I'm back!! ....well sort of.

[GTX]

It's been almost a year since 'it' happened but it made me disappear for a long while.

I was building my trailer and in the very early days I was lifting the iron and hurt my shoulder. I did as much on the trailer as I could working with one arm though the Fall since we really needed to get it done or at least rolling and then I crashed and couldn't take the pain anymore. It still needs fenders, the storage box and wiring.
The doctor said it was rotator cuff syndrome, a precursor to a tear and told me to just take it easy for a while. Well, after all this taking it easy I can finally sort of lift my arm.

Has anyone else had a rotator cuff injury? I understand that you need surgery to repair it if it's a tear but after about the first 6 months of agony I slowly began to get better. Staying down most of the Winter has helped but now I'm practically unemployed!
It really seems more muscular than tendon but I've been to three doctors and none can seem to pin it down for sure. I'll tell you, it REALLY is a painful injury!
I can finally type again on the computer... a bit, I can drive with my arm on the steering wheel, I can lift a bag of groceries and I think I can work on the cars again.

Anyway, I've been collecting parts while I've been down and now I think I'm going to be ready soon to work on a trunk floor replacement on the Charger. I'm not sure how to go about it but I guess I'll post in the appropriate department for that info. 

Ahh, it feels great to have two arms again....sort of.

Anyone else ever go through this?

[Arthu®]

I am very sorry to hear that GTX, I can't imagine what it must be like to not be able to work with both your arms. I am of no help on what it could be. I hope you get better soon, I just think it would be best to wait just a little longer until you think it has healed entirely than to already start working with it and especially lifting stuff and so on when you are just starting to feel better. I hope everything will return to the way it was soon.

Arthur

[41husk]

The trainer here at school says thats whats wrong with my shoulder,  I have not been able to loift weights are wrestle any of the kids.  It seems like I hurt it at least once a day at practice.  I have come to the point I am going to see a doctor as soon as the season ends.
Glad to here your doing better and good luck with the Charger.

[Charger_Fan]

I dislocated my right shoulder in 1993 & that thing hurt for probably 5 years! Still does, now & then. I couldn't sleep on my right side for a long time because of it, so I can sorta see whare you're coming from.
A couple years ago, I cracked 3 ribs in a bike crash...that hurts worse than the shoulder did.
Last summer, I tore my left calf muscle while pushing my Suburban uphill (dead tranny)...THAT didn't feel good at all.
It's hell getting old. Right now, I feel pretty good, other than a nagging back pain that won't go away.

Sorry about your injury, I hope you either heal, or the doc can fix you up soon. Good to hear from you again.
The trailer looks good from here.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Good to see you back and glad you are feeling better.

I sort have a touch of what you are referring to in my left shoulder.  Docs tell me its Bursitis or bone spurs on my rotator cuff...hurts like heck at times

[GTX]

.........It's hell getting old. Right now, I feel pretty good, other than a nagging back pain that won't go away.

Yeah, tell me about it, I still have the bad back from a 2 story fall in '77 ( 4 fractures in the spine and one neck) , a bad hip from the cycle crashes in '89, and a hernia that needs repair although I have a ton of scar tissue from the first two surgeries there.
One of the worst pains I ever felt was dropping a Pontiac 400 on my foot from my Firebird. Now that one REALLY hurt. More intense and short lived than this one but I think this one still takes the cake. Nearly a year of constant daily severe pain. Thank God for pain meds and a TENS unit.

Sucks getting older but at least I can still play with my hobbies!
I'm not sure how many more cars I still have in me that I can do in the future but I'll probably be found croaked under a Mopar when it's my time!

Who wants dibs on the Charger and the GTX?  (I have no kids)
 

[PocketThunder]

Hi GTX, i remember you, werent you moving to Vegas?  are you there now?

[GTX]

Hey, we went down and looked but couldn't find a house that was under 500k and that had a driveway more than 30 feet, a garage etc that could accommodate my vehicles etc. Too many cars, boats etc.
Also, the backyards were all so small that I could never play my movies out there. My projector would take up 50% of the yard!
Another thing that bugged us was all of the houses being 6" away from each other and looking into each others rooms and yards. I'd like so privacy. We also are not huge fans of the home owners associations telling us how we can live but I guess that's the way things are pretty much everywhere....but not in my neighborhood. I'd get kicked out in a month with my cars alone.

We might be down there again in a couple of months for a seminar and may look around again. Now the boss says she likes Phoenix area so we may look there too in the future.
Maybe the right place is there but we didn't find it.

[Mefirst]

Hope your shoulder will be OK..

I also have problems with my left shoulder from time to time and it hurts like Hell. When these "attacks" come, I cant do anything with my left arm, cant lift it up or carry anything with it... I got the same answer from my doctor as Chris did, probably Bursitis, Bonespurs or that the "mounting" point for the shoulder muscle is not hooked up correct or it has a small tear where it should be hooked up.

/Tom

[NHCharger]

Who wants dibs on the Charger and the GTX?  (I have no kids)
 

Since no one's called it I'll take dibs on the Charger

I tore the muscle off my elbow last year. That was my longest long term injury to date. Altough I haven't dropped a big block on my foot yet
Welcome back.

[mikesbbody]

hi gtx, yes i have suffered a rotator cuff injury but it was probably more my fault i was training heavy bench press (im a powerlifter) and just pushed it abit much i knew i had done something, but like a dumbass kept training to cut a long story short my bench press dropped in half and took months to come right. but it sounds like your worse off than i was because i could still work etc just take it easy it will come right again.

[GTX]

Well, to be honest I didn't take it easy as the Dr told me at first. I took the percocet and still worked on the trailer and then on a bathroom project a bit and may have injured it worse by doing so.
This really feels maybe more muscular to me since I get tightness and spasms all around the shoulder and back area but the cuff area really hurts. I'm about 60-70% better than I was in October but still have a long ways to go.  I'm guessing maybe another 6 months of light duty.
It really sucks not being able to work on the cars, train the dog and do even basic stuff and it's my left arm and I'm left handed!

I really find my tens unit helpful, don't know if I could make it without.

[mikesbbody]

hi gtx i know how frustrating it can be! work around it and take it slow it will come right. I found i could still do weights as long as i stayed away from "pushing" type excercises i.e bench press, shoulder press's etc i could do "pulling" excercises no problem. there are plenty of light, rotator cuff excercises that can help it sucks but it will come right in the end goodluck mike.

[greenpigs]

Who wants dibs on the Charger and the GTX?  (I have no kids)

I'll take the GTX.

[GTX]

Ok, my Mopars have all been dibs out. Now I just need to make sure you guys don't bump me off to get your loot early!