Wellness

[LilacTree]

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@Mama Mia wrote:

LIlac Tree, (Ford1224) I am so sorry  you have to endure this for so long, but you CAN do it. You have been through a lot and gotten through it, just  am sorry too, that this happened. Try to get your spirits up, rehab should help. You know we are tough ladies, older but tough!!!

mm

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@Mama Mia

Thank you so much MM, for your encouragement.  It will be a long hard year, but I will not back away from it.  Rehab has helped me before and I feel sure will help me again.

[AspenGrove]

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@aspengrove

Thank you so much for information about your own experience.  I am 78 and not sure what age you were when you suffered your own broken shoulder.  I'm disappointed today, but I know I will try my very hardest to regain as much normalcy as possible.  With my RA, many things no longer work in my body, so it's not something I am not used to.

Thank you again for your encouragement and experience. 

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@LilacTree, one more thing ... I found that my physical therapists were not all that encouraging. I think that because they work with umpteen patients all day long, they forget to say something as simple as "good job" or "atta girl!"  And I really needed that, especially at the beginning, when I was still in pain and feeling quite scared about the recovery.  

And so, I relied on friends and family to encourage me, tell me I was doing great, and send me silly cat and other youtube vidoes and other things to put a smile on my face. When I say humor was key, I'm not kidding! Anything that makes you smile or giggle at least once a day can really help.  My two cents. 

[LilacTree]

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@AspenGrove wrote:

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@AspenGrove

Thank you so much for information about your own experience.  I am 78 and not sure what age you were when you suffered your own broken shoulder.  I'm disappointed today, but I know I will try my very hardest to regain as much normalcy as possible.  With my RA, many things no longer work in my body, so it's not something I am not used to.

Thank you again for your encouragement and experience. 

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@LilacTree, one more thing ... I found that my physical therapists were not all that encouraging. I think that because they work with umpteen patients all day long, they forget to say something as simple as "good job" or "atta girl!"  And I really needed that, especially at the beginning, when I was still in pain and feeling quite scared about the recovery.  

And so, I relied on friends and family to encourage me, tell me I was doing great, and send me silly cat and other youtube vidoes and other things to put a smile on my face. When I say humor was key, I'm not kidding! Anything that makes you smile or giggle at least once a day can really help.  My two cents. 

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I've dealt with them before and I agree.  They are very impersonal and seemingly not so interested in how we feel.  I admit that I sometimes feel as though everyone is sick of my disabilities . . . it's been twelve years now (RA, osteoporosis, etc.)  I'm sick of it myself.  I had a very busy and productive life until I was 66, and then all changed.  My mantra is it could be worse which is what I say to myself every time I begin to feel self pity.

[hckynut]

Hi to you my friend @LilacTree,

Hope you are getting along better, and I know you are dealing with many different issues.

I am fortunate that none of my more serious sports injuries happened before I knew several doctors, and had 1 of them in my family. Every Physical Therapists I worked with, my prescribing doctors knew as friends? Fact 2 of them are still friends of mine. They also handled most of my wife's therapy, except when she had her stroke in 2013.

These therapists knew to push me harder than they might some other patients, knowing I wanted to go the max to help shorten my recovery times. They also knew I had/have a pretty good background in exercise physiology, so that too helped.

So I have never had an issue with any of the several Physical Therapists I have seen over the decades. Now Exercise Physiologist? Yes. The one I had for my 72 Cardiac Rehabs was not all that fond of me.

Why? Because I there were many exercises she wanted the group to do, I told her that was not my way of doing them. I knew from my many injuries how to warmup and do resistance and stretching exercises, and they were not even close to what I knew worked for me.

She made the mistake of calling me out in front of about 20+ of the other patients about how I was doing the exercises the wrong way. I pretty much told/asked her "do you want to do this in front of all those in this class, or with me 1 on 1 after the class"? She opted for the 1 on 1. 

After that she never called me out about how I was doing the exercises I had done for years, and knew those were the ones that worked for me. I don't think she was happy to see me back 5 years later with my 2nd heart attack, and seeing me in 36 more Cardiac Rehab sessions.

I certainly have a hint of what you are having to deal with at this time. Though I had lots of physical and a mental issue long before I was in my 60's, my first battle with PE wasn't until I was just over 62. Then the battles of living or dying were every year(all during hockey off-season) from 2002 through 2010. Then I spent weeks after weeks in the hospital every spring and summer.

Like you, I have always looked at what is good in my life, and have spent minimal time with the"why me". Keep up your spirits and give me a "shoutout" if I can say anything that might help you.

Keep on keeping on, from your cyber-friend,

JOhn

[tansy]

Shoulders are rough to recover from, as I'm sure I mentioned earlier.  I have to restrain myself from talking about complaining about it endlessly:/

My injury was 8 years ago and still troublesome.  My range of motion did keep improving for several years though so that's good.  

When I've had PT before, I try an appointment with everyone in the office to see which one I "click" best with.

[AspenGrove]

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@LilacTree wrote:

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I've dealt with them before and I agree.  They are very impersonal and seemingly not so interested in how we feel.  I admit that I sometimes feel as though everyone is sick of my disabilities . . . it's been twelve years now (RA, osteoporosis, etc.)  I'm sick of it myself.  I had a very busy and productive life until I was 66, and then all changed.  My mantra is it could be worse which is what I say to myself every time I begin to feel self pity.

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@LilacTree, I couldn't agree more with your mantra and have to share that a wonderful, sick and twisted friend (since childhood) sent me some of the weirdest but greatest video clips on youtube about people who had it much worse than I did with the intense challenges and pain of my shoulder injury.

So, one video clip she sent was of a guy born without both arms/hands who played the guitar, brushed, his teeth etc., with his feet.  Others were of other people without limbs doing extraordinary things. My friend's messages were always the same: "I know it's been really tough going for you, but see ... it could be way worse!"  I burst out laughing every time she sent those and she was really right.  That message really rang true for me;it truly helped me to get a grip on days when I was having small self pity parties in my head and needed to hear the message the most.

[LilacTree]

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@AspenGrove wrote:

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@LilacTree wrote:

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I've dealt with them before and I agree.  They are very impersonal and seemingly not so interested in how we feel.  I admit that I sometimes feel as though everyone is sick of my disabilities . . . it's been twelve years now (RA, osteoporosis, etc.)  I'm sick of it myself.  I had a very busy and productive life until I was 66, and then all changed.  My mantra is it could be worse which is what I say to myself every time I begin to feel self pity.

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@LilacTree, I couldn't agree more with your mantra and have to share that a wonderful, sick and twisted friend (since childhood) sent me some of the weirdest but greatest video clips on youtube about people who had it much worse than I did with the intense challenges and pain of my shoulder injury.

So, one video clip she sent was of a guy born without both arms/hands who played the guitar, brushed, his teeth etc., with his feet.  Others were of other people without limbs doing extraordinary things. My friend's messages were always the same: "I know it's been really tough going for you, but see ... it could be way worse!"  I burst out laughing every time she sent those and she was really right.  That message really rang true for me;it truly helped me to get a grip on days when I was having small self pity parties in my head and needed to hear the message the most.

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@AspenGrove

That's exactly what I often think of.  Also, my brother told me a woman he had dated when he was working just recently fell down her basement stairs, broke her neck and died instantly.  She was only 62 and had been very healthy.  That's a real tragedy.

[LilacTree]

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@tansy wrote:

Shoulders are rough to recover from, as I'm sure I mentioned earlier.  I have to restrain myself from talking about complaining about it endlessly:/

My injury was 8 years ago and still troublesome.  My range of motion did keep improving for several years though so that's good.  

When I've had PT before, I try an appointment with everyone in the office to see which one I "click" best with.

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@tansy

I dread it.  I hate PT but I know it's necessary.  My other annoying problem with it (besides the pain) is that I am chronically exhausted, and they are all about 12 years old loaded with energy!!  I've been drinking adult Pedialyte for weeks now and will continue.  Hopefully that will help.

At first I was told three to six weeks, then I looked it up and saw it was eight to twelve weeks (Merck, Mayo Clinic), then the doc says a year.  I won't worry about eight years, I doubt I will still be here at 86, LOL!!

[LilacTree]

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@hckynut wrote:

Hi to you my friend @LilacTree,

Hope you are getting along better, and I know you are dealing with many different issues.

I am fortunate that none of my more serious sports injuries happened before I knew several doctors, and had 1 of them in my family. Every Physical Therapists I worked with, my prescribing doctors knew as friends? Fact 2 of them are still friends of mine. They also handled most of my wife's therapy, except when she had her stroke in 2013.

These therapists knew to push me harder than they might some other patients, knowing I wanted to go the max to help shorten my recovery times. They also knew I had/have a pretty good background in exercise physiology, so that too helped.

So I have never had an issue with any of the several Physical Therapists I have seen over the decades. Now Exercise Physiologist? Yes. The one I had for my 72 Cardiac Rehabs was not all that fond of me.

Why? Because I there were many exercises she wanted the group to do, I told her that was not my way of doing them. I knew from my many injuries how to warmup and do resistance and stretching exercises, and they were not even close to what I knew worked for me.

She made the mistake of calling me out in front of about 20+ of the other patients about how I was doing the exercises the wrong way. I pretty much told/asked her "do you want to do this in front of all those in this class, or with me 1 on 1 after the class"? She opted for the 1 on 1. 

After that she never called me out about how I was doing the exercises I had done for years, and knew those were the ones that worked for me. I don't think she was happy to see me back 5 years later with my 2nd heart attack, and seeing me in 36 more Cardiac Rehab sessions.

I certainly have a hint of what you are having to deal with at this time. Though I had lots of physical and a mental issue long before I was in my 60's, my first battle with PE wasn't until I was just over 62. Then the battles of living or dying were every year(all during hockey off-season) from 2002 through 2010. Then I spent weeks after weeks in the hospital every spring and summer.

Like you, I have always looked at what is good in my life, and have spent minimal time with the"why me". Keep up your spirits and give me a "shoutout" if I can say anything that might help you.

Keep on keeping on, from your cyber-friend,

JOhn

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@hckynut

You've been through so much more than I have, John, and "pushing myself" physically is not in my DNA, LOL.  PT is especially difficult for me because of my chronic spinal compression issues.  All I need is another one of those and I just may give up. 

Specialists have a way of concentrating just on their specialty and ignoring any other conditions, e.g., my left knee suffered considerable soft tissue damage, but since it's not broken, no one gives it any thought.  It is painful at times, and the kneecap is completely numb.  All the ortho doc said was I probably injured a nerve and it would take a long time to heal . . . ha, ha, good to know!

Anyway, thanks for your good thoughts.  BTW, the ortho doc took parts of my sling off and it is far less limiting.  I can now stick my left hand out of the sling enough to type.  I'm still taking it slow though and resting it a lot when I start to feel it in my shoulder.  So some progress is being made.  ~Ford

[dooBdoo]

          Thanks for the updates, @LilacTree.    I haven't been here much in the past couple of weeks and in catching up wanted to see how you're doing.    Continued good thoughts coming your way, and I hope each day is better than the previous one.    Take good care of yourself!❤️