Hey Allan, I wish you have started recovering. Are you feeling better with the [url=http://www.zehrcenter.com/practice/total-shoulder-replacement]shoulder replacement surgery[/url]?

[br]Need a TSR. I have put this off for a number of years because of other medical issues. I wanted Dr. Williams to do my surgery, but the anesthesiologist for Dr. Williams told me I needed a hospital with better critical care in case I need intubation (I am a very tough to intubation candidate). I went to see Dr. McFarland at John Hopkins. He was nice but I cannot find any references on this site for him. Has anyone had any experience or should I think of Dr. Iannotti @ Cleveland Clinc or one of the doctors at Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC. I live in the middle of PA. Because I have so many problems any time I have an operation it is important to get it done right the first time.[br][br]I am hoping that people are still following this thread. [br]

I found out the only one that will be open is the clavical. All the rest will be arthroscopic. My next question is this will be my third shouder surgery. my last two were for a supraspinatus tendon repair, decompression of the rotator cuff along with bone spur removal. Is any of this the same as any of the ones I listed above asI know different doctors have deifferent terms? Next is with this being my third surgery does healing take longer as it seemed my first surgery took four months for me to recover with two weeks in a sling to the second surgery taking 6 months to recover with three weeks in a sling?

1. open partial acromioplasty - flattening of the top part of the shoulder blade to prevent impingement on the supraspinatus, sling time depends on if open or arthroscopic as open is a rare case in the US anymore[br]2. open distal clavicle excision - removal of the tip of the collar bone, will be out of the sling as soon as pain is tolerated[br]3. arthroscopic subacromial decompression - removal of inflammed bursae and adhesions (scar tissue) form below and above the supraspinatus tendon - will be out of the sling as soon as pain is tolerated[br]4. open rotator cuff repair w/ acromioplsty - torn supraspinatus and possible infraspinatus repaired in an open fashion, 4-6 weeks in a sling and 6-12 months for a full recovery[br]5. arthroscopic repair of slap lesion - sewing down the labrum or cartlidge like structure that lines the outer lip of the shoulder keeping it stable, 4-6 weeks in a sling, 6-12 months recovery[br][br]If you have 4 or 5, you must completely follow your surgeon's instructions on how to recover, if not you can easily damage the repair in the beginning.[br][br]I'd want to know why 1-4 are being addressed open rather than arthroscopically if it were me, it is not common to see these open anymore.

You really should have sat down with your doctor and had him explain all this to you. Sounds like he is preparing for a worst case scenerio. He may not do all the procedures depending on what he finds in there. Recovery absolutely depends on what he finds in there. For some things, like torn rotator cuffs, you have to stay in a sling for 6 weeks. For others you need a sling for only a few days.[br][br]You can do a Google search for all those terms and find all the information and pictures you need. Much easier than typing it all in here.