There Ain’t No Sin To Be Glad You Are Alive

A little more than a week has passed since my shoulder procedure and I’m slowly recovering – a bit slower than I had expected to be honest. To be forced to deviate from the original plan, which was to stay home from work for one week, and extend the sick leave was a hard decision to make. It turns out I’m not as strong as I had expected and having to yield to pain and sleep deprivation feels like a failure.

Again, I know recovering from a minor shoulder surgery is nothing compared to the agony of people suffering from life threatening conditions. However, this is MY blog and I’m describing life from MY perspective.

Current status: I’ve had a good night’s sleep, half lying, half sitting on the sofa which is my normal sleeping position these days.

The project for the week is to try and wean myself off the pain meds. I’ve been taking Oxycodone, which is a strong pain killer that belong to a group of medicines called opioids. They are commonly used to relieve severe pain and one of the side effects is that it’s easy to develop a tolerance and an “addiction”. It is therefore advised to reduce the dose gradually to prevent symptoms of withdrawal.

On Wednesday I have an appointment to remove the stitches. I’m very excited (and a bit anxious) to see how the scars are healing and where exactly the operation wounds are placed (remember the worries I had regarding my tattoo). Up until now the area that was operated on has been covered in bandages and I’ve even been forced to buy and apply extra tape on the edges to prevent it from peeling off and to expose the wounds to infections.

I am dutifully and regularly doing my assigned rehab exercises, which at this stage focus on finding the proper muscle function and slowly improving the motion and flexibility of the shoulder. I’ve also, secretly, added some harmless leg exercises (I’m doing squats and lunges) to not lose too much muscle mass and to monitor my weight and cardio, I’m taking brisk walks.

For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it aint no sin to be glad you’re alive.
I wanna find one face that aint looking through me
I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these

To summon up this entry: I’m slowly but steadily making progress. I’ve learnt to be humble and know now that the healing process will take time and I need to be patient (lots of my friends are right now screaming “We told you so” 😁). However, I’m feeling causally positive. The sun is shining today and there is no sin to be glad you are alive.

Over and out! /Anna