For better or worse, I’m a creature of habit. On Fridays, for example, I rake leaves in the side yard, clean the pool filter, add chemicals to the pool, and then clean the pool. On Saturdays, I wash clothes and clean house. On Sundays, I mow the lawn.
It was lawn mowing day on 29 March that my routine was significantly changed and not just because of Covid-19. While mowing the east side of the lawn I knocked over a concrete bench. It was one of three scattered in the yard along with a round concrete picnic table – you know the type – typical 50’s Florida with the broken mismatched tile inlays on the table and benches.
I figured I could lift the bench back atop the supports. I had done that many, many times in the past because of hurricane prep. What I didn’t take into account was an event three weeks prior in readjusting the garage door. In pulling the garage door up as far as it would go, I got a severe, sharp pain in my right arm. But hey, that was three weeks ago. It hadn’t bothered me since last week.
I got the concrete bench about hip level and had only a few more inches to go when a searing pain in my right arm forced me to drop the bench. The pain drove me to my knees. It was the most intense pain I had experienced.
Monday, 31 March, I called my GP for an appointment. He was not accepting in-office appointments but when I described my situation, he said “Let’s cut to the chase. I have a friend I went to medical school with at Holy Cross Orthopedic. He’s not accepting in-office appointments either but I can get his office to schedule you a teleconference.”
Sure enough, his office called me later that day and I had my teleconference with Dr. Gosthe. He asked me to make a muscle with my right arm and immediately said I had torn my right biceps tendon. He indicated that if I were not very active, no surgery was required but if I were the least bit active he recommended surgery. I opted for surgery. I thought it would be him but he said no. He is a knee surgeon. He said he would get me an appointment with a colleague who did arms.
On 6 April, I met Dr. Wodicka at Holy Cross Orthopedic and he confirmed Dr. Gosthe’s diagnosis and scheduled pre-op clearances: MRI, X-ray, no Covid-19 symptoms, and approval from my GP. As I left the complex and headed to the jeep, thinking of my future, my phone rang. It was Dr. Wodicka’s nurse asking if I could do the MRI right that moment. I got in the jeep and drove to the opposite end of the building for the MRI. Since this was in the beginning of the pandemic, Holy Cross Orthopedic and Holy Cross Hospital were only doing emergency surgeries. The place was deserted and I waltzed right in, had the MRI and waltzed right back out. All told, the office visit and the MRI took about 2 hours.
On the 8th, Dr. Dunhill, my GP (also associated with Holy Cross) had me in for an x-ray. He then approved the surgery and on 9 April, I went back to the same complex as the MRI and had my surgery. So from injury to surgery only took a total of 11 days!
In getting prepped for surgery, the nurse went through a check list of questions. One question was had I ever had anesthesia before. I told her yes – at least four times for colonoscopies. She giggled and said this would be a little different. I wondered about that.
Next the anesthesiologist came and said she would was going to give me something through my cannula to relax me before she gave me the anesthesia. I said sure thing and the next thing I remember I waked up post-op. Later, the nurse gave me an extra large hospital scrub top. They had bound my arm up to the point it wouldn’t allow me to put on the shirt I wore to the hospital. I still have it and wear it still.
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I received the usual information about post-surgery things to check for and how not to get the bandage wet. My follow up appointment with Dr. Wodicka was scheduled for 16 April. I was, surprisingly, able to sleep if I slept on my left side with my arm elevated on a pillow.
Back to Holy Cross Orthopedic on the 16th and the nurse began to cut away the bandage.
Dr. Wodicka’s nurse provided me with a sling and Dr. Wodicka said to use it mostly when out and about but it wasn’t necessary to wear all the time. He mentioned that during surgery he had a difficult time reaching up my arm to grab the tendon and biceps and pull it back down into position.
Once he finally pulled the tendon and biceps back down from my shoulder region, he pushed the tendon through a hole he drilled in my ulna and attached the tendon to a button so the tendon could not pull back through. I saw the x-ray and it really did look like a large coat button!
There was no physical therapy required. He said he wanted to see me in six weeks.
After six weeks, he wanted to see me again six weeks later. After my last visit, I asked if he needed to see me again and he said no. To be honest, other than a little numbness around the right ulna where he said he had to move a nerve around, the surgery seems to be pretty much a success. I do have a twinge every so often to remind me I had surgery, but it is about 90% back to normal.
It was the first six weeks after surgery that all hell broke loose. See the next blog.
