Tag Archives: shoulder

Entrapment: What Framed My Suprascapular Nerve

Mark June 22, 2016 down as the day my suprascapular nerve entrapment was (hopefully) fixed. The surgeon was not 100% certain, but expected the nerve was entrapped by a suprascapular ligament. Luckily, he made the cut. Ha ha.

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The red circle, eloquently drawn by yours truly, shows where my nerve was trapped.

G-Ma spent the night and stayed with Avery the day of my surgery so Going Mom could valiantly court me to the hospital. For someone about to have nerve surgery (so to speak), I didn’t feel too nervous. But then, as waiting time in the hospital increased, I felt a slight anxiousness set in.

Nothing major, more like wanting to be done with it, but there nonetheless. I kept occupied by constantly trying to make jokes with the numerous hospital staff and posting on social media.

Grippy socks on, weird gown thingy on, and IV in. Let’s do this! #surgery #hospital #outpatient #bored

A photo posted by RC Liley (@going_dad) on

I even turned on my charm to score an extra pair of yellow grippy socks to bring to Avery. I’d say she enjoyed them.

cute kid, parenting, hospital, socks

They also make the perfect sock to wear boots that are otherwise too large.

Avery in boots with yellow hospital socks

Sorry, have to move away from the cute kid and back to the shoulder. My surgery went great, the surgeon said he just had to really “get in there” (made me cringe) to get to the ligament and clear everything around the nerve. Before I knew it, I was being wheeled out of the hospital with a throbbing arm and weak body.

Once home, I tried standing and/or moving, but it wasn’t happening. I had been fasting for about 18 hours at this point and had zero appetite. I laid down and slept.

Later in the evening, I mustered the strength for a small family walk and finally ate some food. I was given hydrocodone and took a dose that night which basically knocked me out. That was the one and only time I took that, it had me constipated for almost 2 days! I’ll choose poop over pain any day!

The next day I had more strength and posed for a shoulder bandaged shot. Notice my upbeat facial expression.

Shoulder bandage on

Eventually, as I couldn’t keep myself still, jumping in the pool, walking in the sun and sweating had my big bandage come off in a few days.

Shoulder bandage off

No, I’m not a University of Texas fan, I’m a proud Sooner (Boomer Sooner!), the tattoo is from one night in Austin, TX. Nuff said.

After several pool sessions,  many Airdyne workouts, and the associated sweat, the glued-on bandages were off a few days after that. Then I got to reveal the awesome scar!

Shoulder Scar One Week After Surgery

With each passing day, pain is reducing and mobility increasing. Two weeks later, my doctor just cleared me to use my water rower again. I’ve only used it once, but it’s nice to change things up after so much riding the Airdyne. Of course, I’m happy to do anything to keep active, so let it be known that I’m not complaining. 🙂

The scar is looking good, confirmed by the doc, and hopefully I don’t mess that up by doing things like….oh, hanging from monkey bars with your kid holding on to your leg to swing them around.

A video posted by RC Liley (@going_dad) on

But I wouldn’t do something so dumb, right? Never! So far so good, nothing has come undone.

Shoulder Scar Two Weeks After Surgery

I probably won’t do the monkey bar thing again for a while though. I go back for another checkup at the beginning of August. At that point, fingers crossed that I can start doing push ups and maybe use some weights.

It’s been a long journey trying to get to this point, and as long as I am mostly smart, I have high hopes of letting my nerve “wake up” as the doctor says and growing my right supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles. Maybe I’ll be more filled out for the next beach vacation then….

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A Personal Opening Day + Puns for the Occasion

Upon the publishing of this post, I am preparing for my personal ‘opening day’ in a few hours. No, I’m joining a Major League Baseball team (how cool would that be?), I’m literally getting opened via incision in my right shoulder to release my entrapped suprascapular nerve.

Yeah, that atrophy thing I wrote about a couple months ago will hopefully be on its way to getting rectified with this surgery. Going Mom will be my escort to and from the hospital as G-Ma stays home to watch darling little girl. Whom, by the way, just took one big bittersweet step in growingup-ville with her new Naturepedic big kid bed.

opening day, funny, surgery, growing up

It doesn’t seem that long ago when I wrote about our first days of putting her in the crib. Seriously, this parenting thing takes a major emotional toll! I guess on the bright side, snuggling with her for a nap will be much easier than it was in the crib.

Testing out the crib on my birthday.

Anyway, *wipes tear from eye* back on track now. The surgery will be an outpatient procedure, so I get to go home the same day. Hopefully the anesthesia doesn’t make me too crazy or anything. I’d hate for Avery to see Daddy in some weird altered state that scares her or something. I might go crazy from lack of food alone since there’s no eating or drinking (even water) after midnight the night before and my opening day procedure doesn’t start until almost noon.

I’ve always been a fan of fasting, so at least it’s not a new thing to endure. And no getting the area wet for three days after means I won’t have a real shower until Saturday, but I’ll be sure to soak in a bath. You’re welcome, wife. 🙂

Once I’m able to get back in the groove of things, I have a little week long vacation to the Outer Banks I want to write about. Until then, I guess I’ll just depend on my trusty standby content of puns. And why not? They’re freakin’ awesome. Even the ones that elicit a sickly groan still bring a smile to the face……usually.

Since doctors, hospitals, and other medical areas are on the mind, today’s puns will be in these categories.

opening day, funny, puns, pun, humor, snowman

  • I had to drink food coloring after losing a bet. Luckily, I’m not sick, but I feel like I’ve dyed a little inside.
  • Listening to a brain surgeon and anaesthesiologist talk is mind numbing.
  • They tried to save him with an I.V. but it was all in vein.
  • An editor went to the doctor for help with his poor circulation.
  • The brain surgeon refused to take no for an answer, so I gave him a piece of my mind.
  • Two surgeons were joking about sutures and had each other in stitches.
  • A pediatrician is a doctor of little patients.
  • My hematologist said my outlook is good since I’m a B Positive type.
  • A doctor drank while putting on patients’ casts. He was soon plastered.
  • A surgeon’s comments are incisive remarks.
  • After 5 years with the same chiropractor, I had to change doctors. It was quite an adjustment.
  • I couldn’t decide which of two physicians to see. It was a paradox.
  • It was really crowded at the diet doctor’s office but then it thinned out.

What’s the Most Stressful Part of Vacation?

What’s up with vacations sometimes creating more stress than usual? Does vacation stress you out more than you’d incur had you not gone at all?

Of course, factors such as duration, destination, and who you’re vacationing with play a big role which will make stress levels vary. Luckily, we enjoyed the destination, Corolla, NC in the Outer Banks, and who we vacationed with, my wife, daughter, mom, brother, aunt, uncle, three cousins, and grandma.

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Missing my oldest cousin, Nick, in this pic, but everyone else is present.

For us, it seemed to be the duration that took a toll. Don’t get me wrong, the time there was great, but it seems like more things to do pops up on our mental checklist for when we get home. It didn’t help that we returned to a home full of pee spots and hair patches left by  the stupid cat I refuse to claim. I don’t care how funny it is to watch him chase laser pointers, he needs to go.

But it’s not just pets, it’s the getting back in the groove of things, stocking a bare fridge and pantry (especially important when you cook all of your meals!), setting the old nap and bedtime routine for kids, unpacking, cleaning, etc. While packing for and planning vacation has it’s own stressors, the looming return back to reality is the real kicker. Sometimes you gotta ask…..it worth it?

You bet it is!

Outer Banks Vacation Family Photo_Outside of The Paper Canoe

Especially when it’s with family you rarely see and in a beautiful area like around The Outer Banks. Make no mistake, coming home to a mess makes us question things sometimes, but there’s no doubt that going on vacation is still worth it all.

I wrote a post using an app on my Samsung that was scheduled to publish on the day of our return, but as luck would have it, something messed up. I was able to track it down and have it right below. Still working on returning to homeostasis around here, but, as you will find out other factors are not making it easy. Once things settle down, I’ll work on getting a day to day recap of the trip.

What stresses you out the most about vacation?


We’re on our way back from our week long family beach vacation at the Outer Banks in Corolla, NC. Lots of fun and memories were had during our stay. We loved being in such a relaxing place and watching Avery soak up her first time at the ocean.

 

Family Instagram Collage on the beach_OBX

But all good things must come to end, and that’s probably for the best. Our poor little girl’s recurring staph issue reared its ugly head which put a damper on the last few days of vacation, but she never let it her down.

Raising arms high while in a sand hole

 

Well, besides down in a hole in the sand. Going Mom and I were bothered more than her. Now we have the stubborn staph along with my shoulder surgery to deal with.

I made good use of my two good arms by playing in the ocean and kayaking before I’m down to just one for a few months. Here’s hoping for a fast and full recovery. Avery’s healing kisses will certainly help!

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With that said, my recap of vacation might be a bit delayed, but it will happen. Just need to figure our what typing will be like after my shoulder goes under the knife.

More pics and stories to come about our little family vacation.

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