Episode #896
April 4, 2026
I was packing up cardboard boxes to donate.
Consequently, the house was in some disarray.
As I carried one of the boxes across the room, I tripped on a chair leg and fell shoulder-first into the floor, crushing the box and all of its contents. The shoulder hurt like hell, so Paula helped me up.
For the next two weeks, the shoulder hurt, but I still had full range of motion. Then I made the mistake of collecting firewood. I threw a large branch of Manzanita deadwood down from the small hill on my property into the meadow. The pain jumped from a 3 to a 5.
Two days later, I was carrying one of the branches from the woodshed to the garage when it slipped out of my hand. Instinctively, I reached suddenly out and down to catch the branch. A sharp, painful lightning bolt struck from my shoulder to my fingertips. I could no longer straighten my arm out in front or over my head.
10 months ago, Paula had rotator cuff surgery. She now has almost full range of motion. A dear old High School classmate of mine referred her to an orthopedic sports surgeon at Scripps. I reached out to the surgeon’s office to look at my shoulder.
The surgeon’s PA examined me and ordered an MRI. The MRI revealed a torn rotator cuff. There were complete Supraspinatus and Infraspinatus tears and a partial tear of the Subscapularis. The PA immediately referred me to Paula’s surgeon.
Scripps is amazing at how well they communicate across different divisions. Everybody knew everything about me, my tests, and the results of the examination. The surgeon quickly confirmed the PA’s findings, and I was scheduled for arthroscopic rotator cuff repair the next week. A couple of visits to the physical therapist loosened the shoulder up in preparation for surgery. Never neglect Physical Therapy.
The most difficult time of the entire pre-op was getting my primary care physician to deliver all the test findings and releases to Scripps. It was finally done the day before surgery, and I was good to go. I have decided that in the near future, I will switch my primary care physician to Scripps, so that all my care is in the same organization.
The day of the surgery was a piece of cake, except I was fasting and wasn’t allowed to eat cake or anything else. There was no traffic during the two-hour drive from my house to the Scripps ambulatory surgical center. Check-in was seamless, pre-op was conducted expertly, and all with the sweetest smiles and professionalism.
Right on time, I was led into the preparation room.
“Change into this gown, booties, and party hat. I’ll be right back,” said the nurse.
“How stylish,” I quipped.
The anesthesiologist came into the room and explained everything he would do during the surgery.
I asked, “Will there be any pain? “
“We don’t do pain here,” he smiled.
My surgeon came into the room next. He asked me, “What is your name and birthdate? Also, why are you here today?”
I told him who I was and what day I was born. “I’m here for you to repair my right shoulder,” I said.
He wrote his INITIALS on my right shoulder, in indelible ink.
When it was time, the O.R. nurse walked me into the surgical theater, where she asked me to introduce myself and tell everyone what they were going to do today.
I asked, “Don’t you guys know what you’re going to do today?”
With a little chuckle, she said, “I just want you to tell them.” So I did.
The nurse laid me down on the operating table, and the anesthesiologist put an oxygen mask on me. He said, “Here’s some oxygen, and I put in a little something extra just for you.”
And then I woke up in recovery.
I was fully dressed, including a sling. The O.R. nurse was watching over me.
She said, “5 anchors. The doctor said it was a large tear, but you have strong muscles and tendons. Everything went well.”
Another nurse wheeled me out to my car, where Paula was waiting to take me home.
Done.
When I’m a little farther along in my recovery, I will write a blog entry about that adventure. I can already tell that it will be a roller coaster of determination, hope, and accomplishment.
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