The Blessing of Modern Medicine

About 2 weeks ago Jedi had surgery to repair a multitude of problems with his left shoulder. I won’t bore you dear reader with the ins-n-outs and medical jargon associated with the problem, but I will tell you how incredibly thankful I am to the medical staff at the hospital where Jedi had his procedure. The doctors and nurses were kind, respectful, and patient in explaining every minute detail from pre-op to post-op. Jedi’s injury was not life-threatening, but it certainly put a damper on his ability to enjoy life. The pain he had because the joint had been pulled out of the socket on several occasions was not compatible with his busy lifestyle.

The surgeon was able to repair the devastated tendons, ligaments, and muscles all through 4 small incisions around Jedi’s shoulder. The procedure took 2 hours with a post surgery recovery time of about the same. Jedi was even able to enjoy food that very night following his afternoon in the OR. The anesthesiologist was most instrumental in putting my fears to rest. I have only been under a general anesthetic once in my life and have often been weary of having anything done where I would need to be “put under”. Dr. L (the aforementioned anesthesiologist) was able to explain that for surgeries like Jedi’s there is no need for a muscle relaxant like Versed to be given along with the sleepy medicine so there would be absolutely no chance of anesthesia awareness. Although I know there is an extremely low percentage of people who experience this troubling phenomenom, I was relieved to find out there was zero opportunity for it to happen here.

Now all that remains is for Jedi to do his daily physical therapy and get his arm stong enough to use without the support of the sling. It will be about two more weeks before he is able to do that. Yesterday he felt good enough to begin excercising on his bike again. I’m very proud of him for taking care of himself and his body.