My story actually begins about 18 years ago from an old football injury (cliche I know, but that is really what happened).  During an innocent pick-up football game, I made the mistake of trying to lead in with my left shoulder to tackle a short, spark-plug of a man while running back a kickoff, whose power and speed I grossly misjudged.  I felt immediate pain in my shoulder.  My second mistake was that I never sought treatment for this even though it was probably two months before I could fully lift my shoulder above my head.  I simply let the shoulder heal on its own.  Chalk it up to youth and the shroud of invincibility.

Fast forward to the present. Through my 20's, I could tell my shoulder was not quite as it was, but it was tolerable and never gave me too much difficulty. It didn't impede me in any work or play activities, so I lived with it. That all began to change after my son was born in 2002. For the past four years, I have always used my left arm when carrying him around. I began to notice tingling and numbness all the way into my fingers after putting him down. The loosness, crackling, popping, and catching was becoming more and more prominent with each passing year. I used to tell friends and family that I knew someday I would need surgery, but still I did nothing - just grin and bear it. (I've come to realize that I have a rather uncanny pain tolerance which really came to light when I finally learned how extensive the damage really was) I used to tell my wife that when it reached a point where I felt I couldn't take it anymore, I would go to get it checked out. That day finally came in February of this year. Since the Fall of last year to that point, I was really noticing much more of a catching sensation with many activities and the discomfort was becoming an almost daily nusiance. I went to my PCP, who actually discounted it to just tendonitis. Still since he realized it had been such a long term problem, he referred me for x-rays and a consult with an orthopedic surgeon.

I saw a first surgeon initially on March 10. Through my description and his examination, he suspected a labral tear and ordered an arthrogram. When returning to him on April 7 after the MRI, I got the news. I was suspecting that there was going to be something found. I had had problems for far too long for it to just be tendonitis. But, I wasn't quite prepared to learn what was actully there. The MRI report noted a severe SLAP lesion with associated glenohumeral involvement as well. He described my labrum as that of a bike intertube that was coming off of a wheel, partially on at points and off at others all along a large portion of the glenoid. The real shock was that after giving me the details, he concluded that he was not the right person to do the repair as he felt it was beyond his expertise. He felt I would need a combination of both an arthroscopic and open approach.

What was found in surgery was a large tear from the 1:00 position reaching all the way back posterially to the 7:00 position. Five anchors were used to complete the repair. I was required to wear an UltraSling ER that kept my arm straight forward from my side. Because of the posterior tears, it was very important that my arm did not lay across my body. I had to wear that for three weeks with no exception but to take a shower. Aside from a few scary (but really pretty minor) jolts to my arm over that three week period, everything went pretty well and without major incident.

I returned to work on June 5 and began PT that same week as well. Luckily, I have a sedentary job, so I really have no restrictions there. I'm actually very pleased with my progress since the early days after the procedure. My arm is still pretty stiff, but there is no question that it is loosening up a bit more every day. From just a week ago, I'm amazed at how my ROM has increased. I realize that I still have quite a way to go, but compared to how it was, I couldn't be happier. Heck, just to get back into a bed after 3 weeks sleeping in a chair was cause for celebration.

Just had my second post-op appointment today. Dr. McMahon feels I am right on course. I am a little behind in my ROM but he wasn't concerned. Given the number of anchors used and the amount of time immobilized, he indicated that it wasn't unusual. He ordered six more weeks of therapy until I see him again with continued concentration on stretching and beginning to add in some light strengthening.

Well, that's my story so far. Pretty lengthy I know, but it had 18 years in the making. I look forward to sharing and gaining insight from this site as I continue this journey.