Biceps Tenodesis surgery...

thearthurdog · Postby **thearthurdog** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 9:43 am

Interested in hearing from anyone who has had this surgery and has made a successful return to cycling. Especially interested in long term return to high intensity cycling like time trials and track racing.

I had this surgery done 5 weeks ago and it failed 3 weeks into recovery. I had it done again a week ago.

This is not a surgery / injury that happens to cyclists often so I may be clutching at straws here.

Would like to write more but it is difficult with one hand.

Cheers.

gabrielle260 · Postby **gabrielle260** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 9:59 pm

Let me check with my surgeon. He didn't use that name but he described something that resembles Dr Google's description of biceps tenodesis.
My surgery was just over 2 weeks ago and was primarily repair of a full thickness tear of the rotator cuff. However when he looked inside it seems a thread from a previous op was pulled tight by the tear and then acted as a cheese cutter on the bicep tendon.
Andrew

moosterbounce · Postby **moosterbounce** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 11:45 pm

I don't think this is what I had, but I'll talk anyway (women!!).

When I smashed my shoulder, my bicep tendon detached from wherever it should have been attached to on the humeral head. It was re-attached in surgery at the same time as my shoulder was pinned and plated. This was done 12 weeks ago and my fracture was my limiting factor, but for 6 weeks I wasn't able to engage any muscles in my damaged shoulder - including using my non-damaged arm as carrying any weight in it would have engaged my broken bits.

So yeah, not sure if this is any way related to yours. If it helps, my bicep is a withered soggy walnut now and I don't have the strength to lift my own arm more than about 30 degrees from my body...but I can carry a cuppa and a biscuit so that helps

Oh yeah...my physio is confident of returning me to cycling incl ITT and paddling, but isn't yet confident on swimming. But I've only been allowed to move my arm for just over a week so time will tell.

I'd be interested to hear how you go with your rehab - fingers crossed for you.

thearthurdog · Postby **thearthurdog** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 8:41 am

Thanks guys. Monsterbounce the reattachment of your biceps tendon sounds like a tenodesis. They are often done at the same time as other procedures.

gabrielle260 · Postby **gabrielle260** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:17 pm

We should all get together and compare notes... Turns out my op included tenodesis surgery.
I cheated and opened the surgeon's notes from the op. He made me promise not to open the envelope as it contained a detailed rehab exercise program and he didn't want me to start on it too soon!
Anyway, his notes say that the bicep was so badly damaged by the thread/cheese cutter that if this fix doesn't work a second op shouldn't be attempted.
So thanks Arthurdog- as a result of your post and research on the web, I am now being a lot more conservative in my use of the arm.
Andrew

moosterbounce · Postby **moosterbounce** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:19 pm

Sounds like we have an exclusive club here...we'll be getting jerseys made soon...that we can wear when we are allowed to ride again

gabrielle260 · Postby **gabrielle260** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:29 pm

moosterbounce wrote:Sounds like we have an exclusive club here...we'll be getting jerseys made soon...that we can wear when we are allowed to ride again

Yes, it's killing me seeing dust gather on my bikes. I see posts about cleaning bikes and just want to be able to ride to make the bloody thing dirty!

moosterbounce · Postby **moosterbounce** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 11:08 pm

gabrielle260 wrote:
moosterbounce wrote:Sounds like we have an exclusive club here...we'll be getting jerseys made soon...that we can wear when we are allowed to ride again
Yes, it's killing me seeing dust gather on my bikes. I see posts about cleaning bikes and just want to be able to ride to make the bloody thing dirty!

I hear ya!! I was 12 weeks last Sunday. I swapped wheels on my roadie early November as one had a puncture and it's been sitting there complete with glass shard ever since!!

I can raise my arm about 40 degrees now but it gets lower through my exercise set. I'll be about 4 more weeks until I can drive, but at least I'm back at work ½ days now so feel a bit more useful. Oh well...back to squeezing my theraputic silly putty...I'm back at the physio on friday so need to make sure I've done my homework!!

thearthurdog · Postby **thearthurdog** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 11:12 pm

Yeah I'm very frustrated because I was 'due' to have my first ride back this Friday, but then the failure, round two and I am least six weeks off again. To make matters worse I have a four ride old TT bike sitting in the shed begging to be ridden.

I see the doc again on Thu...

All I can say guys is take it easy. I am being beyond paranoid this time.

moosterbounce · Postby **moosterbounce** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 2:03 am

thearthurdog wrote:To make matters worse I have a four ride old TT bike sitting in the shed begging to be ridden.

I hear ya!! My Plasma is pretty new (to me) too (ha!! more metal in me than the bike!!) and paranoia will be high when I get to that stage too...it's healthy to feel like that.

Good luck at the doc - I hope it goes well. Remember...it's character building

thearthurdog · Postby **thearthurdog** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:52 am

It's certainly that !!

fat and old · Postby **fat and old** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 3:58 pm

Maybe ten years ago my cousin had his bicep tear away from it's mounting point at the shoulder (sorry, not up with medical terms. Suffice to say end result was arm hanging loosely) whilst lifting an extremely heay weight at work. It wasn't pretty to see. He had 7 or 8 months off on workcover, and while he reckons it was never the same, he has no ROM issues, flexibility issues or strength issues here, and we work hard and heavy manual labour. Cycling for him (M/B) hasn't been an issue. Dunno if that helps.

gabrielle260 · Postby **gabrielle260** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 5:51 pm

fat and old wrote:Maybe ten years ago my cousin had his bicep tear away from it's mounting point at the shoulder (sorry, not up with medical terms. Suffice to say end result was arm hanging loosely) whilst lifting an extremely heay weight at work. It wasn't pretty to see. He had 7 or 8 months off on workcover, and while he reckons it was never the same, he has no ROM issues, flexibility issues or strength issues here, and we work hard and heavy manual labour. Cycling for him (M/B) hasn't been an issue. Dunno if that helps.

Thanks for the thought fat and old! Unfortunately my google research shows there are so many different ways to damage your shoulder and then even more ways to fix it that your cousin's example would only be helpful if you could tell us the surgical procedure he had.
There are even two types of tenodesis with very different success rates.
Either way, this thread has been really helpful - thanks for everyone's contribution - great to share with others going through the same thing!

thearthurdog · Postby **thearthurdog** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 11:46 am

10 day follow up with doc yesterday. He is happy with it but still wants me in 24/7 sling for at least another four weeks. I can do a few little 'pendulum hangs' with my arm in the shower but nothing else. It is incredible how tight my shoulder is when I do that. It is going to be fun and games when I start actual physio work a bit later on.

I'm okay to start walking a little and can go back to work on Monday. Two good things!

gabrielle260 · Postby **gabrielle260** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 2:17 pm

Good luck going back to work. As I am very new in my job, I went back quickly- too quickly as it turns out. Fortunately it hasn't had an impact on my shoulder- just showed in how little I took in due to the medication!!

moosterbounce · Postby **moosterbounce** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 3:04 pm

thearthurdog wrote:I can do a few little 'pendulum hangs' with my arm in the shower but nothing else. It is incredible how tight my shoulder is when I do that. It is going to be fun and games when I start actual physio work a bit later on.

Sigh...I hear ya!! Imagine how tight you'd be with a whole bunch of metal in there too!! I found that having my arm down in the shower was too much for me initially. I started the pendulum thing by sitting on the couch and letting my arm rest on my leg...then on the seat...then hanging down...then I leaned forward a bit...then I could do this standing up. My hand would go purple in the shower as it was down for too long so I needed to introduce this slowly. I also found the effort in showering and dressing was too much to add the pendulum too as well. So go with what you are comfortable doing. Just because someone says you can, doesn't mean you "actually" can.

You've probably realised already that getting dry after a shower with one hand is tricky. I switched to a small lightweight sports/travel towel as that was easier to use and dried quickly.

I had physio yesterday - caused tears

What muscle I have works overtime and goes into spasm...so it was massaged last night. Hurt more than deliberately slamming your fingers in a door!! But it feels looser today so I suppose that's good. I have a goal to be able to lift my arm - using my own muscle - to 90 degrees front and side (straight out the front to shoulder height) within the next 2 weeks. Seems such an easy thing to do but so difficult as well. It is actually making pretty good progress with the lifts, but I have no rotation in the shoulder at all at the moment. This will take the longest to get back apparently, so don't be dismayed when you start physio and find you are weak as a kitten.

trailgumby · Postby **trailgumby** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 4:58 pm

gabrielle260 wrote:Let me check with my surgeon. He didn't use that name but he described something that resembles Dr Google's description of biceps tenodesis.
My surgery was just over 2 weeks ago and was primarily repair of a full thickness tear of the rotator cuff. However when he looked inside it seems a thread from a previous op was pulled tight by the tear and then acted as a cheese cutter on the bicep tendon.
Andrew

Oohhhh! You just made me cross my legs. Jeepers!

toolonglegs · Postby **toolonglegs** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 6:06 pm

I don't remember seeing you had had another crash on Strava Dean?... I did notice you weren't riding!.
No good mate, heal up well!

thearthurdog · Postby **thearthurdog** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 6:53 pm

Cheers mate. It's been an ongoing issue that has been dragging on for a while. Previous crashes a big contributor though. Hope to be back at it before long.

Mugglechops · Postby **Mugglechops** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 6:26 pm

Can I join the club? I had one done in Feb 2013. Was part of removing 9 pins and a plate from a previous injury in 2006. Put me off the bike for around 6wks or so. Back racing my mtb in just over 8mths.

No problems doing 8 hour mtb rides on it. That was when I could ride. I cracked my s1 and s2 vertebrae and compression fractured my L1 and lost 60% height. Haven't ridden in 14wks

gabrielle260 · Postby **gabrielle260** » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:57 pm

Mugglechops wrote:Can I join the club? I had one done in Feb 2013. Was part of removing 9 pins and a plate from a previous injury in 2006. Put me off the bike for around 6wks or so. Back racing my mtb in just over 8mths.

No problems doing 8 hour mtb rides on it. That was when I could ride. I cracked my s1 and s2 vertebrae and compression fractured my L1 and lost 60% height. Haven't ridden in 14wks

Sorry to hear it Mugglechops and sorry I missed your post yesterday!
Saw the physio today for second time since the op. Good progress being made but it's slow. It still hurts if I do too much and the movement is limited. I'm still a few weeks away from working on strength- at this stage I'm focused just on improving the range of movement.
However, based on following the Highest Annual Mileage attempt, I have set some goals;
1. Back on home trainer this week.
2. Ride to nearby outdoor concrete track and do laps by mid April.
3. A half Abraham (160km) by start of next summer
4. A full Abraham (320km) by end of next summer.
Let's see how it goes!

moosterbounce · Postby **moosterbounce** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 12:24 am

Mugglechops wrote:Can I join the club? I had one done in Feb 2013. Was part of removing 9 pins and a plate from a previous injury in 2006. Put me off the bike for around 6wks or so. Back racing my mtb in just over 8mths.

No problems doing 8 hour mtb rides on it. That was when I could ride. I cracked my s1 and s2 vertebrae and compression fractured my L1 and lost 60% height. Haven't ridden in 14wks

Welcome to the coolest thread in town. Seems like only the super cool people hang out here

I didn't realise you were currently broken. I've been out since just before Christmas too - though I did manage 5km on the trainer last night but no hands (must change saddle as the smp isn't comfy when you don't sit on it properly!!)

What was your 2006 injury? I remember you having it, but not exactly what it was.Having a plate and 10 pins in my shoulder along with the newly attached bicep tendon, you sounded familiar. I know my metal bits will get removed sooner or later but have a risk of avascular necrosis (which would mean a shoulder replacement) so I'm guessing it will stay in until that risk has passed at least. So far I am still enjoying my new party trick of making metal detectors go psycho with beeps and flashing lights when I visit some of my customer sites as it does make security jump

.

Mugglechops · Postby **Mugglechops** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 3:12 pm

gabrielle260 wrote:
Mugglechops wrote:Can I join the club? I had one done in Feb 2013. Was part of removing 9 pins and a plate from a previous injury in 2006. Put me off the bike for around 6wks or so. Back racing my mtb in just over 8mths.

No problems doing 8 hour mtb rides on it. That was when I could ride. I cracked my s1 and s2 vertebrae and compression fractured my L1 and lost 60% height. Haven't ridden in 14wks
Sorry to hear it Mugglechops and sorry I missed your post yesterday!
Saw the physio today for second time since the op. Good progress being made but it's slow. It still hurts if I do too much and the movement is limited. I'm still a few weeks away from working on strength- at this stage I'm focused just on improving the range of movement.
However, based on following the Highest Annual Mileage attempt, I have set some goals;
1. Back on home trainer this week.
2. Ride to nearby outdoor concrete track and do laps by mid April.
3. A half Abraham (160km) by start of next summer
4. A full Abraham (320km) by end of next summer.
Let's see how it goes!

I can no longer throw a ball or serve in tennis. But strength wise I could do 25 pushups 2 years after doing. But that did cause the issue that led to pin removal.

Mugglechops · Postby **Mugglechops** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 3:19 pm

moosterbounce wrote:
Mugglechops wrote:Can I join the club? I had one done in Feb 2013. Was part of removing 9 pins and a plate from a previous injury in 2006. Put me off the bike for around 6wks or so. Back racing my mtb in just over 8mths.

No problems doing 8 hour mtb rides on it. That was when I could ride. I cracked my s1 and s2 vertebrae and compression fractured my L1 and lost 60% height. Haven't ridden in 14wks
Welcome to the coolest thread in town. Seems like only the super cool people hang out here

I didn't realise you were currently broken. I've been out since just before Christmas too - though I did manage 5km on the trainer last night but no hands (must change saddle as the smp isn't comfy when you don't sit on it properly!!)

What was your 2006 injury? I remember you having it, but not exactly what it was.Having a plate and 10 pins in my shoulder along with the newly attached bicep tendon, you sounded familiar. I know my metal bits will get removed sooner or later but have a risk of avascular necrosis (which would mean a shoulder replacement) so I'm guessing it will stay in until that risk has passed at least. So far I am still enjoying my new party trick of making metal detectors go psycho with beeps and flashing lights when I visit some of my customer sites as it does make security jump .

I originally fracture dislocated my shoulder when I highsided my motorbike. I may eventually need a full shoulder replacement too.

I just bought myself a trainer to get riding again after doing my back. Even though I am still trying to get past 8000 steps in a day. Up to 5400 today and currently sitting down to recover.

moosterbounce · Postby **moosterbounce** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 7:03 pm

Mugglechops wrote:I originally fracture dislocated my shoulder when I highsided my motorbike. I may eventually need a full shoulder replacement too.

I just bought myself a trainer to get riding again after doing my back. Even though I am still trying to get past 8000 steps in a day. Up to 5400 today and currently sitting down to recover.

Geez Chops - you've had a bad run. Your shoulder injury sounds as close to mine that I've heard of. It is too soon to know what range I have lost - for lifting my passive motion is still greater than my active, but my rotation is shot. Luckily it's my left arm so I won't be able to blame that for my dodgy tennis game

I too am working to build up my step count. I'm assuming you have an activity monitor or pedometer? I used a garmin vivofit and found the increases it made to my goal were completely acceptable - it started at 5000 and grew by 2-300 per day so very doable to increase. The battery lasts 12 months too and as they have been superseded, they are heaps cheaper now too.I've leant mine to my sister for the next 3 weeks while she's overseas, but if you wanted to borrow it when it returns, let me know and i'll pop it in the post.

My shoulder was immobilised for 11 weeks and I spent a lot of time on the couch as things like walking hurt my arm, even in the sling. I actually hit 10,000 steps yesterday and couldn't believe it as I've been averaging 5000, but I have started getting off the bus a stop or two sooner and walking. Now that I'm back at work (half days), I can do a bit more like that - in small bursts.