Had a follow up with my doctor the other day. As some of you know I had surgery for a torn pec on May 9. I sustained the injury March 21 (7 weeks prior to surgery). I sent this as a PM to a couple of people on this board that have been helping me. Please tell me if you fellas agree with my doctor:
1) I again expressed my concern about him only reattaching 80% of the muscle/tendon. (The other 20% was too scarred down to reattach). He said "believe me 80% is good, if I told you I reattached 100%, a year from now, you wouldn't notice the difference functionally or cosmetically". I still call BS. I feel that you need 100% reattached but he claims all you need is 50% reattached for a successful 100% recovery.
2) I showed him how there is still swelling on my pec and that there is still an indentation (where my surgical scar is). He said the swelling is probably the 20% he didn't reattach and the indentation might always be there but might fill in over time. Which contradicts his last statement how a year from now "I wouldn't notice the difference cosmetically".
3) I told him I was concerned that I lost alot of muscle and I asked him if/when I would get all my size and strength back. He said about a year. He did say that I would notice week after week both my size and my strength will go up. He said I have muscle memory and seeing that I am coming off a long layoff and my muscles atrophied, when I come back I will see my muscles get harder relatively quick.
4) He said when I go back to work in Sept. (will be 4 mos. post surgery) this should be healed and strong enough to where if I get into it with someone and have to get physcial with them, that it shouldn't retear. He said the only way I would retear it at that point would be if it was a freak occurance.
5) He said (once this is suffieciently healed) he would put no limitations on me as to going back to boxing or playing sports. He did recommend that I don't do flat bench again. I said "what about dumbells?", he said "they're not much safer but I'd rather you do those instead."
6) I asked him if the tendon would ever be as strong as it was previously, he said "no, your tendon will never be as strong again as what God gave you." He also said every guy who he's done that surgery on has reported that they are always weaker in that arm. He did say however that the longer time goes on, this will be more healed and even some scar tissue will form which, along with the permanent suitures, will make this hard to retear.
7) He said after I complete PT, weight training will actually help this because it will strengthen the muscle and tendon.
8) I asked him about ROM, he said after PT and if I continue to stretch, this shouldnt be a problem.
9) I asked him because I haven't been disciplined in wearing my sling and even using the arm sometimes that it's possible that I ripped the suitures and retore this thus explaining why there is still swelling, he said "trust me, I used strong permanent suitures, if you tore it, you would know."
10) I expressed my concern that due to this injury that I would never be able to do boxing training again. He said this injury shouldn't affect my punching power or hand speed in any way.
11) I told him I was still very sore in the arm, he said "you'll be sore for a while, keep taking your antiinflamatories and eventually the soreness will go away with time."
12) I asked him when this would be fully healed. He said, given I'm young (26 years old) and relatively healthy, that I should heal quicker than most. He said a good amount will be healed 2 months post surgery. He said 3 months post surgery it should be healed enough to start weight training. He said 6 months post surgery it should be healed enough to start going heavy again. He said 1 year post surgery I should have all my size and strength back. He said worst case scenario it takes 18 months for a repaired muscle/tendon to heal but he seriously doubts it will take me that long.
13) He liked my timeline, which you can see here:
http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=244810
14) And lastly, I asked him that when I start full ROM stretching and resistance exercises next week, if I should have any pain or discomfort when doing these. He said "you shouldn't have unbearable pain, but a little discomfort is OK, in a few weeks you should be able to do these pain free.
Basically what I took away from our meeting was...be patient, the soreness will go away, your size and strength will come back, your ROM will come back, your chest will look normal again, everything will be fine...but you won't be the same as before.
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