And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

On December 13, 2020, I slipped and fell on a patch of ice while exiting Pizza Ranch, my part-time evening employer, to deliver pizzas, and I tore my left rotator cuff. I had my MRI yesterday, and this morning I met the orthopedic surgeon to go over the results. The first words out of his mouth, after "good morning," were "your MRI results are very dramatic, and being only 54 you definitely need surgery." It turns out two of the four tendons that make up the rotator cuff in my left shoulder are torn, and one has been torn for some time, either from a previous injury or the slow tearing from a bone spur that x-rays show is there. Whatever the cause, one tendon is atrophied and may be irreparable; he won't know until he can actually look at it. If he can't fix it they will have to do what is called a HemiCAP, a procedure that is more-or-less a salvage operation that makes your shoulder usable but is only temporary; within a few years I would need a complete shoulder replacement. 
 
For the short term, I will be unable to work either job for a week after the surgery. As much as I oppose and avoid narcotic pain meds, the surgeon said shoulder surgery is so painful I will want the oxycodone they prescribe for the first couple of days and then the hydrocodone they provide for the five days after that.
 
The long term effects of the surgery are dependent on what the surgeon does, though either way I should be able to work my primary job (software development) after I'm off the meds. If he can repair my rotator cuff my left arm will be in an immobilizing device and I will be working from home for six weeks, primarily because I will be unable to drive. If he cannot repair it and has to do the HemiCAP then I will be able to return to work after a couple of weeks (my arm will be in a sling and the recovery time will be shorter). I might even be able to return to my second job.
 
Because this all started with a work-related injury with my second employer, I cannot proceed until their insurance approves the surgery (the hospital needs to know which insurance to put it under, and my primary insurance won't even look at it until the other one denies it). I hope to know by the end of the week. 
 
With my wife recently moved out this is going to be difficult, though it might also be a catalyst for bringing her back home. At the very least I will likely reach out to her and ask her to bring me home after the surgery and stop in to help with the post-surgery bandages, and if I get the full repair help me get in and out of the immobilizing device the first few times.

BearDad wrote:

...complete shoulder replacement.

I am having a hard time understanding how joint replacement would help the cuff. Surely they don't replace only the tendons and ligaments. Sound like you have a soft tissue issue rather than joint issue.

BearDad wrote:

my primary job (software development)

What language(s) are you using and what kind of projects do you work on? My work/clients have always wanted VB. I just started learning C# finally.

Oh wow that doesn't sound like any fun at all!
Makes my broken wrist surgery seem like seriously small potatoes.  Really hoping the surgeon and get you fixed up and usable in short order (you are certainly going to need help from someone after the surgery).

Yikes, sorry to hear that!

Did youvfollowbrhenlonkbforbHemiCAP and watch the video? The rotator cuff consists of four tendons that essentially wrap around the ball end of the humerus within the joint. The top most two are torn, causing the ball to sit too high in the socket and rub. The HemiCAP relieves that some by allowing the ball to run freely as though God had designed it that way. It doesn’t replace the muscle, obviously, it just allows the remaining tendons to do the job without interference. As for a complete shoulder replacement, I honestly don’t know what they do; I imagine it is something similar but involves the shoulder side as well as the humerus.

I have developed in several languages, but for the last several years I have been on a huge project using primarily C#

Staybrite wrote:

Oh wow that doesn't sound like any fun at all!
Makes my broken wrist surgery seem like seriously small potatoes.  Really hoping the surgeon and get you fixed up and usable in short order (you are certainly going to need help from someone after the surgery).

I will start physical therapy almost immediately after the surgery.

My father-in-law was older than you when he had each rotator cuff done within a year of one another.  He damaged one at work and fell and did the other at a friend's house.  It isn't fun, but it will heal if you do your therapy

BearDad wrote:

Did youvfollowbrhenlonkbforbHemiCAP and watch the video? ... As for a complete shoulder replacement, I honestly don’t know what they do

That was my question and the video didn't help with that. A new joint (or just the hemicap) isn't going to repair the muscles, which are the main issue it seems.

Quote :

I have developed in several languages, but for the last several years I have been on a huge project using primarily C#

Ah, someone I can ask questions. Since they both compile to the same IL, it's really just trying to get C# syntax correct and learn what it has now that VB doesn't.

I assume you are on a team if it's a huge project. I've mostly programmed for manufacturing plants and even when there were other developers in the department, we almost always worked on projects individually. I was also the Oracle DBA.

topshot rhit wrote:

BearDad wrote:

Did youvfollowbrhenlonkbforbHemiCAP 

Wow. You can tell I have trouble hitting the space "key" on my phone!   That is my biggest issue with texting; normally I notice it, but clearly I missed it this time. I dislocated my right thumb when I was a kid, so it sits just a little off in the joint from where optimum space key striking would be.

topshot rhit wrote:

BearDad wrote:

Did youvfollowbrhenlonkbforbHemiCAP and watch the video? ... As for a complete shoulder replacement, I honestly don’t know what they do

That was my question and the video didn't help with that. A new joint (or just the hemicap) isn't going to repair the muscles, which are the main issue it seems.

Quote :

I have developed in several languages, but for the last several years I have been on a huge project using primarily C#

Ah, someone I can ask questions. Since they both compile to the same IL, it's really just trying to get C# syntax correct and learn what it has now that VB doesn't.

I assume you are on a team if it's a huge project. I've mostly programmed for manufacturing plants and even when there were other developers in the department, we almost always worked on projects individually. I was also the Oracle DBA.

Right; a shoulder rebuild doesn't take care of the muscles, but instead makes the joint usable without all of them. Presumably the other tendons pick up the slack.

I'm on a team of about a dozen people; developers, testers, and business analysts. We are actually a relatively close-knit "family."

I worked with an Oracle database once. Hated it. :/ Just different enough from MS SQL to be a pain in the rear.

Beardad, that is not good what happend with you.
Hope you don't have to wait long for the surgery.

BearDad wrote:

I worked with an Oracle database once. Hated it. :/ Just different enough from MS SQL to be a pain in the rear.

Yeah, all the database vendors are just slightly different, moreso when you consider their procedural languages. The only one that has been a pain for me so far is DB2 on System i.

I was surprised to discover years after taking my Oracle University classes that they didn't teach the ANSI SQL syntax for JOINS. I'm pretty sure they supported the ANSI syntax back then, but that wasn't what was printed in their books and used in their classes so the "right" way still looks weird and unintuitive to me even though I haven't used Oracle in several years.

I realized today that if the surgeon is able to repair my shoulder I will essentially have COVID-like isolation times three!