My Pity Party

Today a friend presented the word "gratefulness" in our Sunday School class time. She recommended looking at your least-favorite event in your life and trying to turn it around to discern what in it brings forth gratitude.

Instead, I am going to list all the things that are bothering me right now, most of which pertain to my shoulder surgery. Maybe this will get it out of my system. So skip my whining, if you'd like.

• I am right-handed, so it is hard to do almost everything with my left hand.
• I cannot dress myself, so I am lucky that I have a husband around to help.
• I cannot even put on my bra by myself. In fact, it is often painful to get it on and off with my right arm being manipulated.
• I cannot drive the car yet, but I have a willing husband and friends who offer to help.
• The only pair of pants I have to wear is a pair of black pull-ons. I tried to wear jeans yesterday, but couldn't zip and button them on my own.
• It is difficult to be dressed for cold weather, because my arm in a jacket does not fit comfortably in the sling. So I have my left arm in the sweater/jacket, with it draped over my right shoulder. It is a good thing I live in TX, so it is not as cold as elsewhere.
• I have to wear the sling to bed and all day long--ALL THE TIME and will have to wear it for SIX weeks! (1 1/2 weeks down. . . .)
• I cannot raise my arm and let it hang down. In fact, I am supposed to support it all the time it is not in the sling, which is seldom.
  
• It is very difficult and slow to brush and floss my teeth, and it doesn't seem like I am doing it well enough.
  
• I cannot blow dry my hair, so my husband partially dries it and then we let it air dry.
• It is really hard to put mascara on with my left hand, especially onto my right eye!
• I cannot hang clothes on the clothesline.
• Going to bed is the worst time of the day, because it is hard to get comfortable, especially because the incision is on the back of my shoulder, which is also where the torn muscle is.
• I cannot go to my aerobic swimming classes.
• Being so much stiller than usual gets me wanting to eat and munch. I'm better when husband CB cuts an apple up for me to eat.
  

Surgery to repair the infraspinatus muscle was done on Jan. 4 by an excellent orthopedic surgeon, who removed the staples from the three incisions three days ago. He and the physical therapist have both stressed that I must keep my right elbow close to my body and not raise my arm or let it hang down. Pam, the physical therapist, told me to think of the injury as a fracture, because when the muscle was ripped from the bone, it took some of the bone with it. I guess I can understand the importance of keeping the shoulder still if I think of it as a fractured bone.

I am fortunate to have a good surgeon and that I already had the surgery. The pain is lessening. I know I am getting better; it just seems SLOW!