Why can't my hot flashes thaw out my frozen shoulder?

I haven't put a health update out there for a while now, so I thought it was time. My last surgery (to remove my right tissue expander) was 6 weeks ago now (Aug. 4th), and I'm recovering nicely. My doctor wants me to "heal" for several months before he puts it back in… so my next scheduled surgery is January 19, 2011 to replace the expander. After that, I will have 8-10 weeks of saline fills, and then (maybe April?) a final surgery to replace the expanders with breast implants.

Meanwhile, I struggle with continuous left shoulder pain which started in June.

Turns out I have FROZEN SHOULDER… I was moving through the stages of it all summer without really realizing what it was. My August 4th surgery had set me back, and my shoulder seemed to get worse... likely from inactivity during recovery.

After weeks of trying alot of different things (herbs, chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, creams, supplements, ice, heat, exercises, etc.), with no improvement, I finally got approved for a CAT Scan which I had on Sept. 3rd. This showed NO tear in the rotator cuff; but a partial separation of the posterior labrum. What do you do for this? Treat it like tendonitis or bursitis, according to my Orthopedic surgeon, which only means Physical Therapy. Sigh...

All of this ultimately led to an official diagnosis from a GOOD Physical Therapist this week - definitely FS. I kept seeking help and found an awesome acupuncturist in Long Beach. I also had an excellent therapeutic massage this week in Culver City which seemed to help.

My Ortho gave me a cortisone shot on my birthday (which was 11 days ago). It didn't seem to help at first, at all. But in the last week, the pain has lessened a bit, or more specifically, I have a little more ROM (range of motion) before the pain starts. I also just started the acupuncture 2 weeks ago, so it's hard to tell exactly what's helping!

I joined a Facebook group, Frozen Shoulder Friends. Lots of experiences there. Have to take with a grain of salt, though. Apparently I fall perfectly into the demographic for FS: women, age 40-60, diabetic, and recent trauma to the body (mastectomy).

All of my medical professionals agree that I should continue dancing. Keeping the shoulder moving is the best thing for it, they say, and I do find that after a good dancing workout when I'm all sweaty and loose, I have more ROM. They said I can't really do anything to hurt it, by dancing, aside from the usual risk of actually injuring it which of course can happen to any other body part any time. I've learned which arm movements I can and can't do, and have trained myself to keep my elbow in front of my body (even during 2-step), or strictly follow my hand with my center, to avoid pain. Even when I occasionally "miss" and create pain, supposedly I can't do any damage which would delay healing; it just hurts alot.

I'm extremely motivated to work on this, as I'm committed to competing at the US Open this year (couples and a team), as well as Worlds (team). Left arm styling and leverage moves are put on hold for now. ;-)