Trinity and I met with Dr. James Bryan at the Orthopedic Clinic in Daytona last Friday. Thank you to Arthosurface for recommending him. He reviewed my X-Rays and MRI and agreed that the Hemicap procedure would be my best option. He was professional and personable, explained the surgery in detail then had them take another X-ray with a device attached to my arm to size me for the cap for my humerus.
Why am I not trying other options?
I have. In March I had a stem cell injection that unfortunately didn’t provide any improvement. I also had an ozone injection and PRP, which provided some pain relief but wasn’t a long term solution.
Why am I not opting for some form of arthroscopic surgery?
The answer to this one is simple. Arthroscopic surgery is for soft tissue damage (muscles, tendons, ligaments). I don’t have any soft tissue damage, only bone and cartilage, so arthroscopic surgery isn’t an option. I have complete loss of cartilage and the head of the humerus is actually noticeably degenerating. Shoulder replacement is the only option to correct it and the Hemicap is the least invasive form of it.
I’ve had a lot of people recommend their doctors. Why am I not going to them?
There are relatively few doctors who perform the Hemicap procedure and each Orthopedic surgeon has their own surgery preference, which in my case would be either partial or full shoulder replacement if they don’t perform the Hemicap procedure. Both of the other Orthopedic surgeons I went to recommended full shoulder replacement. The Hemicap procedure is the only shoulder replacement procedure that allows for the patient to return to normal activity, including lifting.
What caused this and could it have been prevented?
At a competitive weight of 165 I benched 600 or more in at least 5 meets, close to it in at least 40 more, and 100s if not thousands of times in the gym while training. Yes, I primarily competed equipped, but my joints still had to support the weight over and over again at a relatively light bodyweight. I have read lifters post about “protecting your joints.” Yes, you can train your muscles to promote symmetry which can help prevent imbalances and injury (which I did which helps explain why I never had a serious soft tissue injury, i.e. tear), but you are given a finite amount of cartilage and once it’s gone there’s no coming back, at least not with today’s medical science. Yes, there are claims that stem cells and/or PRP can help it regenerate, but they didn’t work for me, or anyone else I know who’s tried them.
Stay tuned if you’re interested. I’m hoping this may help some of you from having to deal with all of the uncertainty of this that I have.
Thank you to Dr. Anthony Miniaci, Rudy Kadlub, and Tom Waldrep for sharing their experiences and advice with me.
I'm 67 and looking at a complete shoulder replacement.
I am very interested in how you make out with this.