Surgery

Today was the end of the world! Or so Robert thought. He doesn't get to play basketball, softball, pingpong, racquetball, or any other sport for a year or so. What is he going to do!!?? Wednesday was all about 'this is the last time I will mow the lawn for a while," "this is the last time I type for a month and a half," "this is the last time I play softball for a year," "this is the last time I......" You get the idea.

Surgery started at 7:30 and he finally woke up enough for me to allowed to sit with him around 10:30. The good news is that instead of a torn rotator cuff, he has a SLAP tear. SLAP = Superior Labral Anterior Tear According to the paper that we got from the doctor, and I quote,

"A very common labral injury is a tear that occurs on the top of the labrum, extending from the front to the back of the cartilage. This injury affects the attachment of the biceps tendon to the glenoid. An injury in this area can be extremely painful, and can cause the biceps tendon to rupture. If the biceps tendon anchor is no longer firmly attached to the glenoid, it must be re-attached to the bone. The surgeon uses suture anchors and arthroscopic knot tying techniques to repair the torn labrum and biceps attachment."

Here are some pictures of the surgery. First you can see the shoulder, then the tear, and finally the tear tied shut.

This may be TMI for some people, I'm sure the medical types appreciate the clarification of what actually is going on with Robert's shoulder. My very layman's interpretation of all that is that he had a very large tear in a tendon that caused his bicep to pull away from the bone and now it is tied back into place. The reason this is good news is that it means only 1 month of immobilization of his right arm instead of a month and a half. Maybe, just maybe Robert's LIFE can start back up just a little bit sooner.