Two Weeks After Bicep Tendon Surgery

Today was liberating. I got to ditch the sling and was also able to drive. Today was also my first day back at the gym training clients in person. Of course, it will be another 4-5 weeks before I can lift anything heavier than 1 pound with my right arm, but it feels great to be getting back to a normal routine.

It’s been 14 days since the Bicep Tenodesis surgery and I feel like we’ve made some good progress.

The last week was up and down. The stitches came out 2 days ago and I good a report from the doctor. The assistant showed me the pictures that the arthroscope took (they actually sent me home with a set but I really couldn’t interpret them). She explained what I was seeing, where the problem had been, and how it was corrected. The good news was that the rotator cuff is looking awesome and there didn’t seem to be any other issues. She did say that the area that was causing the discomfort that led me to PT and eventually surgery was not actually that bad, but that they could see where the issue was.

Was the surgery unnecessary then? No. This was not going to get better and would probably have gotten worse. Taking care of it now just means an easier recovery and less time dealing with the mobility and pain issues. It’s kind of like when your check engine light comes on; you can go right to the dealer/mechanic and it won’t usually be such a bad problem…or you can drive on it for another couple of months and then find out that you’ve got a serious repair that will cost a lot more. I’d rather be proactive.

There were times over the past seven days when my arm felt fairly pain-free and others when the it was a little more intense. One night it even woke me up in the middle of the night twice; I fell back asleep with an ice pack on. Yesterday at PT, the therapist told me that this is actually quite normal. She said to expect it to continue for a while; I may even want to ice each time I do my PT exercises at home and before bed. So far, that hasn’t been necessary but we’ll see how things proceed.

The actual process of PT is changing as well. For the first 10 days or so almost everything I did was passive or assisted. Now that we’re past the two-week mark, we will begin to build up the muscle while continuing to work on mobility. I am happy about this even though I know that I might experience some aches and pains. I looked in the mirror yesterday and saw that my right bicep is definitely looking sad compared to my other arm. The rebuilding process will be a long one, but I have lots of reasons to want to get myself back in tip-top shape.

Next report when we hit the one-month mark. In the meantime, it is great to be back to doing the things I enjoy…within limits!