Michelle's Story

I am a 51-year-old female and for some years I have been experiencing shoulder pain. It started in my right shoulder many years ago when I was on the rowing machine in the gym and I “pulled it". To cut a long story short the pain came and went, I had physio and saw a chiropractor – both of which helped for a while. About two years ago the pain started in my left shoulder, however unlike the pain in the other one which came and went, this was almost constant. Day to day tasks became increasingly difficult and I had to stop knitting squares for charity – something which I miss immensely.

Many visits to the GP resulted in many changes in medication in an attempt to manage my pain. Endless sleepless nights resulted in depression, extreme tiredness and yet more visits to the GP, who eventually referred me to the shoulder clinic where x-rays showed severe osteoarthritis in both shoulders. At this point I discovered that physio and injections were not going to help my problem and that the only real solution would be surgery. I was given an appointment to see the consultant and in the meantime I did some searching on the web and discovered that there were a number of things they could do.

Unfortunately, the consultant said that in my case the best thing to do was a total joint replacement. I was shocked to say the least, whilst I knew this was always a possibility I somehow thought they may be able to try something less drastic and invasive first!

As I'd never heard of anyone having total shoulder replacement surgery I searched on the web to try and find some insight into what the experience would be like. I drew a blank so I decided to write my own blog in the hope that it may be useful to someone else at some time, and also as a diary of my own personal journey. Some people think I'm mad but I chose to stay awake for the surgery – which was a weird experience, you can read all about it on my blog.

I was interested to learn of the Cloudy with a Chance of Pain project and immediately signed up. I've often believed that my pain is worse in certain types of weather and I am thrilled that soon this may be a proven fact.

Have you undergone a shoulder replacement? Would you like to share a bit about it on My Shoulder Replacement blog? Your experience could help someone waiting for the same surgery to prepare for the procedure and recovery. Please contact me via my blog page. https://shoulderreplacementblog.wordpress.com/