Greetings from Stone Mountain, GA.
I know you like to publish Shaklee testimonials, so I thought I'd send you my own story (still in progress) regarding my pretty rapid healing from major rotator cuff surgery I had 3 1/2 weeks ago. Here's what happened.
I sustained a very severe tear of the rotator cuff on my right shoulder (I'm right-handed) in early August while helping a friend save some money by doing a brake job on her car. (I should have paid to have the brakes done, because I could have bought a very good used car for the eventual cost of the surgery!) I tried to ignore the injury all fall, but the pain got to the point where I couldn't ignore it any longer, and my use of my right arm was becoming increasingly limited. So, I had an MRI on Nov 28, confirming a major "full thickness tear" in the rotator cuff. The tear was about 3 cm wide, and the tendon (or whatever it is) was pulled back about 3 cm from where it was supposed to be attached to the shoulder bone. Just like setting a broken bone, the tendon had to be mechanically put back in place for it to begin to heal properly. Voila! Rotator cuff surgery.
I had arthroscopic surgery to repair it on December 15. The surgeon had expected to put three "anchors" in my shoulder with four "strings" going out from each of them to pull the torn rotator cuff back into place. (Sort of like the end of a hammock, except strings going to three anchor points, not just one.) In fact, when he got into the surgery, he ended up having to put 2 rows of 3 anchors, or a total of 6 anchors in my shoulder, to tie everything back up. (They look like little drywall anchors. Really! It's crazy.)
Now, I've taken boatloads of Shaklee supplements for almost 40 years, so consuming lots of supplements is nothing new for me.
Okay, to the results.
* Rotator cuff surgery is notoriously painful. However, I only took the pain meds that had been prescribed for the first 4 days. I actually cut back on the amounts on day 4, and haven't taken any since then with the exception of one prior to my first P/T session yesterday. (They prescribed enough meds to last about 10 days.)
* The sutures from the 5 small incisions were removed at 6 days and everything looked great. You can hardly see the scars now at the 3-week mark.
* At the 6-day mark, the bruising from the work done on my shoulder extended almost down to my elbow. The physician's assistant who removed the sutures told me it might continue all the way down to my wrist, since the surgeon had cut off the tip of my shoulder bone and it tends to bleed quite a bit. In fact, a week later the bruised area had reduced markedly, and now 20 days after the surgery it is completely gone.
* I went in for my first Physical Therapy session yesterday, January 3 - a little less than three weeks after the surgery. After testing my range of motion, the therapist was ecstatic, saying that I was three weeks ahead of where I should have been at this point. (She was able to extend my arm above my head in a full upright perpendicular position.) I'm able to do all the exercises she gave me without much difficulty. In light of the severity of my injury and the extent of the surgery, this was pretty amazing.
Stay tuned. I'll let you know how things are going in a couple months. I'm not going to be pumping iron any time in next few weeks. Some things do take time! Shaklee assists miracles, but it doesn't perform magic, so I know that the process of completely healing my shoulder and regaining its full use and full strength will take time and effort. But I'm convinced Shaklee - plus a lot of people praying! - are the reasons my recovery is going as well as it is.
Dick McClain
I know you like to publish Shaklee testimonials, so I thought I'd send you my own story (still in progress) regarding my pretty rapid healing from major rotator cuff surgery I had 3 1/2 weeks ago. Here's what happened.
I sustained a very severe tear of the rotator cuff on my right shoulder (I'm right-handed) in early August while helping a friend save some money by doing a brake job on her car. (I should have paid to have the brakes done, because I could have bought a very good used car for the eventual cost of the surgery!) I tried to ignore the injury all fall, but the pain got to the point where I couldn't ignore it any longer, and my use of my right arm was becoming increasingly limited. So, I had an MRI on Nov 28, confirming a major "full thickness tear" in the rotator cuff. The tear was about 3 cm wide, and the tendon (or whatever it is) was pulled back about 3 cm from where it was supposed to be attached to the shoulder bone. Just like setting a broken bone, the tendon had to be mechanically put back in place for it to begin to heal properly. Voila! Rotator cuff surgery.
I had arthroscopic surgery to repair it on December 15. The surgeon had expected to put three "anchors" in my shoulder with four "strings" going out from each of them to pull the torn rotator cuff back into place. (Sort of like the end of a hammock, except strings going to three anchor points, not just one.) In fact, when he got into the surgery, he ended up having to put 2 rows of 3 anchors, or a total of 6 anchors in my shoulder, to tie everything back up. (They look like little drywall anchors. Really! It's crazy.)
Now, I've taken boatloads of Shaklee supplements for almost 40 years, so consuming lots of supplements is nothing new for me.
Okay, to the results.
* Rotator cuff surgery is notoriously painful. However, I only took the pain meds that had been prescribed for the first 4 days. I actually cut back on the amounts on day 4, and haven't taken any since then with the exception of one prior to my first P/T session yesterday. (They prescribed enough meds to last about 10 days.)
* The sutures from the 5 small incisions were removed at 6 days and everything looked great. You can hardly see the scars now at the 3-week mark.
* At the 6-day mark, the bruising from the work done on my shoulder extended almost down to my elbow. The physician's assistant who removed the sutures told me it might continue all the way down to my wrist, since the surgeon had cut off the tip of my shoulder bone and it tends to bleed quite a bit. In fact, a week later the bruised area had reduced markedly, and now 20 days after the surgery it is completely gone.
* I went in for my first Physical Therapy session yesterday, January 3 - a little less than three weeks after the surgery. After testing my range of motion, the therapist was ecstatic, saying that I was three weeks ahead of where I should have been at this point. (She was able to extend my arm above my head in a full upright perpendicular position.) I'm able to do all the exercises she gave me without much difficulty. In light of the severity of my injury and the extent of the surgery, this was pretty amazing.
Stay tuned. I'll let you know how things are going in a couple months. I'm not going to be pumping iron any time in next few weeks. Some things do take time! Shaklee assists miracles, but it doesn't perform magic, so I know that the process of completely healing my shoulder and regaining its full use and full strength will take time and effort. But I'm convinced Shaklee - plus a lot of people praying! - are the reasons my recovery is going as well as it is.
Dick McClain
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