Aumaden's Journal: The first cut is the deepest

Gods I hope not.

In case anyone has every wondered:

Golly gee mister wizard, is it a bad thing that my shoulder goes pop and snap and hurts like a mofo?

The answer is a resounding YES.

According to the MRI, I have arthritis in my right acromioclavicular joint. This has resulted in the growth of a pointy little bone spur that is digging into the rotator cuff. And, to make things worse, that bone spur may have partially cut through the rotator cuff.

So, tomorrow I go under the knife. Well, actually the arthroscope.

The doc is going to grind off the bone spur, then take a look at the rotator cuff. If the cuff is slightly damaged, he'll trim up the ragged edges. If it's badly damaged, he will disconnect the ramaining tendon, trim it up, then reattach it.

Oh, and did I mention? I'm going to be awake through all of this!

If all he does is grind off the bone spur, I'm looking at a 1-2 hour procedure, then no use of my dominant arm for 4-6 weeks. And that's the best case.

The worst case (reattachment) is a 5-6 hour procedure. And no using my arm for 4-6 months!

So, I'm sitting here, borderline freaking out, waiting for the call that tells me what time I need to show up for the surgical prep (somewhere between 4am and 6pm) thinking of btlzu2's recent music meme. This song is just too apropos:

I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones : Road to Ruin - track 7

Twenty - twenty - twenty four hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothing to do
Nowhere to go
I wanna be sedated

Just get me to the airport
And put me on a plane
Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
I can't control my fingers
I can't control my brain
Oh no oh ho

Twenty - twenty - twenty four hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothing to do
Nowhere to go
I wanna be sedated
Just put me in a wheelchair
And put me on a plane
Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
I can't control my fingers
I can't control my brain
Oh no oh ho
Twenty - twenty - twenty four hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothing to do
Nowhere to go
I wanna be sedated

Just put me in a wheelchair
And get me to the show
Hurry hurry hurry before I go loco
I can't control my fingers
I can't control my toes
Oh no oh ho

Twenty - twenty - twenty four hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothing to do
Nowhere to go
I wanna be sedated

Just put me in a wheelchair
And get me to the show
Hurry hurry hurry before I go loco
I can't control my fingers
I can't control my toes
Oh no oh ho

Good luck

[SolemnDragon]

And it's hopefully going to be no use for a few weeks.

Look, you're glad this got discovered now, aren't you?

Look on the bright side: no amputation will be necessary. You get to keep your arm AND you live in a society with the technology to let you have this fixed. That's a pretty big deal.

No comfort, i'm sure, but a pretty big deal nonetheless.

Let them fix your shoulder, go easy on it in the meantime, let us know how it turns out, and we'll all be thinking of you. Feel better soon.

knives

[turg]

So, tomorrow I go under the knife. Well, actually the arthroscope.

Well, actually first the knife and then the arthroscope. :-)

Good luck. Here's hoping for a quick recovery.