Yesterday I had my left shoulder surgery and on coming round in the recovery room found myself being attended to by a very nice nurse, having a dry throat and an embarrassingly very firm stiffy which would not go away!

Having had a cervical nerve root block in my neck I had a left arm that was totally numb and over which I have had no control until a couple of hours ago, 18hrs after surgery.

Speaking to my surgeon afterwards the good news is that the arthroscopic subacromial decompression and arthroscopic arthrolysis he carried out were successful and that there are no tears or damage to muscles.

The not so good news is that there is evidence of arthritis in the joint which will probably result in me needing a new shoulder in the future! He advises that ideally this would not be until I am 70 as it is a procedure that really should only be done once. I therefore need to manage the shoulder and this means no heavy work above shoulder height so my hedge cutting/pruning days are done.

I have had my sling off this morning and done a few exercise and can feel I have more range of movement already. My first physiotherapy appointment is tomorrow.

I should be able to jog next week and cycle in a fortnight providing the range of movement causes no pain.

Onwards and upwards!