Needing Support

Good Morning all,

I hope everyone has a "good" day today and I pray for all of us who suffer so much pain. Tomarrow morning I am going in for the left shoulder surgery. (this is my tenth degenerative joint surgery ) I am soooo tired of surgery and pain! to be honest sometimes I am hoping I don't wake up from the surgery. But that is self pity and so I need an attitude adjustment today before I go under again. and suggestions would be so helpful.

I know we all feel this way sometimes, and some days are more overwhelming than others. and as I read everyone's posts I realize for the first time I am not alone. Thank You EVERYONE for your support, even if you never said a word directly to me,  know that your words in your own posts have encouraged and helped me tremendously! see you all in a few days!

Hugs,

Patty

That's Ok we have all had bad days. But you HAVE to wake up from the surgery, you hear?? That is a command from central!! Lol. You have many friends here that love you and care about you and your health. Don't despair, you are never alone.

Here is hoping for a very successful surgery and a speedy recovery. We will be looking for you after the surgery.

God bless.

Lindaloo

LOL  you guys are too funny..thanks for the command, Captain Lindaloo!!

Kittn, Kara thanks for the kinds words of encouragement.. ok the pain meds have kicked in since I posted this AM and I am feeling POSITIVE thoughts again..Well Kttn, then you must look like me..."a junkie" with all the needle pokes But I can't wait for the huge snooze either...hey this one is going to be a breeze. last surgery I was there for 4 months. so yes a "walk in the park" my friend. BESIDES I HAVE to wake up....Christmas candy is going on sale soon,,,HEHE

Just dont buy any Whitmans samplers ughhhhh. Last x-mas I got a large box of their chocolates and in the past they had always been my favorite but as my husband lifted the lid off the box that was sitting in his lap a bunch of maggots came spilling out!!! It was a horrible experience. I guess in the factory a fly had got into the package and laid eggs. I called the company and told them how grossed out I was and that I would never buy thier candy again and so what do they do? they offered me a coupon for a free box of chocolates ! lol no thankssssssssss. On another note though good luck on your surgery. I too have gone under the knife tons of times(30 + times to be exact) and am facing shoulder and hip surgery myself. For me its not that surgery that is such a problem but the long recovery times and with my hip I will be trapped in my bedroom because we have stairs. You have a good attitude though and dont worry about some of those fleeting feelings,we all have them from time to time and its mostly when we are in pain. I wish you a speedy recovery.

Soft Hugs,
Karen

My best wishes for you moondancer. My shoulder hurts too ~ not as much as yours
I'm sure but still ....

Pamela

Oh, Patty! I do understand how you are feeling, but I am so glad you have posted. It took me a while to get up the courage to just come right out and ask for support when I needed it, but watching other members be so courageous and open with their feelings has really encouraged me a great deal. I am simply overwhelmed with the love and care that we offer to one another here. You are in the right place tonight.

I am with kitten on looking forward to the snooze! As much as I don't care for surgery, I haven't really and truly slept in so very long that I always think well at least I get to finally take a nap! LOL!

I'm thinking that perhaps you should just add a few M&Ms to your daily medicine regimen for a while. Seriously. Incidentally, PaLady, just yesterday I opened a drawer and discovered a bag of HALLOWEEN M&Ms that I had somehow missed. Oh, the horror! Well, you will all be relieved to know that I promptly sat down and ate them ALL. OK, well I made a dent. And I'm working hard to polish off the rest of the bag. I must get back to the red & green ones, right? Can't let you all down. See, Patty - you have something to tune in for after the surgery. I know that's ALL you'll be thinking about tomorrow. "Did Ry finish the M&Ms? Oh, I just CAN'T WAIT to find out!" I'm sure that's exactly what will be going through your mind! Once the Versed kicks in, you'll be telling the anesthesiologist all about the healing powers of M&Ms and wondering about the varied rates of consumption depending on season... LOL!

Keep your chin up, Patty. We'll be thinking of you tomorrow.
Ry

Moondancer (Patty) - Good luck on your surgery tomorrow.   I pray that you have a successful surgery, with as little "additional" pain as possible, and quick healing.  Let us know how it goes... --Tina

GOOD MORNING( and yes it is a "good" morning)

THANK YOU EVERYONE for the encouragement and prayers! Surgery went well yesterday...except for the Student who was trying to put a nerve block in my neck for my shoulder, and she numbed EVERYTHING ..lol.. left lung, eye, nose, neck, hair(ha) and anything else she could find on the left side. THEN they put me asleep!  however just like the past nine surgeries once the surgeon got in there to smooth off three bone spurs, he found a huge tear to repair, and A LOT of arthritis. (and the family Doc insinuated it was all in my "head") guess thats why he's not an Ortho Dr.

I am pretty sore this AM but thats what all those little pills are for, right? (like the habit forming, addicting red & blue M&M's) and the vicadin that got mixed in.

Well typing with one finger is time consuming ( I been typing this for 5 hrs)  I'm kidding) so again THANK YOU EVERYONE. I feel like I have found people here who truly understand and care about others pain.

simply hugs to everyone

PATTY

I don't understand about the student numbing everything and then you were
given anesthesia. I know you can't answer now but I do wonder how
it effected the outcome of your surgery.
I've never had a surgery on my shoulder. I think they can't do it because
of my scoliosis but I'm not sure at all. I have no one to ask. I no longer
go to a neurologist. My pain doctor doesn't know one thing. He never
takes my BP, weighs me, or asks me in person how I'm doing. (I fill out
a form) My new internist doesn't seem to understand pain. (not unusual)
Patty, with all your surgeries, how do you rate your daily pain. I usually
go around with a seven or eight and am quite disabled ~ can't ride in the
car, have to find just the right time to go food shopping ... terrible.
Maybe I should do the rounds again and see if shoulder surgery would be
an option to relieve part of my pain.
Congratulations on the completion of your surgery.
Pamela Neckpain

Pamela,

I've had 3 shoulder surgeries, and each time they did a nerve block on my shoulder before giving me the anesthesia, like they did to moondancer. The nerve block not only numbs your shoulder & arm, but it blocks all motor impulses from it as well, so you cannot move you shoulder or your arm for several hours, until the block wears off (it is a VERY strange feeling to touch your fingers, which are warm, but no matter how hard you try, you cannot move them).

I believe that numbing the arm while the patient is still awake reduces the post-operative pain. At least that is what I read somewhere (and somewhat recently too). Maybe because they get a better block with the patient awake so that the patient can give them feedback about what they feel? During one of the surgeries I remember the anesthesiologist telling me to let him know when I felt anything "strange" in the arm they were blocking, and as soon as I said yes, they knocked me out all the way.

Skeye

Patty,

So glad to hear you got in with the PM & that your recovery seems to be going well so far.

I agree with that weird feeling when your arm is dead. After my first surgery, it felt like my arm was extended outward even though it was in a sling & the strangest thing of all is that my "invisible arm" itched (the phantom extended arm was itchy, so I kept trying to scratch air, must have been quite a sight). My surgeon said that occasionally you get muscle/nerve memory so that your brain thinks that your arm is in the last position it was in before it was blocked even though your brain isn't actually receiving any signals from that arm. Fortunately this didn't happen after the following two surgeries, but I never got over the feeling of touching my arm with my other hand & not being able to feel the touch or move my arm or fingers on command. I believe I said some pretty funny things about it while coming out of anesthesia the first time

I hope that your shoulder continues to feel better with each passing day! Hopefully you have a nice cryocuff for it. I always lived in mine for the first week or so after surgery. And recliners are great for sleeping in, if you have one, I now refer to mine as my "second bed" as I have slept in it for months on end. Although I'm sure you know all this, having unfortunately been through it many times before!

Wishing you the best,
Skeye

ps - don't worry about the lap band surgery now, enjoy your m&m's while you can -- you definitely deserve them!

Thanks you guys, I always "feel the love" here and so blessed to have stumbled upon this forum...AND PaLady, when my husband asked me what in the world I was going to do with ALL those M&M's, I told him that ALL YOU GUYS had given me permission from the Central Command Center, and he was to hurry as the store may run out of ammunition before he got there.. I did tell you a little lie though. I THOUGHT they were the Christmas ones, but they were actually the "regular" M&M's. But I forgave him and am eating them anyway! hahahaha

Thanks again Skeye and PaLady and everyone else. I would love to fax you a few samples of these M&M's

 Hugs Patty