After much pain, soul searching, cure searching, kicking with fins and general advise seeking, I've elected to have arthroscopic surgery to treat my "shoulder impingement syndrome" which I guess is tendonitis....The fact that I made the decision before consulting the USMC forum may be inexcusable, but, be that as it may, I'm on the docket for two weeks from today...
The surgery, as I, a layman, understand it, will widen the subacromial space allowing unimpeded movement of my supraspinatus (one of the rotator cuffs) muscle and tendon and biseps tendon....
I ain't looking for sympathy or an explanation...but I'd love to hear from someone who's had this type of procedure and can outline their recovery process...I was planning on making some waves in the 55-59 age group at Coral Gables in May but realize now I may just be a cheerleader...I'm keeping the Chesapeake Bay swim on my June calendar even if I can just kick my way across...I'd love to know what to expect..Thanks
Bruce,
The first surgery for me, that included screws and total immobilzation for 6 weeks, was at age 59.75. The second one 4 months later, arthroscopic, was at age 60, and the third for another torn rotator cuff on the arthroscoped shoulder (unexpected, not part of the original plan) was at age 61, 12 months after the second one. Obviously, the younger you are, the faster you will heal, especially if you follow your doctor's plan. I recovered pretty quickly after the second surgery and was quite excited about the times I did at the LC Nationals at Cleveland 5 months later. Training to break the World record in the 50 SCM free after that meet, resulted in another set back and it's been a lot more lengthy and cautious process this time.
54 sounds like a good age for optimal healing. Are you in good shape now? Part of my problem was that I had let it go so long, that my shoulders were not strong anymore and it took awhile to get them strong. I was shocked the first time I looked at the repaired shoulder after the first open surgery. It looked like the outer part of the shoulder was gone. Rather than the upper arm/shoulder having a rounded look, it was pointy and flat - very weird looking and it took quite awhile for it to look normal and rounded again.
Are you a sprinter, middle distance, or distance swimmer? I think, from what you've said here, that you'll be fine. You're taking care of the problem sooner rather than later and barring unforeseen problems, should be able to put this behind you and move forward. I'm sure many of us can offer post-surgery training workout suggestions if you need them.
Nancy
Bruce,
The first surgery for me, that included screws and total immobilzation for 6 weeks, was at age 59.75. The second one 4 months later, arthroscopic, was at age 60, and the third for another torn rotator cuff on the arthroscoped shoulder (unexpected, not part of the original plan) was at age 61, 12 months after the second one. Obviously, the younger you are, the faster you will heal, especially if you follow your doctor's plan. I recovered pretty quickly after the second surgery and was quite excited about the times I did at the LC Nationals at Cleveland 5 months later. Training to break the World record in the 50 SCM free after that meet, resulted in another set back and it's been a lot more lengthy and cautious process this time.
54 sounds like a good age for optimal healing. Are you in good shape now? Part of my problem was that I had let it go so long, that my shoulders were not strong anymore and it took awhile to get them strong. I was shocked the first time I looked at the repaired shoulder after the first open surgery. It looked like the outer part of the shoulder was gone. Rather than the upper arm/shoulder having a rounded look, it was pointy and flat - very weird looking and it took quite awhile for it to look normal and rounded again.
Are you a sprinter, middle distance, or distance swimmer? I think, from what you've said here, that you'll be fine. You're taking care of the problem sooner rather than later and barring unforeseen problems, should be able to put this behind you and move forward. I'm sure many of us can offer post-surgery training workout suggestions if you need them.
Nancy
