Surgery Tuesday

[Fentonite]

Good luck! I thought for sure this was gonna be about your knee...

[Sparky]

Good luck! I thought for sure this was gonna be about your knee...

I wish. Those are still a mess as well

[StagLefty]

Good Luck on rehab and take your time healing !

[UncleDave]

A buddy of mine had that surgery 8 years ago or so. Caught a falling plank from a scaffold and popped the tendon. They basically screwed the tendon back to the bone. He has made a full recovery.

[Ronin13]

Damn! Sorry to hear that. I know your pain- I got hurt during training back in Oct, and have a partially torn ligament in my left hand. I'm on light duty til at least Jan. Hope you heal up well and get back at, but take your time, let it heal properly so it doesn't become an issue later. My dad tore his bicep tendon years ago and he got back to 100% after they re-attached it.

[Sparky]

Surgery went well. OMG when I woke up I was in the worst pain I ever felt. They stabbed my neck to give me a nerve blocker and a big dose of dilaudid. I actually only had to use the pain killers a couple days and I am off them completely. I did sleep in my recliner for a few days because I couldn't get comfortable in bed. Going back to Ortho on the 18th and will hopefully get this cast removed. Physical therapy to start after the new year.

[Great-Kazoo]

Surgery went well. OMG when I woke up I was in the worst pain I ever felt. They stabbed my neck to give me a nerve blocker and a big dose of dilaudid. I actually only had to use the pain killers a couple days and I am off them completely. I did sleep in my recliner for a few days because I couldn't get comfortable in bed. Going back to Ortho on the 18th and will hopefully get this cast removed. Physical therapy to start after the new year.

PT will be a major help, good to hear your use of meds is minimal and feeling better.

[Ramsker]

Glad it went well. The big thing once you get out of casts & braces (I'd imagine a ROM brace is probably coming next but sometimes they don't do that with the endobutton) is getting the range of motion & flexibility back in the elbow and wrist. They'll be stiff as heck and then you have to carefully work towards getting that DBP stretched back out again since it retracts from the injury and the lack of use. Expect some loss of grip strength as well to work through and be prepared for some atrophy in the upper arm and forearm--it goes away fast when you don't use it, but yours should be far less than mine was.

That link I posted has a lot of info on rehab and exercises once you are cleared . . . gives you a good idea what to expect.

[Gman]

Glad to hear you're bouncing back. When you do start PT, just remember to do what they ask without the urge of pushing yourself to do more. This is one of those situations where more isn't 'better'. Once you're healed, then you can kick it up a notch.

[Ramsker]

Glad to hear you're bouncing back. When you do start PT, just remember to do what they ask without the urge of pushing yourself to do more. This is one of those situations where more isn't 'better'. Once you're healed, then you can kick it up a notch.

This is VERY true with a DBT rupture and repair. It needs to heal up in the immediate term and it really is one of those things where pushing yourself can be more than just counterproductive--it can lead to a lot of complications and even re-injury. That's one of the hardest things to get your head around with this surgery--that it's a marathon and requires patience. Don't lift more than your surgeon clears you for and don't push harder than your PT advises/teaches.

Once you are past that PT phase and are released to do your own lifting/rehab, you'll get some general guidance on how to do that and how to ratchet it up. There is some "no pain, no gain" involved there as it will almost certainly be uncomfortable in spots and you do have to push through it. But you have to do it smartly, slowly, and it small bites. I remember going over to a lady at the gym when she was putting away a 20 pound curl bar and asking if she was done with it. She kind of laughed thinking I was kidding or picking up on her. I said, no . . . I am serious . . . I'm rehabbing a bicep rupture . . . and I proceeded to grit my teeth and sweat bullets doing reps with it.

It's a slow, painful, frustrating slog . . . but the nice thing is that you see small improvements every day and you'll feel much more back to normal in a few months.