Elizabeth's Shoulder Updates : April 2013

Monday, April 8, 2013

Sling Freedom Day

Disclaimer: I am usually not one to take "selfies" in the
mirror with my phone, but I was excited,
so you are going to have to forgive me.

Today was my first day going to Physical Therapy at Boston Children's Hospital (they have been following me throughout the years and have excellent Physical Therapists). Every thing went very well. Most importantly, today is the first day in 14 months that I can stop wearing a sling with out significant pain or worry about my shoulder! For this reason, I am calling it Sling Freedom Day. Basically, it is one of the best and most exciting days in the past year. Now, I cant really do much with my arm, I can't raise it, or lift much of anything, but I can use my elbow and hand (if I remember that I have them). Before you think that I can basically do nothing, remember that my previous brace was very bulky, and I had to wear it 24/7. So, here is a list of things I can do as of today:

Type normally
Double thumbs up
Wave (though awkwardly) with my left hand
Walk around with out getting stared at or asked about my shoulder
Plug both ears when the firetrucks/ambulances go by me on the street
Fit into a normal public bathroom stall (my brace was to bulky to do this)
Change by myself!
SLEEP! (Without my brace on, I'm sure tonight I will sleep better than I have in five weeks)

Okay, so, I know, those all seem pretty easy, and it may be unusual to get so excited about these things, but I haven't been able to do this stuff in over a year, and this is just the beginning.

Description

This blog will be used from now on to update people about my shoulder. It is often difficult to remember to update everyone who would like to know what is happening with my shoulder and honestly, sometimes I just don't feel like doing it. Furthermore, articulating information quickly and smoothly has never really been a strong suit of mine. Thus, giving people the information that they want to know in a way they can understand it is always challenging. Feel free to ask any comprehension questions in the comments of a post.

About My Shoulder

My diagnosis: My diagnosis is scapular dyskinesis caused by a detached scapular muscle, a separated AC joint and possibly a hooked superior medial angle. What this essentially means is that my shoulder blade does not move properly. It often gets "stuck" causing it to stick out from my back (a position that I typically call "out"). Once it is in this position, I cannot get it back to its normal position on its own and need somebody to put it "back in" for me, which is pretty easy as long as you are not too squeamish. To do this, I just need someone (they do not have to be a doctor) to essentially shrug my shoulder (I don't have the ability to do it myself). This is painful, but necessary.

How it happened: When I was eleven, in the fall of 2005, I jumped off a swing and landed on outstretched arms. After this, I began to have shoulder pains. It is believed that this is when my scapular muscle became detached. I initially only had pain in many places on my shoulder and a bit of cracking under my shoulder blade. This proved to make it difficult to diagnose what was wrong with my shoulder. However, by the summer of 2010 it progressed into getting stuck like it does today. I have been attending Boston Children's Hospital since this time. Starting in the fall of 2010, I was able to control my shoulder enough to learn how to fix it myself and do what I wanted. However, at the end of January 2012, I crashed sledding, separating my AC joint (Type II separation). Since then, physical therapy has not been able to get it under control. It was agreed that surgery needed to be done to solve the problem. I had one surgery June 2012 to get a better idea about what was going on inside my shoulder. They could not find anything significant besides some inflammation. They gave me a cortisone shot to reduce inflammation. However, though it reduced the problem for a short period of time, it did not fix the problem, and my shoulder progressed back to its original condition by the end of August. After more testing, it was decided that I may have a hooked superior medial angle. I was then sent to a doctor in Lexington, KY who specializes in scapulothoracic joint issues. It was there where the final diagnosis and surgery was decided on.

Some statistics:

7 years

7 doctors

~6 x-rays

3 MRI's

2 CT Scans

2 EMG's