Success stories: Reverse shoulder replacement surgery

I have been told to never lift anything 25 lbs or more. I adhere to that.

I do not but just lifting a quart jar full into and out of the canner is above my shoulders. And that stresses my arms and shoulder. Thanks for the reply.LH

@kilh - could you add a short and stable rubberized foot stool by your stove to step up onto when you need to load/unload the canner? I know it's one extra thing to stumble over, but if it helps create a lower shoulder angle for lifting, it might be worth a try. You'd have to batch the lifting because you wouldn't want to be hopping up and down for each jar.

@ddsack thanks for the reply but I am already standing on a short rubberized footstool. I have been for years just to get my dishes put away in the cupboard. Over the last 8 years, I have shrunk to 5'3" from 5'5". My biggest problem is when we redid the old farmhouse the cabinet builder has my range hood only 23" from my stovetop. which should be 30". So I am limited to space to lift jars out of the canner and away from the hood. to set on the counter to cool. I do not know if my pressure canner will fit on the stove. So gripping hard to get the jars out I am stressing my muscles. Even putting away dishes I have to put up one at a time because my hands will not hold more than one or I will drop them. So with my left shoulder (RSR) and the right shoulder torn I do not lift much. So we got rid of all my sheep and no chores of lifting feed buckets or hay bales. I piece things into small amounts. Let me know how you progress over time. Stay healthy. KLH

@kilh, sorry I wasn't much help, sounds like you have already done what you could to make things easier on yourself. One other possible suggestion. On one of my gardening message boards, a lady that was confined to a wheelchair had a lowered area of the counter where she used a portable counter top burner to do her canning on. The good heavy duty ones like the Waring Professional Extra Burner will probably run about $170. Reports are that it works well with the smaller canners, but if you have a larger sized pressure canner it takes too long time to come up to pressure. I really have not looked into them much, maybe there are heavier duty models than that.

At a week out from my TSR, I'm still feeling very little pain, I'm wearing my immobilizer, but leave my wrist unhooked for much of the time. Just keeping the elbow lock on keeps me from flinging my arm around. I chopped onions and peppers for chili last night by keeping my wrist locked and moving my torso back and forth, kind of clumsy and messy but got the job done. And still easier than trying to use my left hand. Next appointment is next week Friday when I get the stitches or staples removed.

Boy am I proud you chopped vegetables. I did nothing with my arm for three weeks when I could keep the sling off.
I sat in a chair most of the day and in bed at night. Good thing I sleep mostly sitting up used to be a side sleeper but not anymore. Along with my bad thumbs that get shots every three months, I could never manage. It was a good thing my daughter and granddaughter came and stayed for the three weeks and the other mother-in-law went to Italy to stay with her son and grandson. It worked out great this time. But I need the other shoulder done. I do not know if I will it has very little pain and it gets shot also. It mainly range in motion. I do not have much pain unless I overdue helping the farmer with fencing or changing implements on the tractor. Keep up the great work and keep in touch as to how you are progressing. In the meantime stay well and healthy. KLH

Any helpful people, relate to slow progress at 6 months, especially suggest good doctors or ideas to progress in recovery.

@musicfox At this point, I think your best bet would be to get into a good physical therapy program with a therapist you can trust. You should be able to get a referral from your doctor if you complain about your pain and lack of proper movement.

When I started my first rehab, I thought Physical Therapists were the same as the personal trainers you have in gyms and was skeptical of their help. But the certified PT's have taken advanced medical courses and interned at clinics and hospitals, and are very knowledgeable about how your bones and muscles need to fit and work together. If something is hurting you, they can help you figure it out, and even aid you in formulating the questions you need to ask your doctor if you don't heal properly.

It really makes me sad and angry when I hear that a surgeon or ortho clinic does not have a well designed mandatory PT plan in place immediately after the surgery through the next 8 weeks at least. This is the time it is easiest to get your muscles to stretch back into their correct positions, but it has to go at the right pace, not too easy and correct form is important, without damaging the still healing muscles.

For TSR's the first few weeks are just pendulum exercises at home, I started official PT after two weeks post surgery, but it was mostly gentle manipulation and stretching, arm supported by the PT. I started with light weights at about week 4. I abandoned my immobilizer/sling about that time, except for special outing safety where someone might bump it.

I am now a little less than 3 months out from surgery, am not aware of the implant, and have no pain. I have no trouble with daily life, driving etc. Still have to move my right hand slowly when soaping up in the shower as certain directions are harder, but washing hair is a breeze. I am still working on strengthening and stretching the muscles using band exercises. I am done with physical therapy, but was given sets of exercises that he recommend I do a few times a week to avoid losing range of motion. In daily life, there might not be that many times you really need to stretch to get that dish on the very top shelf, so you need to keep working at it through regular special exercises.

Best case scenario - the ortho surgeon does his surgery well, and then he is done with you. Then it's the job of the physical therapy person to get you back to a functioning new normal.

It's upsetting when your surgery does not give you the results you were hoping. Keep advocating for yourself until you find a medical team that will listen.

What happens if you don't get the recommended reverse shoulder replacement?

If you don't have RSR .....what are your other options? I'm very happy with my RSR and had I not had the surgery, I'd not really be able to use that arm for much of anything. Couldn't have regular replacement because my rotator cuffs were toast.