Down time due to surgery

Jaden

Jaden

"no buds chill"
Silver Member
So June of 2025 I had shoulder replacement surgery on my left shoulder. I play left handed and while your playing shoulder is probably the most important, the opposite shoulder plays a part too.

This is especially true if you get down on the table fully to shoot as it's your opposite shoulder that supports you (other than your back).

Well, unfortunately for me, everything that's necessary to play pool is broken, lol. I've started to fix a lot of it and it's making a difference. I have degenerative disc disease in my back and chronic back pain, the left shoulder, the right shoulder, diabetes, left knee. I'm just a broken old (relatively, lol) man.

Some of you know that I am a disabled vet. I was security forces in the Marine Corps and Naval Intelligence. I was originally discharged medically from the Marines for glenohumeral instability. (fancy terms for the shoulder won't stay in the socket). It took 4 doctors, 8 x-rays, 2 MRI's and an orthoscopic surgery to find out what was wrong. That didn't fix it but they said that I had the arthritis of a 60 year old and scraped what the could of it off while they were in there. I was only 25 at the time. It did help for a long time.

I don't know how else to put this other than to say, I have an extremely high threshold for pain, to the extent that I have to explain to the doctors that I'm not outwardly showing the level of pain that I'm in all the time.

I had two procedures on my back this year and the shoulder replacement surgery June last year. At my one year follow up, I had initially told the surgeon about the problems with my right shoulder also, I mentioned that while my left shoulder was much better since the surgery, my right shoulder had gotten worse and I was having trouble getting to sleep again.

He said well let's take a look at it while you're here. They did xrays and he said yeah, it's BAD (not his exact words but that's the jist). He did say that if I didn't get it replaced soon, it might not be repairable. That was in June of this year. Unfortunately. (I have a lot of unfortunatelies here, lol) I couldn't get the surgery done because my A1C (diabetes level) was too high to get approved for it. Also, since I was starting to do somwhat better and was able to practice longer again, I had signed up for the AZ and Phoenix opens and didn't want the surgery to interfere in those.

So fast forward to now and I got a second type of insulin and gotten my A1C down and have the surgery scheduled for Oct 9th, so needless to say, I'm not going to be playing pool for a while.

I was just playing on the table now (this is the first day I haven't been on pain meds for everything really, but officially for my back, since I have to be off those meds a week before the surgery) and I can see how much my right shoulder is still affecting my game.

I have shown (and have posted videos here that shows it a bit) that I CAN still play at a relatively high level and I'm confident that after recovering from the surgery next week and getting back to practicing 6-10 hours a day again, I'll be able to compete again and I have every intention of doing so.

So for those who are believers, keep me in your prayers and for every one else, wish me luck in my recovery and I hope to be updating you all with good news as I recover and get back into the game.

Sorry for the book, but anyone else who has come back after down time from a surgery feel free to comment and tell us about YOUR journey.
 
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Oh yeah, I forgot to add that yesterday I had my preop and the doctor had them take new xrays and there was like a free floating piece of bone in my arm not attached to anything. The doctor says "Yeah you got some bone in there, we'll get in there and clean that trashy shoulder up" His exact words, lol.
 
I have aches and pains. I did warehouse and worked as a mechanic. My shoulders hurt and they pop and grind. But then when I relax, its not too bad. So for now I dont believe I need surgery. Hope you get better. I am now fully retired too
 
Tschmidt said:
I have aches and pains. I did warehouse and worked as a mechanic. My shoulders hurt and they pop and grind. But then when I relax, its not too bad. So for now I dont believe I need surgery. Hope you get better. I am now fully retired too
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Yeah with my left shoulder I kept wondering why I was having so much difficulty jumping (I was taught by one of the best jumpers) It turned out that I had no rotator cuff movement and my only shoulder movement was me manipulating it with my shoulder blade.

After the surgery, I'm back to jumping like a mad man.
 
Jaden said:
Oh yeah, I forgot to add that yesterday I had my preop and the doctor had them take new xrays and there was like a free floating piece of bone in my arm not attached to anything. The doctor says "Yeah you got some bone in there, we'll get in there and clean that trashy shoulder up" His exact words, lol.
Click to expand...
Don't you love doctors? So much prep and it comes down to they gotta guess at something they've never experienced.
Much respect dude.
 
I am impressed not only with your recuperative powers, but with your dedication to overcoming the pain involved in continuing your road back to competition. I understand your path to some extent having traveled a similar path. I have had both knees replaced, both shoulders repaired due to destroyed rotatator cuffs, diabetes, and a quadruple bypass. Being right handed, and having my right shoulder surgery being only partially successful, has been the toughest hurdle. Where we part ways, is I started playing very late in life, am and at best a mediocre player. I do love the game, and continue to try to improve. At 79, things are trying sometimes. I am now fighting macular degeneration in my dominant eye, but in spite of this I am “seeing” (no pun intended) improvement. I am running more racks in 8 ball and 9 ball league play. Based on what you have said about yourself, I have no doubt whatsoever, that you will continue to thrive, and you will be in my prayers for best results. It pays off to hang in there! (Sorry for the “book”).
P.S. I attribute my recent improvements to stopping my thinking. I used to think about what I had to do to overcome motion problems. Now, I don’t think about anything, I just shoot. Somehow the ball goes in and the cue ball magically appears in the right place for the next shot. Apparently freeing your mind from the crap, does wonders.
 
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They rebuilt my shoulder fifty years ago. Rotator cuff and shattered socket. I was in the hallway waiting for a slot in the operating room and already shot full of happy juices when the surgeon came up. "Don't worry about a thing, we will fix this shoulder right up!"

"Doctor, I wasn't worried until you patted the wrong shoulder!" He was embarrassed, "I always check the X-rays before I start." First thing I did when I woke up was check my right shoulder. If it had so much as a scratch on it me and the young surgeon were going to fist city!

Got to say he did a good job, it is close to fifty-one years and still ginning. I was warned about arthritis in five or ten years but it still isn't that bad. The shoulder went to my bridge hand and I played some pretty fine pool for many years after it was fixed.

Wishing you luck with the surgery. I have faith it will go well.

Hu
 
Jaden said:
So June of 2025 I had shoulder replacement surgery on my left shoulder. I play left handed and while your playing shoulder is probably the most important, the opposite shoulder plays a part too.

This is especially true if you get down on the table fully to shoot as it's your opposite shoulder that supports you (other than your back).

Well, unfortunately for me, everything that's necessary to play pool is broken, lol. I've started to fix a lot of it and it's making a difference. I have degenerative disc disease in my back and chronic back pain, the left shoulder, the right shoulder, diabetes, left knee. I'm just a broken old (relatively, lol) man.

Some of you know that I am a disabled vet. I was security forces in the Marine Corps and Naval Intelligence. I was originally discharged medically from the Marines for glenohumeral instability. (fancy terms for the shoulder won't stay in the socket). It took 4 doctors, 8 x-rays, 2 MRI's and an orthoscopic surgery to find out what was wrong. That didn't fix it but they said that I had the arthritis of a 60 year old and scraped what the could of it off while they were in there. I was only 25 at the time. It did help for a long time.

I don't know how else to put this other than to say, I have an extremely high threshold for pain, to the extent that I have to explain to the doctors that I'm not outwardly showing the level of pain that I'm in all the time.

I had two procedures on my back this year and the shoulder replacement surgery June last year. At my one year follow up, I had initially told the surgeon about the problems with my right shoulder also, I mentioned that while my left shoulder was much better since the surgery, my right shoulder had gotten worse and I was having trouble getting to sleep again.

He said well let's take a look at it while you're here. They did xrays and he said yeah, it's BAD (not his exact words but that's the jist). He did say that if I didn't get it replaced soon, it might not be repairable. That was in June of this year. Unfortunately. (I have a lot of unfortunatelies here, lol) I couldn't get the surgery done because my A1C (diabetes level) was too high to get approved for it. Also, since I was starting to do somwhat better and was able to practice longer again, I had signed up for the AZ and Phoenix opens and didn't want the surgery to interfere in those.

So fast forward to now and I got a second type of insulin and gotten my A1C down and have the surgery scheduled for Oct 9th, so needless to say, I'm not going to be playing pool for a while.

I was just playing on the table now (this is the first day I haven't been on pain meds for everything really, but officially for my back, since I have to be off those meds a week before the surgery) and I can see how much my right shoulder is still affecting my game.

I have shown (and have posted videos here that shows it a bit) that I CAN still play at a relatively high level and I'm confident that after recovering from the surgery next week and getting back to practicing 6-10 hours a day again, I'll be able to compete again and I have every intention of doing so.

So for those who are believers, keep me in your prayers and for every one else, wish me luck in my recovery and I hope to be updating you all with good news as I recover and get back into the game.

Sorry for the book, but anyone else who has come back after down time from a surgery feel free to comment and tell us about YOUR journey.
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No apology necessary K.
I know I speak for all the guys here when I say we hope everything goes smoothly and you're back to running racks in no time!!!
Best of luck to ya mate!!👊🏻
 
Jaden said:
So June of 2025 I had shoulder replacement surgery on my left shoulder. I play left handed and while your playing shoulder is probably the most important, the opposite shoulder plays a part too.

This is especially true if you get down on the table fully to shoot as it's your opposite shoulder that supports you (other than your back).

Well, unfortunately for me, everything that's necessary to play pool is broken, lol. I've started to fix a lot of it and it's making a difference. I have degenerative disc disease in my back and chronic back pain, the left shoulder, the right shoulder, diabetes, left knee. I'm just a broken old (relatively, lol) man.

Some of you know that I am a disabled vet. I was security forces in the Marine Corps and Naval Intelligence. I was originally discharged medically from the Marines for glenohumeral instability. (fancy terms for the shoulder won't stay in the socket). It took 4 doctors, 8 x-rays, 2 MRI's and an orthoscopic surgery to find out what was wrong. That didn't fix it but they said that I had the arthritis of a 60 year old and scraped what the could of it off while they were in there. I was only 25 at the time. It did help for a long time.

I don't know how else to put this other than to say, I have an extremely high threshold for pain, to the extent that I have to explain to the doctors that I'm not outwardly showing the level of pain that I'm in all the time.

I had two procedures on my back this year and the shoulder replacement surgery June last year. At my one year follow up, I had initially told the surgeon about the problems with my right shoulder also, I mentioned that while my left shoulder was much better since the surgery, my right shoulder had gotten worse and I was having trouble getting to sleep again.

He said well let's take a look at it while you're here. They did xrays and he said yeah, it's BAD (not his exact words but that's the jist). He did say that if I didn't get it replaced soon, it might not be repairable. That was in June of this year. Unfortunately. (I have a lot of unfortunatelies here, lol) I couldn't get the surgery done because my A1C (diabetes level) was too high to get approved for it. Also, since I was starting to do somwhat better and was able to practice longer again, I had signed up for the AZ and Phoenix opens and didn't want the surgery to interfere in those.

So fast forward to now and I got a second type of insulin and gotten my A1C down and have the surgery scheduled for Oct 9th, so needless to say, I'm not going to be playing pool for a while.

I was just playing on the table now (this is the first day I haven't been on pain meds for everything really, but officially for my back, since I have to be off those meds a week before the surgery) and I can see how much my right shoulder is still affecting my game.

I have shown (and have posted videos here that shows it a bit) that I CAN still play at a relatively high level and I'm confident that after recovering from the surgery next week and getting back to practicing 6-10 hours a day again, I'll be able to compete again and I have every intention of doing so.

So for those who are believers, keep me in your prayers and for every one else, wish me luck in my recovery and I hope to be updating you all with good news as I recover and get back into the game.

Sorry for the book, but anyone else who has come back after down time from a surgery feel free to comment and tell us about YOUR journey.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your service. Isn't Naval Intelligence an oxymoron?
 
straightline said:
Don't you love doctors? So much prep and it comes down to they gotta guess at something they've never experienced.
Much respect dude.
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When they talk exploratory surgery I always think of an old story. An old oilman's wife was having difficulties. The doctor told them that they were going to have to do exploratory surgery to nail down what was wrong with his wife. "Hell No, ain't nobody wildcatting on my wife!" When I think about it, they don't do near as much wildcatting on people as they used to. They cut a chunk out of me a year or three ago. The surgeon said it wasn't normal tissue but it wasn't cancer either. Left me confused but not losing any sleep.

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
When they talk exploratory surgery I always think of an old story. An old oilman's wife was having difficulties. The doctor told them that they were going to have to do exploratory surgery to nail down what was wrong with his wife. "Hell No, ain't nobody wildcatting on my wife!" When I think about it, they don't do near as much wildcatting on people as they used to. They cut a chunk out of me a year or three ago. The surgeon said it wasn't normal tissue but it wasn't cancer either. Left me confused but not losing any sleep.

Hu
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That's a thinker for sure.
 
I am not trying to steal your spotlight but simply to let you know I understand and can relate to your experience
having undergone 6 shoulder surgeries since 2010 and still require two more. Both of my shoulders have seen
repeat surgeries and my right shoulder requires a total reverse shoulder arthroplasty and labrum repair. My right
shoulder needs a biceps tenodesis and full thickness tear in the supraspinatus. At my age, I don’t want to undergo
any more anesthesia, especially a few hours duration.

I get corticosteroid injections in both my shoulders every 90 days and tried many CBD cremes, platelet infused plasma treatment, pretty much any and everything. At this stage, I just live with discomfort. I’d use the term pain but as you’ve learned, pain is relative to one’s threshold. And over time, our toleration increases day by day, month by month, year by year.

It is like lifting weights in a gym. What we used to be previously refer to as pain becomes discomfort that we learn to live with. Pain becomes that sudden, unexpected surge that unexpectedly strikes you and makes you come to a dead stop, grab your arm and wince aloud. Everything else gets labeled discomfort. That’s what I have come to learn.

I apologize for walking over your thread but I could sense you’d understand about pain. When it becomes continuous, chronic, constant, what you used to previously label as pain and gripe about just lessens in scope because it gets overtaken by a new threshold that hurts more than before. It is not a great outlook which is why opioid abuse happens. I wish you the best outcome with further surgeries, heal to a full recovery quickl and enjoy pain free physical therapy.
 
Bavafongoul said:
I am not trying to steal your spotlight but simply to let you know I understand and can relate to your experience
having undergone 6 shoulder surgeries since 2010 and still require two more. Both of my shoulders have seen
repeat surgeries and my right shoulder requires a total reverse shoulder arthroplasty and labrum repair. My right
shoulder needs a biceps tenodesis and full thickness tear in the supraspinatus. At my age, I don’t want to undergo
any more anesthesia, especially a few hours duration.

I get corticosteroid injections in both my shoulders every 90 days and tried many CBD cremes, platelet infused plasma treatment, pretty much any and everything. At this stage, I just live with discomfort. I’d use the term pain but as you’ve learned, pain is relative to one’s threshold. And over time, our toleration increases day by day, month by month, year by year.

It is like lifting weights in a gym. What we used to be previously refer to as pain becomes discomfort that we learn to live with. Pain becomes that sudden, unexpected surge that unexpectedly strikes you and makes you come to a dead stop, grab your arm and wince aloud. Everything else gets labeled discomfort. That’s what I have come to learn.

I apologize for walking over your thread but I could sense you’d understand about pain. When it becomes continuous, chronic, constant, what you used to previously label as pain and gripe about just lessens in scope because it gets overtaken by a new threshold that hurts more than before. It is not a great outlook which is why opioid abuse happens. I wish you the best outcome with further surgeries, heal to a full recovery quickl and enjoy pain free physical therapy.
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Damn dude!!
Makes my piddly shit pale in comparison.
 
Bavafongoul said:
I am not trying to steal your spotlight but simply to let you know I understand and can relate to your experience
having undergone 6 shoulder surgeries since 2010 and still require two more. Both of my shoulders have seen
repeat surgeries and my right shoulder requires a total reverse shoulder arthroplasty and labrum repair. My right
shoulder needs a biceps tenodesis and full thickness tear in the supraspinatus. At my age, I don’t want to undergo
any more anesthesia, especially a few hours duration.

I get corticosteroid injections in both my shoulders every 90 days and tried many CBD cremes, platelet infused plasma treatment, pretty much any and everything. At this stage, I just live with discomfort. I’d use the term pain but as you’ve learned, pain is relative to one’s threshold. And over time, our toleration increases day by day, month by month, year by year.

It is like lifting weights in a gym. What we used to be previously refer to as pain becomes discomfort that we learn to live with. Pain becomes that sudden, unexpected surge that unexpectedly strikes you and makes you come to a dead stop, grab your arm and wince aloud. Everything else gets labeled discomfort. That’s what I have come to learn.

I apologize for walking over your thread but I could sense you’d understand about pain. When it becomes continuous, chronic, constant, what you used to previously label as pain and gripe about just lessens in scope because it gets overtaken by a new threshold that hurts more than before. It is not a great outlook which is why opioid abuse happens. I wish you the best outcome with further surgeries, heal to a full recovery quickl and enjoy pain free physical therapy.
Click to expand...
Nobody apologizes for crowding the emergency room. :ROFLMAO:
 
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