Thank You Dr. Guerra!

Last Tuesday I became bionic.  I had a complete shoulder replacement implant replacing my arthritic right shoulder which I injured over 20 years ago.  At that time, I underwent arthroscopic surgery and had what is called a ‘slap’ repair which involved literally hammering in place a tack to re-attach the tendon that had been ripped off the bone in a fall. The repair was good for about 5 years and then progressive degenerative arthritis stole my mobility over the ensuing years.  Also my shoulder caused me constant pain, which only got worse year after year.

Eventually the only solution was to replace the joint, which I avoided for years until the pain became constant and unrelenting.  So, less than a week ago I underwent the surgery even though the concept of it was abhorrent to me.

I was pleasantly surprised.

As you might imagine, typing is a bit difficult since I only have limited use of my right arm, but let me soldier through to extoll the miracle of todays orthopedic surgical techniques.

My brilliant surgeon, Dr. James Guerra, sports medicine director at Florida Gulf Coast University has perfected the ideal protocol for shoulder replacement.  He is leading the design team at Arthrex, one of the countries pre-eminent producers of artificial joints and instrumentation.  These engineers have brilliantly designed my implants to mimic the actions and range of motion of the shoulder joint, one of the most complex joints in the body.

My experience at the hospital was amazingly smooth.  I arrived at the hospital about 7am and within 20 minutes I had been admitted, washed, disinfected and prepped with a painlessly administered IV.  Every tech I came in contact with immediately examined my wristband to confirm who I was and then questioned me repeatedly about my birthdate.  It was reassuring that they wanted to make sure who I was and which shoulder was getting replaced!

After about another 20 minute of this, my ‘bartender’ arrived and without fanfare, versed took me to a peaceful place far from where my new companions were working on me.  That is that last I remember until I awoke in the recovery room, wondering when I was going in for surgery!  These docs have mastered the pain protocol.  They gave me a 36 hour nerve block shot to deaden my right shoulder and arm so when I awoke, I was completely comfortable with no discernable pain at all!

After about an hour of dozing off and on, they took me to a private room where the nurses hovered over me and made me comfortable.  Within an hour or two I was pretty well conscious, just tired.  Slept on an off all afternoon and had a small bite to eat about 6pm.  Made it through the night, arising every hour or so to march around the nurses station to incite my bladder to start working again.  Finally about 6am in the morning, it obliged me, thank God.  I was probably a mere 15 minutes from having to face the catheter monster.  I think it finally scared me into rousting my sphincter from it’s refusal to answer my prodding.  I think that was the worst part of the whole experience.

Meanwhile, by 9am, I was checked out of the hospital, sent home with drugs and told to expect almost daily visits from home nursing and home physical therapy.  So stem to stern my surgical experience lasted only 26 hours, a true miracle for something so major.

So here I am exactly one week post op and still not a shred of pain!  The strongest pain relief I sought were two Tylenol last Friday.  That’s it!

Now clearly, I am facing 10 weeks of PT that is not going to be a picnic, but the horrid arthritic pain I had been enduring is gone!  I am wearing a sling/brace for another three weeks which reduces any chance of disturbing the healing, but I am already experiencing increased range of motion and mental relief at seeing this experience in the rear view mirror!

So kudos for science!  The next 20 years of my life will at least be pain free and more mobile because of the brilliance of my docs and the engineers that support them!  For those of you who need a better frame of reference for this procedure, here is a pic of the ‘after’ taken yesterday.