still having shoulder pain

[laurie57]

Hi

I had shoulder surgery in may 2007 for a full thickness rotator cuff.
I am an RN and used to work on a busy telemetry floor, lifting, pulling,etc.
I have been unable to return to work due to restrictions.
I am no longer employed at my place of employment where I injured myself, per their policies. Still having pain when I use my arm too much. Physician says it should be healed by now and seemed a little bit mad at me that it wasn't. I am going for an MRI today per his order.
He was not like this until the last couple of months, when I kept telling him I still had pain. I guess he thinks maybe I am trying to milk the system. I guess this is normal??
Any input??
thanks

[stiffnecked]

Have you had a cervical spine MRI done yet? Even though you had a rotator cuff tear that doesn't mean all of your problems are coming from that area. Many times cervical spine problems will cause extreme shoulder pain.

[Lilly]

laurie,
I also believe (you already know how the doctors "are") that they take it personally when someone doesn't heal perfectly after one of "their" skilled surgeries....and it irritates them that someone is complaining about pain after one of their perfect surgeries with their skilled hands! My first MD actually got pissed at me after my 1st shoulder surgery failed and I was having so much pain & problems when in PT! He had the gall to claim it was because I wasn't trying to help myself.....and was being a baby about the pain levels I was experiencing. He did NOT want to hear the possibility of a unsuccessful surgery, as he deemed himself perfect.
Lilly Hope you feel better soon

[laurie57]

Lilly Wrote:laurie,
I also believe (you already know how the doctors "are") that they take it personally when someone doesn't heal perfectly after one of "their" skilled surgeries....and it irritates them that someone is complaining about pain after one of their perfect surgeries with their skilled hands! My first MD actually got pissed at me after my 1st shoulder surgery failed and I was having so much pain & problems when in PT! He had the gall to claim it was because I wasn't trying to help myself.....and was being a baby about the pain levels I was experiencing. He did NOT want to hear the possibility of a unsuccessful surgery, as he deemed himself perfect.
Lilly Hope you feel better soon

you are right,
doctors want everything to go perfect and they want to hear that everything has been fixed so they can close the case. being a nurse i should already know this. thanks for your reply

laurie

[katicabogar]

Laurie,

My surgeon pretty much abandoned me after third surgery(different parts of hands/fingers)because he wasn't completely succesful. He is a very good surgeon, he also teaches this type of surgery, but in my case it didn't work. Because I was not referred to other specialist, I had a hard time finding a new doctor. So w/c kept sending paperwork to this doctor who didn't want to see me anymore and just to get rid of me and paperwork, he filled out paperwork not in my favor. It really hurt my case.
It is time for you to find a different doctor.

[capricorn]

Hi Laurie....I'm sorry you are still suffering. I had shoulder surgery the end of April and am worse for having it. I agree with the others. Stiffnecked is sooooooooo right. I also have a really messed up neck and all Dr.s are blaming the pain on my neck and not shoulder. Also as Lilly said most surgeons, including mine, get really annoyed at the patient when you remind them that all is not perfect including them. Mine released me and could not have cared less what kind of condition I was in. Let's see what the MRI says and take it from there. Best of luck.

CAP


Dear God....KAt>>>>>what an atrocity.

[Pooh]

Laurie

Members here have given you some really good advice. I injured my shoulders initially in June 2002 and still have not had surgery. The main reason is because of nerve damage that is present in the shoulder itself. So doing surgery would only cause more problems and my ortho has stated this to me. So at this point it's a wait until I lose more range of motion before they will do surgery. One good thing for me is this is no longer covered under WC so my health insurance covers it and that is the difference. No one is pressing a doctor to make me better when it would cause more damage in the long run. Sometimes it takes getting a 2nd opinion on your own before you find out what is really going on with your shoulder as well.

[ksgirl]

Hi Laurie, Sorry you are having to go through this. I don't know anything about surgeries, but my dr sounds a lot like yours. I have a back injury, he did surgery and even though I told him repeatedly that something is not right, he released me earlier this month. I would have liked to have a post op MRI, but he would not order one. His PA even told me one day that surgeons don't like to admit when their surgeries aren't succesful. I hope you can find another dr to help you! Best of luck!

[laurie57]

thanks for all your input

i had the mri and found out i have a fullthickness rotator cuff tear again. won't he feel bad for blowing me off

thanks
laurie

[capricorn]

OH Laurie>>>>>>>>>>>what an A^%$#*&^( he is. I hope he grovels. I guess this means another surgery???? How did it happen? It scares me to think I could do this damage to my shoulder again.


CAP