and for your aching shoulder...

For a main course, I had everyone's favorite, the very delicious open repair: reattachment of a twice-torn tendon with a side of acromioplasty (excision of distal clavicle, open acromioplasty, repair of two separate areas of rotator cuff tear, to be exact). The hard part is the recovery, a long process. For happy shoulder healing, it's all about relaxation -- on everyone's part. This requires the right environment, the trust that comes from literally putting yourself into skilled and knowledgeable hands. Hands that watch and read and communicate. They have to learn you, because you are at all times rehabbing your shoulder. This requires awareness and dedication, especially for those (like me) easily distracted by shiny things and impulse. I can't emphasis enough that your choice of PT needs to be made with great care. A big room, bright and shiny with steel, a therapist who reminds you of Sean Bean in The Island and hands you off to his oblivious Igor: no. Run. I'm three and half weeks out, and haven't taken drugs since day four after surgery. They make me nauseated, boring and bored. There are not enough bearded-dragon and cat YouTubes in the cosmos to make those drugs bearable. And I simply don't need them; I don't hurt. I went back to SAMe as soon as I stopped them. (Don't use both.) Did "sleep" in a recliner (bought for this event; our furniture tends to be rather pre-raphaelite)the first week or two, but have since been happy back in bed, thanks to lots of memory foam. Sleep is simply difficult after general anesthesia, and it might be a few months before you're yourself. So don't worry about it. Relax, do your therapy, eat really well, walk in the sunshine, and trust your body to heal. Body is really smart. That's how I'm getting thorough this, anyway. Of course, I'm blessed by terrific support. But here's the magic gift: ice. Use it often, all day. I have those soft, royal-blue cloth gelpaks you freeze in the freezer. And here's the magic. When you go to bed, wrap one around your shoulder when it's soft and slushy, and as you drift off to sleep, it thaws and turns into a nice little shoulder waterbed. Sleep away. Leave it. Very happy shoulder.

 Extra credit:
herb/ drug interactions