I have been dealing with a seriously injured shoulder for so long that, like the senior citizen I am, I have to check my notes to see what day it is and what procedure is coming up. Especially in the last six months, outside of work distractions and addictive TV shows, my whole life has pretty much revolved around my left shoulder and the accompanying pain. Lots of pain. More pain than I’ve ever experienced, pre or post paralysis. And months of it.
You are now saying to yourself, “Why do I want to sit here listening to someone grumble about his pain – I don’t even like to hear me grumble about my own pain.” But this tale is much more upbeat. It’s about a state-of-the-art surgery procedure I’m going to have in a couple of weeks that, God willing, will fix my arm, eliminate the pain, and set me on what’s been a two-year-long journey out of the Land of the Bum Shoulder.
A quick recap: In 2022, I had a reverse shoulder replacement operation to fix my nearly-dysfunctional shoulder, involving a steel ball and a stabilizing plate inserted and attached to my scapula. Nine months later the screws holding it all together broke in two. The agreed-upon solution by all orthopedists consulted: a procedure, only five years old, called a customized glenoid implant.
In my upcoming surgery, they will again open the shoulder, this time to remove the broken protheses. They will then replace them with the implant above which has been custom-made for my particular shoulder and none other. I hope they put my initials on it.