I'm typing with both hands now! Things are going well and I'm pretty happy so far.

Per instructions given to me, I could not take wet showers because contaminants might get into the wounds. Earlier this week I went back for a pre-scheduled PO check and the doctor removed the first dressing, cleaned the bloody surfaces, and reapplied fresh clean dressings (see below). Things looked good, and I felt pretty good as well. And the first thing I did when I got home was to take a real shower, and boy, it felt good! Overall, it's been a positive experience so far -- no complications and manageable pains.

As for the post-op pics below, it's really funny that they marked my upper body all over with bold identifiers. During pre-op, the nurses kept asking me to confirm my name, birthday, and triple confirmed the correct side to perform the surgery on -- just in case!

At the PO clinic I learned a few medical terms. The repairing of the labrum was done by inserting screw anchors to the bone, and tying them around to stabilize it (Bankart procedure). It was explained to me that in time, my own tissues would grow around and strengthen parts to keep the labrum and scapula stronger (months). It's imperative that I don't stress the bones/muscles/tendons in order for the tissues to grow back properly. See the illustrations below:

During the procedure, Dr. Eklund also noticed more problems that were not clear from the CTs and decided to perform an additional procedure called "remplissage". This is a procedure that stabilizes recurrent anterior shoulder dislocations, by filling in a medium sized Hill-Sachs region in the humeral head caused by  prior dislocation traumas. Below is an illustration of the Hill-Sachs lesion (trauma areas) and repositioning of the infraspinatus tendon into the Hill-Sachs area, effectively "filling in" to prevent it from engaging with the glenoid (shoulder socket) during shoulder movement.

In total, Dr. Eklund inserted 6 1.8mm anchors + "knotless" sutures for Bankart lesions, and 2 (bigger) anchors for the Hill-Sachs lesions.

This is my second week, and pain is now manageable without opiates, when I use ice-packs intermittently. I'd like to avoid hydrocodone (opiate) because it works all TOO well -- it has a tendency to  make me feel invincible and want to move around, which is not a good thing when I am suppose to rest and heal.

Today is the 2nd day of surgery. I'm feeling good enough to type now, albeit veeerrry sloooowly.

The first day was uneventful. I checked in at 6:30am. There were some pre-op checks and questionnaires and forms to sign. The anesthesiologist put me to sleep around 7:50am. I woke up around 11:30am, but barely able to think or talk. Pam was already here but I couldn't walk (I was too nauseated/dizzy) and it took a looong time to get into the car-- I don't remember the details but I was half dozing off and trying to get out of the wheel chair. I slept through half of the day. I didn't fully awake and drink water and walk around until late in the afternoon.

The funny thing about the surgery is that post-op, I didn't feel any pain at all. Zero -- NADA! And besides feeling tired and somewhat nauseated, I actually felt carefree and a bit happy. It was probably the opiates working all too well. Later at night, I started to feel more and more pain until I decided to take Hydrocodone (opiate) that I picked up the day before the surgery. First 48-72 hours -- pain management is utmost important.

Back to day 1: when I was asleep, Dr. Eklund told Pam that it went well, and everything else will just depend on post-op care. It's now day 2, and I am hoping that with good PT and some time to heal, I'll be good very soon. I can't wait to play tennis, biking, & skiing with my kid. And of course, I can't wait to get out of the house and start working again!

Below are some pictures from the scope. You can see the instrumentations drilling in for labral repairs, etc/aka capsular plication). High tech stuff -- I love it!