Successful Surgery is Now Behind Me

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My readers haven’t heard much from me in the last month. That is because I’ve been dealing with torn bicep and rotator cuff tendons in my right shoulder. In November I found that I had issues with my right shoulder that went far beyond its just being sore. An MRI revealed that I had torn my bicep completely loose from where it would normally attach, and I had severe damage to my rotator cuff all the way around my right shoulder. I wrote a bit about this on November 10 – seems like just yesterday!

I was scheduled for surgery on December 18 at 7:30 am. Dr. Hung, here in Puyallup, Washington, did the arthroscopic surgery, making 4 small incisions. Through those four tiny holes he removed a bone spur, scraped the bone clean, inserted 4 anchors into the bone, and reattached the tendons. I was home before noon.

Since surgery, I’ve done a lot of resting – and am just now starting to get back to work. My problem is that most of my work involves typing – which I couldn’t do at all for a couple weeks, I can now type for an hour or so before I have to give my arm a rest for a while. I still cannot move my right arm. Passive movement is okay. I can pick up my right arm with my left hand and set it on the desk where I can type. It’s awkward, but it works – kinda’. I have about 3 weeks to go before I can begin to actively build my strength back in my arm – just about the time I leave for RootsTech!

Being down for all this time has given me a lot of time to think… As you all know, I’ve been attempting to get my priorities straight the last couple years. I’ve made great progress in that area, but still have a ways to go. I’ve realized that I have much to do on my family’s genealogy before I kick that proverbial bucket – and I’d better get on with it. Expect to see my writing include a lot more on my own research, and the preservation thereof than you’ve seen in the past. But that’s for another time…

About Leland Meitzler

Leland K. Meitzler founded Heritage Quest in 1985, and has worked as Managing Editor of both Heritage Quest Magazine and The Genealogical Helper. He currently operates Family Roots Publishing Company (www.FamilyRootsPublishing.com), writes daily at GenealogyBlog.com, writes the weekly Genealogy Newsline, conducts the annual Salt Lake Christmas Tour to the Family History Library, and speaks nationally, having given over 2000 lectures since 1983.

2 Replies to “Successful Surgery is Now Behind Me”

  1. I empathize with you as I’m experiencing the same problem without the surgery. I’ve done therapy and that helped a little for a short time. My ortho doctor wanted me to try therapy first. I pray you have a speedy and complete recovery.

  2. I suggest that you utilise Dragon to ease your typing. It is quite good and learns your voice very quickly using stock phrase paragraphs to do so.At our age, we can use every help available!
    Nevertheless, our minds are healthy due to our genealogy work, and good genes, of course.
    God bless your recovery.
    Gary Tober

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