Prayer Request

3:00 pm tomorrow I'm having an arthroscopic manipulation procedure on my frozen right shoulder.  I will be given a nerve block and put under general anesthetic. The surgeon will make three small incisions on my arm, insert a scope to look for torn tendons or cartilage; and repair any damage he finds. I have lost about 45% range of motion requiring him to perform a capsule release. This is essentially breaking or tearing the muscle to loosen the bands of scar tissue that have formed.  (OUCH)

This surgery is the 6th time I've gone under the knife so I'm no stranger to surgery and pain. At 22 I had a tonsillectomy and thought it was the worst pain EVER but the pain that followed years later made it pale by comparison.

In spring of 2006, at 28 I underwent a hysterectomy which knocked me on my butt for months.  I missed 8 weeks of work and returned for half days because I couldn't sit at my computer for 8 hours. My belly button remained tender forcing me to wear stretchy pants for what felt like forever.

In November of 2009 I had shoulder surgery on my left arm. (same procedure as tomorrow)  Two years prior to this I saw a plethora of specialists; two orthopedic surgeons, neurologist, neurosurgeon, and a neck & spine specialist. They all ordered imaging of my neck and shoulder: xrays, ct scans and mri's. (Found bulging disks at C5/C6 and an unexplained abnormality on C4), I endured 2 rounds of painful physical therapy, received 3 cortisone shots and became a guinea pig with pain medicine.  

After two years of this I surpassed my pain limit and found an orthopedic surgeon willing to perform surgery. I developed a large muscle knot on my scapula and showed her minutes before being wheeled into surgery.  She believed it was a lypoma but said it was unrelated to the procedure she was about to do. I think the knot prevented her from completely stabilizing my scapula while releasing the capsule. At my followup she was surprised that my arm had stiffened as she noted the full range of motion had been achieved during the procedure. This knot continued to prevent me from healing properly resulting in  8 weeks of unsuccessful physical therapy as well as more pain and suffering.

In 2010 I saw a physical rehabilitation specialist. She injected me with lidocaine and ordered more PT which included massage therapy; finally the knot started to loosen and I was able to acquire an increased range of motion.  After 10 weeks with considerable pain and much improvement, we still couldn't get 100% range of motion   The therapist was puzzled; out of ideas she proceeded to crank on my arm forcing it past it's limit.  This was the most excruciating pain I had endured thus far!  It felt like she was going to literally snap my bones.  Needless to say I never went back.  After a year of babying my arm it finally returned to normal.  

Summer of 2011 I landed in the ER in need of an appendectomy.  More trauma to my abdomen which had recently stopped feeling tender. Normal recovery for this procedure is a few short weeks.  As my husband reminds me, he was back to work a week later.  Not me.  By my 4 week followup I was experiencing sharp pains and the doctor was concerned.  He ordered a ct and found that I had developed an incisional hernia requiring more surgery.   I had back to back abdominal surgeries within 8 weeks.

To this day I still have tenderness after physical activity.  Last fall I joined the gym, within a few months I started having severe pains in my abdomen.  The pain radiated from the location where my uterus had been; reminding me of the post op recovery from hysterectomy  My ob-gyn guessed I had scar tissue and offered to perform an exploratory surgery for confirmation. If scarring had occurred from hysterectomy she could repair it, but if I had abdominal adhesions from appendectomy she would have to call in a general surgeon to remove them.   I could not bear the thought of enduring more abdominal incisions and feared it would begin a vicious cycle of cutting leading to more scar tissue.  I decided to try restricting my activity and once I did my pain lessened.  Sadly this meant I needed to stop attending  the classes I loved at the gym.  

I had been enjoying my routine of  working out despite that I was experiencing pain in my right shoulder.  The more I worked out, the more it hurt, but I was gaining strength.  When I quit because of my stomach pain, my arm locked up.  Last month my pain reached an unbearable level, waking me from sleep nightly.  Off I went to see an orthopedic surgeon, I explained the horrible experience with my left shoulder. After listening carefully he acknowledged that my experience was grueling and opted to skip over his usual protocol  and schedule surgery.  

To say I am nervous would be a huge understatement.  I'm overwhelmed with trepidation.  I've been nervously nauseated for 3 weeks.  I have no idea what to expect.  Will I wake up tomorrow after surgery with my right shoulder repaired and on the mend or will my body struggle to heal properly as it has in the past?

I've posted this to request prayer.  I trust that the Divine hand of God will be on the surgeon as he performs this procedure.  I need His hand to be on me as I heal.  I need to be delivered from this weakness my body has to develop scar tissue.  Please join with me in prayer!!

Matthew 18:20
Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them.