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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Yakima, WA
    Posts
    202

    open bankart post-op

    I figured I'd start my own thread finally. I can use this to keep track of my recovery and, like all the other great threads on the site, to help anyone else out there thinking about getting the same type of surgery.


    My background begins with an anterior dislocation back in '97 I think. Sledding accident, landed upside down at a weird angle on my shoulder. I then dislocated it several more times doing activities like skiing, BMX riding, and swimming. Most the time due to just flailing my arm weird and not from an impact.

    Talked to an ortho who said I needed arthroscopic surgery. Had it done and was told not to worry about PT. He said it would regain strength by doing normal activities after the six-week immobilization. I think he was wrong. The shoulder never felt strong and I've guarded it ever since.

    Fast forward to 11/1/06, I was helping to get a car unstuck from snow by pushing, car got traction and took off and my arm flew forward pulling it out of joint. First time since surgery. After a traffic jammed 2.5hrs down the pass and to the ER, I had it put back in. Now I was really guarding it.

    Then a few weeks ago 11/8/09, I was hiking up the local ski area that hadn't started spinning lifts yet, got hot on the hike, put my jacket in my backpack, went to throw the backpack over my shoulder and *POP!*, out she comes again. Back to the ER, shoulder is reduced. I decide this is stupid and schedule an appt with another ortho.

    So I see Dr. Eastman, he has a look at my shoulder and schedules an MRI, has a look at that and tells me I have a labral tear that runs from about 1:00 to 6:00 or so. Needs the bankart procedure and a capsular shift, done open style. I ask about the latajet after some research here, but he says my bones looked good and that he is confident that he can get it stable. On to surgery.

    12/23/09 surgery day. I don't think I got a nerve block because I woke up in some pain. Waaaaaaay worse than the arthroscopic surgery I had the first time. Felt like I got hit by a jumbo jet and threw up a couple times. My body dislikes anesthesia, but I knew that was coming.

    Slept on and off in my bed on Percocet for almost 48hrs. Finally got up when my parents stopped by for xmas, but they left shortly since I still wasn't really doing very well. Extremely hard to sleep without painkillers for the first several days.

    Now I'm a week and one day post-op. Feels much better, but still some pain if I move my arm wrong within the sling. I'll wake up with pain in the night once in a while due to accidentally trying to move my arm and having the sling block it. The pain is similar to what you get when the arm is out of socket and you hit a bump while driving to the hospital. OUCH. I took my arm out of the sling for the first time today to put a shirt on under it. Wow, did it feel weak. I feel much more comfortable with my sling on. I'm down to one or two Percocets a night to sleep, none during the day. They make me feel queasy, so the sooner I'm off them, the better.

    I'll try to update this on a week to week basis or with any other substantial news, like after my post-op appt with Dr.Eastman next Tuesday.

    The sling is a crazy contraption with a large 4" thick pillow velcro'd to the inside of it to space my arm out from my body. Here's a pic from yesterday. Yes, that is a lame snowflake tattoo on my stomach. It's a 14 year old whoops. I'm 33 now.



    Here's where I wish I was :


  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Missoula, MT
    Posts
    22,462
    Heal up well, dude. There are some crazy arm slings out there. How are you supposed to get dressed with the thing?
    No longer stuck.

    Quote Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn View Post
    Just an uneducated guess.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    1,663
    as much as you can be looking foward to this, it sounds similar to what i may have to deal with so it will be interesting to see your experiences.

    just got my arthrogram today. weird experience, and i peeked through my scans but it means nothing to me

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Yakima, WA
    Posts
    202
    Quote Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn View Post
    Heal up well, dude. There are some crazy arm slings out there. How are you supposed to get dressed with the thing?
    You have to take it off and be super careful I guess. That's why I waited so long. Today was the first day I left the house since surgery, so it was my first time taking the sling off to put a shirt on. I've been running around with no shirt or a hoody over the whole thing if I get cold watching TV.

    I actually drove to the bank today to deposit my paycheck. Manual transmission turbo AWD car with one arm. It's also dumping snow so that was actually fun. I love four wheel drifting when everybody else is driving so slow. The bumps hurt though, so no more of that for awhile.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Yakima, WA
    Posts
    202
    Post-op appt was today. Doc says everything looks good so far. Got the bandage removed along with the sterile strips holding the incision together. Says it should heal really well and that I can resume normal showers without having to cover up the incision from here on out.

    He showed me a couple of passive exercises I can do with my shoulder to help prepare for real PT, which I'll start in four weeks.

    Pain has decreased substantially. I guess most of it was caused by the subscapularis being disconnected for access to the shoulder capsule. Makes sense since they didn't do that for the arthroscopy I had over ten years ago and that didn't hurt nearly as bad during recovery.

    Doc said he found two permanent sutures left in there from the past surgery, attached to the labrum that was torn away. Lovely. I was a bit off on my "o'clock" measurment in the first post. My labrum was torn from 6:30 to 10:00 looking at the left shoulder, which is obviously what was causing my anterior instability, along with a super loose capsule that was also pulled away. He said he put in two suture anchors and four sutures. I forgot to ask if they were self-absorbable or permanent. He said that the bones all looked great along with the top of the humeral head, which is good.

    Here is a pic of the incision right after removal of the bandage and sterile-strips:

    Last edited by mdp; 01-05-2010 at 01:04 PM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Yakima, WA
    Posts
    202
    Three weeks post-op now. Getting better.

    Today while driving down the freeway in my company van I passed a car stopped on the side of the road. As I passed the car, the driver's door opened up and caught my eye for a split second. At that same time a fucking bird flew right into my windshield directly in front of me and scared the absolute shit out of me, causing me to jump back in my seat and jerk my shoulders. Ouch.

    I also have a bad habit of trying to catch the bar of soap in the shower with my left hand if it slips out of my right. I usually catch myself from moving it too far, but holy fuck that's painful.

    I can't wait to get this sling off and start working some strength back into my shoulder via PT.


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Yakima, WA
    Posts
    202
    Four weeks post-op. I can get t-shirts on now if I'm careful. Otherwise, nothing has really changed.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    84
    not so bad for four weeks! it sounds like you will recover well, and are the type to be diligent with pt yet are smart enough to not do too much too fast, which is super easy to do.
    keep us updated.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    1,663
    have you just been rocking the shirtless look?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Yakima, WA
    Posts
    202
    I was wearing shirts, but they were all button-downs. Trying to put a t-shirt on hurt way too bad for the first three weeks as it pulled on the shoulder joint while trying to pull it over my head.

    Too cold out to go shirtless in the PNW at the moment.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Yakima, WA
    Posts
    202
    Just had my 6-week post-op appt. Dr. says everything looks normal as far as recovery. I get to remove my sling and have an appt for PT starting on Monday. I was beginning to get pretty tired of lint rolling my dog's hair off the sling every morning.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Yakima, WA
    Posts
    202
    PT is going well. I gain a little more ROM with every visit it seems. All PT at this point is still passive, so the arm is pretty weak still. The good thing is that I am starting to feel like I'm on the downhill slope of this little adventure and other than the normal pains of PT, the shoulder feels pretty good.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Yakima, WA
    Posts
    202
    Had a visit with the surgeon last Friday and he okay'd a more aggressive PT routine for me. I had my first visit with the PT today for that routine. Starting some light strengthening along with some non-passive external rotation now. The PT was definitely working my arm into the zones where my newly tightened capsule needs stretching. Sometimes I feel like I hit a wall with progression, but then the next week I still improve. I can finally wash my hair with both hands now, so I'm gaining some normality. Need a little more ROM and some serious work on strength.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,421
    damn. sounds like a long healing process.

    which sucks. having this done in 3 weeks, after 18 dislocations and a separation. Probably have to start my own blog

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Deeeeeenver
    Posts
    796
    I had mine scoped once, blew that out, then had an open Bankart 10 years ago. Just blew that out 10 days ago. Fuck!! Most likely another surgery in a few weeks. All I can say is when you think you've done enough PT, you haven't. I got all strength back pretty, but I never quite got that last about 3% ROM and I think that's why she blew again. Should have done yoga. The key is to get lots strength through the FULL ROM. Lots of theraband exercises. You'd be amazed at how 2 & 3 pound dumbells will kick your ass while rehabbing. Be RELIGIOUS about your PT and don't be in any hurry to get back to your normal self. This is a LONG and painful bitch of a recovery. Just get after that PT like a sailor on a cheap whore in Thailand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    The older I get, the better I was.

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