dochendrix

I hurt my shoulder 2nd week of bow season- and could no longer pull my bow back. I got so disgusted, I quit thinking about hunting. Well, I had surgery Feb 12 and found out I ripped my bisep tendon off the bone and tore my labrum in 3 places. The surgery was a lot worse than I thought it would be- and it just seams like it has never healed. I found out today that I might have to have a few more surgeries. 1st he is talking about going in a cutting off the top part of my bicep tendon and leaving it only attached at the lower part (it attaches in 2 places) and then he might have to go back in about 4 months and work on the actual Rotator cuff again. I have about resigned to the fact that this upcoming season is probably lost; but I' m very consearned about my futre in Bow hunting[:' (][:' (][:' (]
Has anybody known someone with this type of Tendon removal and how much strength and disabilty remains? What is the change of ever drawing back again? What #age do you feel is practicle and ethical to continue hunting with?
Thanks all
DOC

Big Country

Hang in there doc.

With the power some of these bows are putting out today, I would guess that you could consistantly zip through deer with a 40-45 lb. bow.

If it turns out that you still have trouble drawing the bow, you can always go to a crossbow.

Good luck with your arm, and keep us updated.

Cougar Mag

Doc, if you cannot pull a compound or traditional bow, get a crossbow. You will still be out there hunting, thats the main thing!

atlasman

I saw an article in Peterson' s magazine showing a guy that shot with his mouth as his draw force. He held regular but had a small piece of dog leash with a small loop in it attatched to his string and that is what he pulled with and just released when ready to shoot. He teaches people how to do it if you have to work around an injury if I' m not mistaken. He did it for the same reason' s you have........an injury. Check it out. He says he can pull MORE weight with his mouth and shoots more then well enough to hunt.

Don' t give up.........get a draw lock or a crossbow if you have to. There is more then one way to skin a cat.......or deer in this case.

Good Luck

walks with a gimp

I don' t know if it has ever been tried but how about a neck mounted release that you could still trip the trigger by hand?????

BowHuntingFool

Hey atlasman I was shooting one time and this guy you read about was shooting next to me and we talked for a while! Nice guy and one of the best shots I have come across! He is involved with U.F.D.A. This guy knows his archery![:-]

nub

Doc: Sorry to hear about your ongoing problem. If your interested in learning more about drawing with your teeth and one arm, I can probably get you in touch with the fellow they speak of above. I let his group shoot through ours at a broadhead shoot last fall. As for poundage for deer, I believe WI. says we need at least 40. Thats plenty if a person can discipline themselves to their limitations. So you might have to hold off for a 20 yrd shot. You might want to wait for a perfect broadside shot. You might have to hunt from the ground. Who cares? At least your out there doing what you love. With todays equipment, 40 lbs can be a very deadly set up. And of course, theres always the crossbow. If it gets ya out in the woods, I' m happy for ya. Let me know if I can help.

BowHuntingFool

Here is a link to UFFDA, United Foundation For Disabled Hunters! I purchased a wrist sling from him that he braided himself and I like it! I wish I could remember his name he gave me a card but it has his wifes info on it! Here is a link to UFFDA:
http://www.uffdaclub.com/index.html

dick_cress

P. M. A.

Lets pray that the surgeries will not bring a permanent end to your regular shooting. Good Luck but one of your greatest comrades through this is a Strong Positive Mental Attitude.

Who

I hurt my shoulder 2nd week of bow season- and could no longer pull my bow back.
I got so disgusted, I quit thinking about hunting. Well, I had surgery Feb 12 and found out I ripped my bisep tendon off the bone and tore my labrum in 3 places.

Doc, We do shoulder surgery at least 6 times a week on everyday joes to pro' s and the bottom line is it does take time and lots of work! I do not understand why you would need to go back. We do everything at one setting. Scope, slap leasions, Subacrominal decompresion, removal distal clavical and we do reattach the biseps tendon back to the bone. Time? 2 to 3 hrs. What did he/she do in the first surgery

The surgery was a lot worse than I thought it would be- and it just seams like it has never healed. I found out today that I might have to have a few more surgeries.

The biceps tendon can or cannot be repaired just depends on how bad

1st he is talking about going in a cutting off the top part of my bicep tendon and leaving it only attached at the lower part (it attaches in 2 places) and then he might have to go back in about 4 months and work on the actual Rotator cuff again.

I dont want to question what he is doing but again we NEVER have to do this! We go in and we fix it! End of story unless they tear it up again. The Biceps just depends on how bad but we do go in and reinforce it with sutures sometimes. You have to understand that there is no good replacement for the rotator cuff. If it cant be fixed there is not much you can do. The labrum usually becomes detatched in one or two places and these are called Slap or Bankheart tears. We repair these with anchors that drill into the bone or are driven into the bone. Sometimes it takes 5 or more of these to repair this type of tear.

I have about resigned to the fact that this upcoming season is probably lost;

I would agree with that. At least with a bow that you need to pull. I think rehab is about 6 to 8 months. Not sure about the time. You go out and tear things up before they heal......................... ??? How about shooting a rifle using the other shoulder??


but I' m very consearned about my futre in Bow hunting

Doc, Again we do all types and conditions of people. Some in better shape than others. If you do the work you should get a good repair. If you dont you can expect a bad one. I would like to know why the Dr. is doing your surgery this way. You might ask around. Do you have anything else wrong with you that would cause him to space out these surgerys? Again we do everything in one setting and its not a few drs that do them this way. There are at least 25 ortho drs here and they may do things a little different but they do not space out the repairs. I watched the Dallas Stars dr work on one of our hockie players and he does the same type of repairs. One surgery with multiple repairs.

Has anybody known someone with this type of Tendon removal and how much strength and disabilty remains?

Again this will depend alot on you. How you do in rehab. How you take care of it and future abuse. The Dr' s repair is another question. How good or bad it is. You may loose some movement depending on how tight the repair is. They always talk about not messing up their golf swing. I will ask them about not repairing the biceps and let you know what they say.

What is the change of ever drawing back again?

Again depending on how much damage, age, condition, how good of repair, how you do in rehab, how you take care of it after everything is done, what day of the week it is, what faze the moon is in, ect.... You should have a good to fair chance. I know we do old farts to young toots all the time. One may do nothing and gripe that his arm dont work while the other works his but off in rehab and comes out smelling like a rose and goes back to pitching.

What #age do you feel is practicle and ethical to continue hunting with?

Well I dont know what you are asking here but I have taken up alot of room with this answer.
Bottom line. Ask why all the different surgerys and not one time. Each surgery increases possible infections. Ask about repair vs removal. Ask a second or third Dr. look for one that is in sports rehab and is mid age why? They are still learning to improve their surgical skills and going to meetings.
Good luck!

Rick
Thanks all
DOC