Setback but mostly OK

8 years ago

I haven't posted about this before, but most of my gardening plans have been on hold because I dislocated my right shoulder in April (I'm right-handed), when almost recovered from breaking my left arm in November. A friend advised, "Whatever you're doing, you should stop."

An MRI more recently revealed a rotator-cuff tear but the ortho doc is not recommending surgery, at least not anytime soon, because I might do as well without it as could be expected with. I'm allowed to do anything I feel able to do and we'll reconsider in September.

I resumed outdoor work, on a limited basis, about two weeks ago but all that I could do was mow grass, mow grass, and mow grass. I have plants that need to go in, annuals, perennials, and vegetables, and can start on that now, when it isn't raining (which is most of the time here, at least when I'm not at work). Yesterday I loaded four 2.0-cu. ft. bags of soilless mix into my car without help. I have used the injury as a rationale for buying the reciprocating saw that we discussed in another thread.

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deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b

8 years ago

It's very frustrating that by the time in our life when we actually have time to garden, our bodies start to rebel. Please don't overdue it.

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Comments (6)

widdringtonia
8 years ago
Ouch! Many warm healing fuzzies. I have tendinitis in my right elbow (thanks to lifting my bike onto a bike rack) and pulling weeds is particularly onerous. That’s my excuse for all the dandelions in my grass and I’m sticking with it.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
8 years ago
Wishing you quick and complete healing. I have started hiring help of whatever skill level is needed for a particular task if it is beyond my ability. For planting perennials, a young person would be fine as long as you supervise. I’ve planted gardens with kids as young as 6 when I was teaching.
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prairiemoon2 z6b MA
8 years ago
I have been hiring help for the past couple of years and this year, I feel I got very lucky with someone I found off of Craig's List. And I have someone still with me from last season, who was with the Master Gardening program. They started out helping with general gardening tasks and ended up doing all my pruning. The person I got from Craig's List this year, was a young person, who was easy to get along with, showed up on time, didn't take breaks and was careful and picked things up pretty quickly, for a very reasonable hourly rate.
porkchop_z5b_MI
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Oh cr*p that sounds painful! I had a hard time last year because of a torn tendon in my hip; I could still get things done, but some days it was a slow process, depending on the job - especially digging, so I can commiserate to some degree. In my case, surgery made an incredible difference. Anyway, take it easy, you might end up doing more serious damage if you don't. Pay someone to do your planting. You can call a local landscape company and pay them labor, it might not be as expensive as you think, and it will be worth it to get it all done. If the stuff isn't planted, it still needs to be tended/watered, and I find that more laborious than actually just getting stuff planted.
GardenHo_MI_Z5
8 years ago
I agree don’t overdue it and be sorry.

I can truly sympathize as both of my shoulders are arthritic. They were so bad that I needed help to get undressed...not fun! Thankfully Cortisone injections have really helped.

Shoulder surgeries can be really tough, so you are wise to wait and see. I sure hope things get better for you real soon!