on-Wheels deliver food, get countertop microwave to avoid burns / spills if your microwave is over the stove. Order groceries to be delivered, while you cannot drive for a while.
You should have doctor's orders for in-home PT at first. Once you go outside to PT, I also had a caregiver from Home Instead come for 4-hours a day a couple days each week. This was to ensure my safety in the shower and have help for hair washing and bathing, AND to take me to PT. Have a shower chair, long handled brush, and other bathing things to help.
I could only sleep in my lift chair for 3+-months, and sleeping in bed was only solved with using a huge fat pillow to rest my arm on.
It's all do-able but one has to think ahead and plan for things that are easy when we are "normal."
All the best to you.
Oh, and I only had minor pain, which was during PT. But otherwise this was a pretty painless experience once the surgery and a few days were past.

@ljbf Oh thank you so much! This is imcredibly helpful for worrywart me. My imagination has - and is - runnng wild, and it's encouraging to know that someone else has done this and not only survived but thrived! I will definitley pay your kindness forward as often as I can. I'm off now to buy a microwave and a few other things.

I had TRSR age 69 last year.
Dominant arm will make it especially hard to dress yourself. I had ponchos but it was almost impossible to get them off; although TRSR wasn't my dominant arm. A friend gave me a big woolly wrap. This worked. I showered every second day, towelling washer-wash at other times... (more soothing than wipes)
I think you need ice packs or an ice machine.
Slippers you don't need to reach down to get on.
Driving didn't happen for over 2 months, but I had a lot of muscle & tendon damage, plus nerve injury from surgery, I think that makes a difference.

@bgrabo
They insisted I buy an ice machine (not covered by Medicare) which did not have an on off switch. I hardly used this as it was such a hassle to get up-and-down all the time to plug it in & off. I recommend getting several simple ice bags, freezing one while the other was in use.
I hope your experience is as good as mine.

I had a total hip replacement in 2020 and found that the first several weeks of recovery, I had trouble rising to get out of bed. I imagine you may have a similar problem with shoulder surgery. I had to grab the bed sheet to pull myself up. There is a "bed ladder" on the Amazon website that you may want to look at and consider buying. Amazon also has "grabber", that I strongly recommend. Even now 6 years later, I still use the grabber......guess I am lazy. Make sure you have your phone or cell phone (and charger) next to your recliner. Good luck!

I am 75, lived alone for the last five years and had my replacement a year ago. Number one is to find the right doctor. My first surgeon sent me to a seedy hospital for the orthoscopic surgery. The day after I couldn't stand up and had bloody diarrhea. An ambulance took me to the hospital where I spent the next four days. In the hospital, I asked for a referral to a decent surgeon. The surgery went well and I went home the next day. I learned to hold things between my knees to open (The rubber jar pads and a good electric can opener are a must). I also used home grocery delivery for a couple of months. Keeping the surgery shoulder isolated when doing chores helps. My biggest problem was wearing the sling too much and my neuropathy caused pain in the opposite shoulder. Lastly, I got an electric head shaver and went bald as taking care of hair was not happening. Oh, I also used rideshares a lot.