Day 3 after surgery and things are going according to plan. He's weaning himself off of the pain meds and appears more alert and mobile today. I am hearing a lot of grunting and sighing right now, so I expect he might take half a pill and take a nap.
He has a squeeze ball attached to the end of his sling that he's supposed to be squeezing to keep the blood flowing. Tonight is the big night when he can take the bandages off and get in the shower. They're almost like plastic coated and are stuck on so generously that he looks like he's wearing football shoulder pads. They should be fun to peel off tonight. Not.
Then he can start his arm sliding exercises. He can slowly start moving his arm forward, "but no wing flapping" so no chicken dance for him.
We got these amazing pictures from the surgery which we have no idea about. The surgeon was in another surgery when he was discharged and he called my husband later on that night when he was sleeping and his phone was turned off. We go in next Thursday for removal of stitches, so we'll get the whole scoop then.
My discomfort was a minor bit in this process, but I was not allowed in the surgery center, so I spent 3 hours outside in my car. Neck spasms and sciatic nerve pain for 2 days. How annoying. And it was cold and dark because he was the first surgery. We were there at 6 am. I had to keep turning the car on for heat every 20 minutes or so. They did let me in when he was in recovery, though.
Thanks everyone for your words of wisdom and advice.
And it's Friday, so have a wonderful weekend!