After The Bankart Repair Surgery (Part 2)
I'm typing all these using only one hand...haha!
I know roughly one or two of you out there reading this have experienced a shoulder dislocation before, either because of sports, physically-demanding sexual activities, or by goofing around on wet floors. Pretty common. It's best not to leave it untreated. From what the doc told me, it will lead to arthritis. So I'm sharing some stuff with you from a patient's point of view. This procedure, from what doc said, is probably the most effective treatment available, compared to traditional open shoulder surgery. He told me two holes, but I don't know why I removed the dressing to find three, one which was stitched up like tic-tac-toe.
Two in the front... The crop-circle drawings are still there...
One small one at the back.
I feel that you should consider this Bankart Repair surgery if you're:
1) Experiencing frequent dislocations or near dislocations (that kind of about-to-pop-out feeling).
2) Just looking forward to a 44 to 60 day MC (super cool)
The total cost is around $2,500, and if you're lucky enough to be in service, you only pay $10 or so for the ward charges. Just make an appointment with a specialist, nag him about your frequent dislocations, and he'll eventually ask you to book a date for surgery.
I thought they were going to put me to sleep first before entering the operating theatre. Haha! Fucking silly me! In fact, I had to walk in, sit on the cold mechanical chair to be strapped in, before they finally put me to sleep. The surgery lasted only an hour. The moment I woke, that was the pinnacle of pain! Just stunning pain that made me moan "Owwwwwwwwwzzzhhh". The nurse was somehow expecting that reaction, so she came over, and provided me with painkillers. It was 10 am then, and I slept for a good 4 hours before Dad, Michelle and Robert came to pick me up.
The first day was pretty much painful. A very sore feeling in your shoulder which doesn't stop. You won't even want to lift your arm to clean the arm pits, let alone bathe. But rest assured, with a pillow under your injured arm, you still can lean back and play PSP like I did. Second day, not that painful anymore, just the bathing part. Jessie bathed me for three days straight, so all I had to do was stand there and support my arm. Not too bad, just that putting on clothes and wearing the sling was a fucking chore. Its been three days now and the pain is subsiding very very quickly. I'm happy with the progress. All the saline weeping out of the wound has stopped, so the three holes are pretty much dry now.
The second biggest problem, other than bathing, is sleeping. I slept with two small pillows underneath my arm so that it prevented my shoulder from drooping. And when I woke up, I held my elbow close to my rib-cage, and got up in a sit-up motion. Don't ever try rolling off the bed, my shoulder felt like it was going to tear off. The pain woke me up on and off during the night, even though I was on painkillers "Soden". That was because I took them at 6 p.m. and it wore off in the middle of the night. If you have to take them twice daily, I'd recommend 10 am and 10 pm (one hour before I slept). The saddest thing I heard from the nurse was that I was not allowed to consume alcohol! For how long, she didn't fucking say! Probably had something to do with medication, excessive bleeding and stuff like that.
I have a friend who practically dislocates everytime he reaches back, but now he's 100% cured after surgery. I believe it will do the same for you and me too.
Take a look at the following resources if you're interested in finding out more before the op :
UW Medicine : Arthroscopic shoulder surgery for shoulder dislocation, subluxation, and instability
HSS : Arthroscopic Bankart Repair Video (might be a little gross)
Hope this post will help the relevant people with shoulder dislocations. If you need to know anything on pain management and stuff like that, just drop them in the comments box. And oh yes, smoking did ease some pain, even though my New Year's resolution was not to smoke!
[Update - 180108]
The surgeon showed me the shots taken by the camera inserted into my shoulder during the operation. He was nice enough to let me keep it as a souvenir after I told him the tendons looked like "seafood", probably squid.
man those stitches sure lose just as bad as mine. i have 24 stitches on my shin. total of 12. 6 on the inside, 6 on the outside.
whenever you trying to stretch abit of skin where the stitches are, you feel like your skin's tearing apart right?
damn jialat, recover soon man.
oh fuck what am i typing, lol. pardon me. looks as bad as mine and 12 stitches on my shin.
Chris you're like the male freakin Xiaxue with the gross pics up of your surgery now. Hahaha.
hey chris. sorry to hear about that man, looks really painful. frankenstein-like, scary!
LOL i help u take stitches out ! :X i'm a nurse buahahaha :x well when u stop ur painkillers, wait for at least 2 weeks before drinking alcohol again, but i suggest 1 month :D, if not if there are still painkillers left in ur blood, u gg LOL
Oh God, I winced countless time reading your entry. I think I am a pussy.
Pop-out-of-shoulder. OMG.
Get soon man. And get a definitive date when you can get sloshed again!
eugene : nah, mine's only a few stitches only. But I can feel that something is really raw and sore beneath the skin. Yea, it feels as if your skin is tearing apart whenever you stretch. Probably take a while to heal. Thanks bro.
Soapy : Nah, not Xiaxue. I don't really like her. I don't want fame or anything. I just want to share my experiences with people that happen to Google my site, with genuine need for info and not for the thrill of looking at gross pictures. Just the same way as I was trying desperately to find out a patient's account of the recovery process, but I found none.
Take for instance, my Malaysian Renunciation post. People actually googled and emailed me regarding the process. And I did reply wholeheartedly to their emails, giving them directions on how to get it done. Well, they appreciated the replies a lot, and thats what makes me happy too.
Calvn : Haha! What's there to be sorry about!! When are we meeting up again?? So many things to talk about man. Coffee? When r u free?
Henry : Haha. I didn't know u were a nurse! Where are you working now? Oh, the painkillers. Thats what I thought so. It takes that long to have them flushed out?
Razlan : My sis won't even look at my arm! My dad too winches everytime he sees my arm. Sure thing, I'll let u know when WE
Apparently alcohol promotes blood flow because it speeds up your heart pumping. So if you have an open wound, drinking would lead to more bleeding than usual. Thus even post-tattooing and piercing, you are advised not to drink.
Pity the women more ok? Drinking during menstrual periods will cause the blood flow to drag on longer than usual hor. Tsk. U mai complain arh. At least you no need to get pregnant and give birth in future. Just that combined alone will force you to skip alcohol for AT LEAST 3 mths (if not the usual ONE YEAR). :P
Cheers man. *LOL*
Shelly, serious? I know about the piercings and tattoos part. Bleeding aside, higher chances of getting the wrong tattoo also.
Jessie drinks willingly and happily every weekend, menstrual or not.
And I finally know the reason why she always wished I'm the one giving birth, that's because she can drink. But seriously la, alcohol was available long time ago. Generations ago, people would not even have medical information like this available, they would probably have drank their own home-brew which was even stronger, and yet they still live to a ripe old age...
She's looking forward to a caesarean section delivery method btw. Less painful as well I heard.
So what can the mother advise us on?
Wait til you guys get pregnant first then say. But the pain is the same lah, just pain at a different part lor.
If medically speaking, C-sec takes an average total of 4-6 months to recover. Whereas natural (aka vaginal) delivery only takes a max of 2 months, unless your gynae fuck up.
So, do your maths and tell me which one is better to suffer.
Also, please consider the fact that c-sec is easily double the price of natural as well. But you can always pawn your Diablo-dildo to offset medical fees. *LOL*
I think i still have to top-up after pawning the diablo-dildo.
Nono, not getting pregnant, unless the rubber breaks!
I think i'll op for natural delivery, but she's pretty icky about the pain and stuff like that. And I got to stand there, keep telling her to push, push, push!
I think lets adopt instead lah. forget about the pains n putting on weight. It sucks man! I can also give it away anytime if the bugger give me any trouble. LOL
From an emo motherly point of view, the little wrinkled baby in your arms after the whole ordeal kinda make all the changes worth it. :)
If not there won't be women who have babies again and again.
aight shelly!
gotta work hard on it =D
hey when did u have full rnage of motion and like could u swim after 10 weeks or 12 weeks .like was that impossible
hey when did u have full rnage of motion and like could u swim after 10 weeks or 12 weeks .like was that impossible
12 weeks. But not FULL range of motion. I had problems lifting my hand over my head.
Probably 6 months to regain FULL range of motion.
Um on the prego girl I think my wife would beg to differ that it only takes two months to recover fully from a natural birth or that a C-section is more painful. She had both and said that the C was much easier. 2 what service are you talking about? The United States Armed Forces uses Tricare and with that there are absolutly no "ward fees" or fees of any kind unless you use a civilian provider you were not refered to or you are on vacation somewhere there is no military hospital and you get a cold and go to the ER then tricare says not an emergency you pay. Trust me on this 8 yrs US Army 7 surgeries never paid a red cent. Your recovery depends on you, my right arm was back to normal in 4 months my left arm just hurts after 8 months. Nothing is wrong with my left arm it just wants to heal slowly and I think I over used it remembering how the other arm went. After 12 weeks you should still focus on low impact sports i.e. swimming, jogging nothing that will jar your shoulder to much
six months???? awww.... ima having mine open type of surgery cause i found out they have lesser % of recurrence and higher % of stability.. and cause have no choice they have bigger work to do on my shoulder.. But 6 months?! awwww.... thats terrifying.. * having muscle spasm and pain 24/7* cant wait for my surgery but scared :-( dammn bankart repair
Nick : Thanks for sharing!
Wee : Just go for it man. Better to fix it when you're young and less susceptible to complications. Maybe my pain tolerance is pretty low, but it varies from individual. The pain is bearable, more towards irritating. I drank almost every night (not supposed to), which probably explains the slow recovery. All the best.
Chris,
I will have a Bankart/Slap surgery in 20 days, thanks a bunch for sharing your experience with the rest of us.
Tony
Brussels, Belgium
Hey Tony, you are welcome! I wish you a speedy recovery.
Feel free to share your experience with all of us here! Take care!
Thank you for this post!
I am having this surgery on the 13th, and after reading this post I am way less scared about it!! I've been battling dislocation since age 13, and at 22, I'm SICK of it!! So again, thank you!!
Katie: Wishing you all the best. Don't worry. It's inconvenient but tolerable. Wishing you a speedy recovery.