Shoulder Problems

msgrupp, You've got me really curious now. Thanks for responding to the post. I had my surgery my seniour year in college when I was 21. The doctor recommended surgery in my early consultations, however, he explained that he didn't know what the fix would be until he got in and discovered which way my shoulder was coming out (fore or aft) and the extent of the damage already done. The worst case involved cutting ligaments, drilling through my scapula, and reattaching with screws to the back of my scapula. This procedure would have a 20% chance of failure he told me. He did not mention the thermal shrinkage until minutes before I was put under. He explained that a colleague was doing this procedure in california with early success. He wanted to give it a try and said I may be a good candidate. He asked for my o.k. to do the procedure for the first time. He also explained that the alternative might be pretty drastic and that he could always go back in and do something else (In other words, he would not be burning any bridges). I said go ahead and I feel very lucky to this day. I'm thinking that after seeing that I had no significant damage to my rotator cuff, he would have either abanded the surgery and told me to come back when things got worse or he would have done the drastic cut and screw surgery with a sizable chance of failure. Apparently I found just the right doctor at just the right time. The doctor asked me to come back and see him in a year so he could track the success of the new procedure. I graduated from college the following spring and moved out of the state. I also went from my parents health insurance to an interim emergency-use only insurance until I landed a permanent job a year and a half later. Regretably, I never contacted the doctor again until I sent an e-mail to his office yesterday. I'm anxious to see if he will respond.

msgrupp, You've got me really curious now. Thanks for responding to the post. I had my surgery my seniour year in college when I was 21. The doctor recommended surgery in my early consultations, however, he explained that he didn't know what the fix would be until he got in and discovered which way my shoulder was coming out (fore or aft) and the extent of the damage already done. The worst case involved cutting ligaments, drilling through my scapula, and reattaching with screws to the back of my scapula. This procedure would have a 20% chance of failure he told me. He did not mention the thermal shrinkage until minutes before I was put under. He explained that a colleague was doing this procedure in california with early success. He wanted to give it a try and said I may be a good candidate. He asked for my o.k. to do the procedure for the first time. He also explained that the alternative might be pretty drastic and that he could always go back in and do something else (In other words, he would not be burning any bridges). I said go ahead and I feel very lucky to this day. I'm thinking that after seeing that I had no significant damage to my rotator cuff, he would have either abanded the surgery and told me to come back when things got worse or he would have done the drastic cut and screw surgery with a sizable chance of failure. Apparently I found just the right doctor at just the right time. The doctor asked me to come back and see him in a year so he could track the success of the new procedure. I graduated from college the following spring and moved out of the state. I also went from my parents health insurance to an interim emergency-use only insurance until I landed a permanent job a year and a half later. Regretably, I never contacted the doctor again until I sent an e-mail to his office yesterday. I'm anxious to see if he will respond.