Shoulder Decompression Disaster

2024-12-19 Leave a comment

Warning: Graphic content.

I am writing this in hope someone sees this before they experience the horrific time due to a commonly prescribed medication in a very few countries. Not even the US FDA has approved this due to it’s side effects which should tell you something

My last post was about the decompression I had done on my Right Shoulder, which also included a shoulder infiltration to relieve the pain in the left shoulder.

In July the pain the the left started to return prompting me to contact my surgeon to schedule the left shoulder for the 13th of November. We decided on this date as we had our usual cycling holiday’s planned for October which where worth the wait.

The surgery went well and there where no initial side effects from the medication. After about 4 days I started getting intense gut pains and after three days of those I went to see my GP. She did an Xray and a infection count, mine was 73 where 1 is considered normal. So on to anti-biotics etc.

On the 29th I had to run to the toilet and expelled so much blood I immediately got myself to an emergency room where I was immediatly put on a coagulant to stop the bleeds. These had some effect however the bleeding was still rather intense.

I was admitted to the High Care unit where they monitored me quite closely. I felt worse than any of the Covid cases I had, which was 5 confirmed and 3 suspected. I was scheduled for scopes, a Gastroscope and a Colonscopy, that Sunday. They found
1. 3 ulcers, one of which had definately been bleeding but had stopped.
2. Diverticulitis throughout my colon
3. Hemorrhoids both internal and external
After the procedure I was transfused with 1 unit of blood.

I was release on Wednesday 4th December as it appeared all bleeding had stopped.

On the following Monday I went to have a blood test to check my Haemoglobin Level, and the bleeding started again. Ironically I was near my surgeons office and she was in. She immediately got me to emergency where they stabilised me, again with a coagulant, and prepared to transport me to another hospital via ambulance.

I was again admitted quite quickly to high care however I was able to move about for some reason so no shitting the bed this time and could go to the toilet and shower unattended. My case was handed over to a Gastroenterologist who took more drastic steps to stabilise my Haemoglobin levels by nuking me with iron almost immediately along with an acid reflux inhibitor and the coagulant.

Unfortunately my levels continued to drop to the low 7’s, normal male level is 14-18. They ordered and transfused 2 units of blood in a matter of 4 hours which really improved how I felt and responded to treatment. At this point another scope was scheduled and performed the following day. This time they found no bleeds at all so the assumption was made that the nuking of my system with Iron and transfusions caused clotting to actually happen. After two day of observation I was moved to a general ward and released the following day as stools where normal and no longer had the stench of rotting blood.

The conclusion reached by both surgeons came down to two prescribed NSAIDS
1. Coxleon – Used for my osteoarthritis. Have stopped this unless the pain levels are unbearable
2. Xefo Rapid – We suspect this is the actual culprit due to the way it works, and was what was prescribed after the second Shoulder Decompression for 7 days.

The good news is after 6 days I am doing well and am alive. Energy level are slowly improving, and I am almost back to where I was a few days before all shit literally broke loose.

I would like to thank
1. Dr Natasha Singh https://drsingh-generalsurgeon.co.za/
2. Dr Charl van Niekerk https://www.mediclinic.co.za/en/corporate/doctors/3/dr-charl-van-niekerk.html
3. Netcare Pretoria East Nursing Staff – You all tried to make me as comfortable as possible and preserve dignity
4. Mediclinic Kloof Nursing Staff – Another great group of nurses, thank you will all my heart

And of course my beloved wife, Amanda. Without you I would have lost hope, you are the reason I pushed through. This was an extremely emotional time for both of us and we succeeded again.

Hope to be back on a bike within the next two weeks.

Filed under Health, Why Oh Why Tagged with , , , , ,

Recovery and Rehabilitation from surgery

2024-04-07 Leave a comment

In September 2023 I hit a tree with my shoulder after going OTB. I only had pain a day or so later and was lucky enough to get seen by a sports medicine doctor that Thursday.

We tried alternative therapy like shoulder infiltration and physical therapy.

On the 5th February we made the decision to go ahead with surgery as soon as possible. My doctor arranged for my first appointment with an orthopedic surgeon (Dr Leonore Botha). After that I was admitted for my surgery on 21’st of February.

That evening I had my first physiotherapy session and rehab program developed. The first two weeks where focused on post operative shoulder mobility. A large part of my rehabilitation was buying a Garmin Tacx Smart Trainer. I was able to start riding on the trainer the day after I was discharged. Initially I was unable to put any pressure on the shoulder for obvious reasons, however after 3 weeks I was riding fairly comfortably and slowly progressed to 30+ minute sessions multiple times a week.

After 10 weeks of rehab I was able to take part in the Sabie Xperience Lite 3 day stage race, 120km with 2171m of ascent. My wife and myself improved our time from 2023 by 1 hour 17 minutes.

I would say I am somewhat lucky that I did not injure myself worse, e.g tear of rotator cuff.

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