complete tear of the left distal biceps tendon....
adjusting the forks on my forklift on tuesday I tore my biceps tendon off at the elbow. tendon and biceps are balled up nice and high in my arm. didn't take much to do it. the fork weighs maybe 60# but caught me just right. Knew instantly when it happened I had torn it. like someone hit me with a stun gun in the pit of my elbow. Not really all that painful afterwards. couple sharp, shooting pains now and again, just a lot of aching and a a little numbness and tingling in the fore arm through my fingers. very minimal swelling and almost no bruising.
Surgery scheduled for this coming weds. it's a day surgery, 1-2 hrs. Might be back at things by sept. have to see how things go. im 37 yrs old and feel like im falling a part... like I've reached the point where old people start falling. this will be my first ever surgery. Not looking forward to it, but living with the gimp arm for a few days, I am ready to move forward and get it done.
given the time frame this will be a challenge for me and my work (farmer). Told the doc that a 12 wk recovery was the equivalent of castrating your prize bull
so stay healthy my friends
************************
update 2:30 am 6/6
it's been a few days since the surgery.... surgery went well and being a first timer to anesthesia I think I took it like a champ. felt like I woke up from a short nap.
following the surgery the arm has quite a bit of swelling. use of my hand is severely limited. can barely make a fist. much more useless than I expected. standing or even riding in a car causes noticeable swelling within a short time. pain is very minimal, though they have me in a half cast/splint and on friday I had to go in and had to have them cut off a portion of it that was causing pain on my wrist. actually causing a pressure ulcer, so I have a little more mobility in my wrist and hand now that they shortened the splint... but again, hand is pretty much worthless at this point
from where I am today, the recovery feels like it will be every bit as long as they state. Getting a little cabin fever already. ventured out for a couple hours today, but it was too much as it made the arm swell up pretty good for the rest of the day, so i will be refrain from doing that for another couple days. go back to see the surgeon on the 9th and start physical therapy on the 15th
*******************
updated 6.16.16
had my first therapy session yesterday. PT seemed impressed at my range of motion, but also concerned that I have little to no pain. she asks "do you have a very high pain tolerance?'... no I don't think I do. I think that I injured it in less than dramatic fashion, so I think that has kept swelling/pain/bruising down. I am in a holding pattern till I see my surgeon again on the 13th of July. For now, I have exercises I need to do 3x a day for range of motion along with some scar massage. Beyond that I need to protect the arm and not lift anything. I have to see the PT once a week as she "wants to keep an eye on me" as she is concerned I will over do it because of the lack of pain to hold me back. I am 100% committed to protecting the arm and the repair. I don't think I would recover from the depression I would fall into if I retore this arm.
forgot to add that i am back in the gym with my other 3 working limbs. have had 4 workouts in the last 6 days. that has been the biggest positive in terms of how I feel. Can't do free squats so I am limited to the smith and plate load machines and when I load plate machines, it am pretty much limited to handling the 25# plates. I feel like the gym is the safest place for me as I don't do anything with the arm. when I am at home I feel like I am more at risk of grabbing at things.
Body weight is on a steady down trend.
day before surgery was 207 (6/1)
day after surgery was 211 (6/2)
this morning was 202.6 (6/16)
it goes fast.
********************************************
7/3
a little over a month out from surgery. had 3 PT sessions and I am progressing "great". I have full range of movement in the elbow joint, just need to work on pronation of the hand/wrist.
I am having some aching in the back side of the elbow, but nothing new. scar is looking less than stellar. I meet with my surgeon in about 10 days and it sounds like I will start 'strengthening' shortly after that. My PT says don't get your hopes up, it will be like 1-2lbs.
I did however get under a bar for actual squats yesterday for the first time in weeks. things are coming along, slowly, but they are progressing:
***********************
7/15
I am at 6 weeks out from surgery. met with my surgeon yesterday for the first time since they took cast off me.
Everything looks good at this point. I start strengthening PT in two weeks. I'm still a ways away from any gym time with that arm. My next appointment with him is 9/13. Until then I'm limited to eating and drinking with the arm; and whatever weight I use with the therapist. This was a mental blow as I figured I was halfway home by now. Another 8 wks seems like an eternity. He just keeps telling me, we need to be smart about this. I tell him I'm committed to whatever it takes
******************************************
9/17
I am 15 wks out from surgery now. gone through all the PT and have had my 15 week follow up with my surgeon. I have 95%+ mobility back. my only mobility issue is a bit of rotation in the wrist, which will come in time. PT started slow @ 2# and we worked up to where I am now at 15#. Surgeon says I need to stay at 20# or less with the arm till mid december. I am having a little bit of issue with my ulnar nerve the more active I am with the arm. hoping in time this subsides. All in all, the arm is gaining some of its old size back, but is still about 1.5" smaller than my right side. The biceps is also set back (muscle insertion) about 1/2" from where it was previously. doc said this may or may not change as the muscle stretches.
It's been a long road this far, and I am still trucking....
adjusting the forks on my forklift on tuesday I tore my biceps tendon off at the elbow. tendon and biceps are balled up nice and high in my arm. didn't take much to do it. the fork weighs maybe 60# but caught me just right. Knew instantly when it happened I had torn it. like someone hit me with a stun gun in the pit of my elbow. Not really all that painful afterwards. couple sharp, shooting pains now and again, just a lot of aching and a a little numbness and tingling in the fore arm through my fingers. very minimal swelling and almost no bruising.
Surgery scheduled for this coming weds. it's a day surgery, 1-2 hrs. Might be back at things by sept. have to see how things go. im 37 yrs old and feel like im falling a part... like I've reached the point where old people start falling. this will be my first ever surgery. Not looking forward to it, but living with the gimp arm for a few days, I am ready to move forward and get it done.
given the time frame this will be a challenge for me and my work (farmer). Told the doc that a 12 wk recovery was the equivalent of castrating your prize bull
so stay healthy my friends
************************
update 2:30 am 6/6
it's been a few days since the surgery.... surgery went well and being a first timer to anesthesia I think I took it like a champ. felt like I woke up from a short nap.
following the surgery the arm has quite a bit of swelling. use of my hand is severely limited. can barely make a fist. much more useless than I expected. standing or even riding in a car causes noticeable swelling within a short time. pain is very minimal, though they have me in a half cast/splint and on friday I had to go in and had to have them cut off a portion of it that was causing pain on my wrist. actually causing a pressure ulcer, so I have a little more mobility in my wrist and hand now that they shortened the splint... but again, hand is pretty much worthless at this point
from where I am today, the recovery feels like it will be every bit as long as they state. Getting a little cabin fever already. ventured out for a couple hours today, but it was too much as it made the arm swell up pretty good for the rest of the day, so i will be refrain from doing that for another couple days. go back to see the surgeon on the 9th and start physical therapy on the 15th
*******************
updated 6.16.16
had my first therapy session yesterday. PT seemed impressed at my range of motion, but also concerned that I have little to no pain. she asks "do you have a very high pain tolerance?'... no I don't think I do. I think that I injured it in less than dramatic fashion, so I think that has kept swelling/pain/bruising down. I am in a holding pattern till I see my surgeon again on the 13th of July. For now, I have exercises I need to do 3x a day for range of motion along with some scar massage. Beyond that I need to protect the arm and not lift anything. I have to see the PT once a week as she "wants to keep an eye on me" as she is concerned I will over do it because of the lack of pain to hold me back. I am 100% committed to protecting the arm and the repair. I don't think I would recover from the depression I would fall into if I retore this arm.
forgot to add that i am back in the gym with my other 3 working limbs. have had 4 workouts in the last 6 days. that has been the biggest positive in terms of how I feel. Can't do free squats so I am limited to the smith and plate load machines and when I load plate machines, it am pretty much limited to handling the 25# plates. I feel like the gym is the safest place for me as I don't do anything with the arm. when I am at home I feel like I am more at risk of grabbing at things.
Body weight is on a steady down trend.
day before surgery was 207 (6/1)
day after surgery was 211 (6/2)
this morning was 202.6 (6/16)
it goes fast.
********************************************
7/3
a little over a month out from surgery. had 3 PT sessions and I am progressing "great". I have full range of movement in the elbow joint, just need to work on pronation of the hand/wrist.
I am having some aching in the back side of the elbow, but nothing new. scar is looking less than stellar. I meet with my surgeon in about 10 days and it sounds like I will start 'strengthening' shortly after that. My PT says don't get your hopes up, it will be like 1-2lbs.
I did however get under a bar for actual squats yesterday for the first time in weeks. things are coming along, slowly, but they are progressing:
***********************
7/15
I am at 6 weeks out from surgery. met with my surgeon yesterday for the first time since they took cast off me.
Everything looks good at this point. I start strengthening PT in two weeks. I'm still a ways away from any gym time with that arm. My next appointment with him is 9/13. Until then I'm limited to eating and drinking with the arm; and whatever weight I use with the therapist. This was a mental blow as I figured I was halfway home by now. Another 8 wks seems like an eternity. He just keeps telling me, we need to be smart about this. I tell him I'm committed to whatever it takes
******************************************
9/17
I am 15 wks out from surgery now. gone through all the PT and have had my 15 week follow up with my surgeon. I have 95%+ mobility back. my only mobility issue is a bit of rotation in the wrist, which will come in time. PT started slow @ 2# and we worked up to where I am now at 15#. Surgeon says I need to stay at 20# or less with the arm till mid december. I am having a little bit of issue with my ulnar nerve the more active I am with the arm. hoping in time this subsides. All in all, the arm is gaining some of its old size back, but is still about 1.5" smaller than my right side. The biceps is also set back (muscle insertion) about 1/2" from where it was previously. doc said this may or may not change as the muscle stretches.
It's been a long road this far, and I am still trucking....
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