Stability at Last!

Warning to the squeamish types, there are 2 graphic surgical pictures towards the end. I'll write another warning when you get close to them...

October 17, 2012

The flight to Denver, Colorado to go see Dr. M was surreal. So much had changed essentially overnight. It went from telling Dr. K in Illinois, "Hey, I think I need this particular surgery done" to him agreeing and telling me to go see Dr. M. Now here we are in Denver and in less than a day I will hopefully be finding out how to proceed forward.

The drive to Vail was like nothing I had seen before. I've never been on such twisty/curvy roads completely surrounded by mountains. It's definitely different compared to flat Illinois. One thing we didn't take into account at all was the altitude. That one came back to haunt us. In Illinois we live at 850 ft above sea level; Vail is at 8,150 ft above sea level. We were all sick from the altitude because we did nothing to prepare. With the way I love Colorado now you would never know that I absolutely hated it the first time I went out there.

The following day was my appointment. My parents and I looked like a bunch of zombies. The altitude really hits us. I'm sure when Dr. M walked into the room he was expecting rather happy people because my surgeons had already talked to him. Instead, Dr. M walked into a room of people that looked like the walking dead. It was awful. Looking back on this day we all laugh at it. When Dr. M tried to move  my shoulder a couple inches it started to subluxate. The amount of motion I had was essentially nothing. After the exam Dr. M started talking about various stabilization surgeries. He started saying how usually after the amount of stabilization surgeries I've had done they would normally do a shoulder fusion; at that point I interrupted him (completely out of character for me) to tell him I am not a good candidate to have a shoulder fusion due my scapular (shoulder blade) problems. He then started to mention the fusion again, and I interrupted him to which he said, "Please do not interrupt me". I apologized and he then said he wouldn't do a fusion on me because of my scapular dysfunction. So instead he suggested doing an anterior capsulolabral reconstruction with allograft; the same exact procedure I had printed off and brought to Dr. K. As a side note, I emailed Dr. M later that afternoon after my appointment to once again apologize for interrupting him. It was SO out of character. All is good; no hard feelings :)

The day after my appointment we decided to drive Independence Pass to the Continental Divide which has an elevation of 12,096 feet. It was BEAUTIFUL! It was also really, really, windy, and cold up there! The brace that goes around my waist didn't fit over my winter jacket and it was too windy/cold to not wear a coat. One of my "tricks" that I do to this day is wear shirts or jackets that have pockets on the front. That way I can stick my hand in my pocket which helps take some of the weight off the shoulder and it helps support the arm; if I don't have pockets then I will pretty much always have my arms crossed on my stomach.

My dad and I.
Independence Pass- Elevation 12,095 ft- Continental Divide

My mom and I

Me and dad

After arriving home from Colorado it was crunch time to get things done. Surgery was scheduled for November 9, 2012. I worked ahead in my calculus class to try to make it easier after surgery. We also had to throw a big birthday bash for my grandpa because he was turning 90! It was such a great day. We invited all his family and two of his longtime friends. He had no idea that all these people were coming. The look on his face was priceless. We took many pictures and have many great memories of that day. Since his birthday is in October, and he loves sports, we had a "Spooky, Sporty, Surprise 90th Birthday Party".

Part of my family :)

November 9, 2012
Next thing I knew it was surgery day. This shoulder surgery was by far the most painful surgery out of all the shoulder surgery I've ever had. Looking back I really think the awful recovery was due to the nerve problem I have because that didn't get diagnosed until March of this year. At the time I had the anterior capsulolabral reconstruction with allograft to stabilize my right shoulder we had no clue there was any sort of nerve issue going on. Logically it made sense that my shoulder barely moved because of the instability. Now I know that isn't the case because my arm motion is the same now as it was the morning of surgery two years ago; it only moves if my neck is bent way forward.

Motion morning of surgery 11/9/12

My motion today

2 GRAPHIC PICTURES BELOW

Even though my arm still doesn't move the way it should, I am so thankful it is at least stable. During surgery they put 4 anchors and 2 screws in to secure an allograft (cadaver) tendon in the front of my shoulder. It's the only surgery that has lasted longer than 4 months on me. I am over two years out from this surgery and it is still pretty stable. 

Waiting to be wheeled back to the operating room

The allograft tendon secured to the glenoid

The white in the shape of a backward C is the tendon that's stabilizing my shoulder

Definitely a hard recovery

As I've said several times in previous posts Colorado is beautiful. Below is the view from my hospital room. People pay lots of money to get that view from hotels; who knew you just had to have surgery and be inpatient?

During my stay in the hospital is the first time I met the the physical therapist that put my protocal together for when I would start rehab. Who knew I'd end up spending two months in 2013 and then two months this year in Colorado working with him. Between my physical therapist here in Illinois and the ones in Colorado I have a great team. I don't know what I would do without them.

One week after my surgery it was time to fly home. Physically it was the hardest flight ever. To anyone that has to fly on an airplane after surgery I would recommend bringing pillows so you can prop. It was SO hard to get comfortable! Landing was the worst part of the flight because of all the pressure that's put on the body. Even before this surgery I always dreaded the landings because my shoulders would shift out of place.

The landing

By the time we made it home I was beat. My bed has never looked so appealing!

Too bad I couldn't bring the Colorado view home with me to Illinois

A Glimpse At the Present

February 2013

Now that the leg injuries are over, I think it is important to know what my status is now in the present before I even discuss how things even got to this point. It will boggle your mind, just as it does mine, when you eventually read the blogs to come that discuss all the various doctors visits, testing, exercises, traveling, mental pressures and difficult, although sometimes humorous hoops, I have gone through that have brought me to this point.

Right now I am 23 years old, and I have been trying to get better for over 7 years. On November 9, 2012 I had my 10th right sided shoulder surgery in Colorado; an anterior capsulolabral reconstruction with allograft (cadaver tissue). This brought my total number of surgeries all together since 2006 up to 22; I've had 1 on my right ankle, 2 on my right knee, both hips, 7 on my left shoulder and 10 on my right shoulder. If not the most, it sure was one of my most painful shoulder surgeries I have ever had. This surgery entailed putting 4 anchors and 2 screws into the bone to secure the donated tendon in the front of my shoulder. The new tendon will help give the front of my shoulder more stability and hopefully prevent it from subluxating. I had a different procedure (open capsular shift) done in Illinois earlier that year in March which lasted 4 months before it started subluxating (partial dislocation) out the front on a daily basis. To most people you would think, "Wow 4 months that isn't long." For me though, it was the longest any shoulder surgery lasted. However, by the time September came, I was dislocating which caused me to have to wear a brace that locked my elbow at my side. This prevented me from moving my shoulder because anytime I moved, I would shift out of place.

My niece Lizzy & I at the pumpkin patch. The white around my waist is
the brace, and the gray straps secured my arm in place.

Below are pictures of how much motion I had the morning of surgery 11-9-12.



Flexion: moving arm forward

Side view of flexion

External Rotation 

Abduction: movement to the side

 Surgery #22 and still smiling and playing cards with my mom before being wheeled back to surgery

(No, I am not on any "happy" medicine but my right arm is COMPLETELY numb)

When you wake up in the morning, you never know for sure where your day is going to take you...


Thursday, January 31, 2013 started as just a typical day. I woke up, ate breakfast, and my mom drove me to physical therapy. The past couple weeks have been rather rough. My shoulders, especially my right, has been very sore and I've been mentally questioning a lot of things with life. Such as, what career I can do with limited motion and what am I going to do with school. I spend a lot of time thinking what if I don't get my motion back and primarily I wonder why my shoulders keep being problematic and requiring surgeries.

For the past seven years, since the time I became injured, I have always said, "It could always be worse." My mom's breast cancer was a life threatening illness; my injuries are not. She got through her breast cancer, I'll get through my injuries.

Christmas 2004 with my Grandma King and Mom cancer free!

At physical therapy, I was placed in a chair directly in front of a young man. I watched as this young man struggled as he got into his wheelchair from the table. His legs don't work well and he has to physically lift them up to get them on the wheelchair foot holders. My physical therapist offered to help him, and in a determined voice the young man, said, "No, I've got this." I sat in my chair thinking, "Oh, he is just like me in a sense." When you are limited in the things you can do, you want to do for yourself the things you can. I know in my case, I appreciate peoples' help; however, when I am asked if I need help over a task I know I can do, I will be stubborn, and sometimes it may sound like I am being short when I decline. It's only because I need help with so many other things and I want to feel like I have some sort of independence.

When my therapist walked by me and said hello, I looked at him and said, "That man has it rough. As hard as my situation is, at least I can get up and walk from point A to point B." My therapist looked at  me and said, "You would know because of the crutches." I agreed, but in my head I was remembering how hard it was when I was in a wheelchair for 6 weeks due to some unidentified virus that made it extremely difficult to walk. Being in a wheelchair absolutely sucks.

When my therapist and I began working on very basic, minimal shoulder motion exercises things weren't going great but they weren't going bad either. My therapist always has his hands on my shoulder to help give stability/support to the joint and help guide the movement. When we were working on flexion (moving the arm forward) all of a sudden there was a loud, audible, painful pop in the shoulder I had surgery on in November. I looked at my therapist whose eyes were wide and I felt my arm just kind of drop from the pain. I am not one to cry. When I started crying from the pain, I knew something bad had happened. As I gathered myself together and composed myself, I told my therapist he could continue. I needed to know if the pop that just happened was a good one that would make the joint feel better. It moved a little but killed. I was officially worried. It's no ones fault and there are no hard feelings. It's like that old saying, "S#!% Happens!"


Little did I know 9 hours later I would be on a 7:15pm airplane heading to Colorado with my mom to see my surgeon Dr. M the next day. It's a 2.5 hour drive from Denver to Vail, CO. My mom has learned to become an experienced driver and this was her first time driving in the mountains when it was snowing!! I must say, she did a very good job. Us and the car got there and home all in one piece.

Driving to Vail 

The following day I had an MRI of my shoulder in the morning, saw the shoulder therapist and then saw Dr. M in the afternoon. Needless to say, it was a long day. At this point there is no definitive course of treatment. Dr. M injected my shoulder with cortisone. I will now wait the next several weeks to see if my shoulder gets better. If it does not, then the next step would be going back to Colorado for an arthroscopy so they can take a peek inside. For now I will continue going to my wonderful physical therapist here in IL to work on strengthening my muscles and trying to gain some motion back. It was highly recommended to me that I stay in CO working directly with the shoulder therapy specialist for a couple months; anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months to have both regular physical therapy and pool therapy. My case is so bizarre and complicated that these specialists are thinking outside of the box to create a physical therapy protocol for me.

  Funky depressions that appear with minimal motion.
They came back after whatever it was popped in my shoulder.

  Kinesiotape that helps hold my shoulder in the proper position

I am SO thankful to have such a wonderful team of doctors and therapists. Without any of them I would be so screwed. They have put so much time and effort into my care and I am so appreciative. I have an uphill battle against me this year. It is going to test me and push me probably in ways I haven't yet experienced. I have decided to start blogging my journey because I hope it can help people realize they are not alone in their situations and to not lose hope. You have to keep plugging along and get through the hard days. So here's to a year of a lot of hard work and hopefully a lot of progress.

 "On a Mission" tiger I drew

This tiger pretty much sums up what my mentality will be this year.