JoAnn's Orthopedic Story

- [JoAnn] Jim and I have met in high school,
so we're, you know, high school sweethearts.

We have one son, and he has one son, and that's Shane,
our, you know, little joy, and keeps us on our toes.

I have a lot of trouble with arthritis,
and not just in my shoulders

but pretty much everywhere.

I started having pain in my shoulders
probably three to four or five years ago,

and then, it started getting worse.

I had cortisone shots several times.

And that would help for a while but then
eventually, that got where that did nothing.

I had bone-on-bone due to the arthritis,
and so, that was causing really immense pain.

It's unlike pain that I've ever had before.

We learned about a seminar
that Dr. Abeln's office was having.

I wasn't even aware that they
had shoulder replacement surgery.

- [Dr. Abeln] You know, as opposed
to some of our athletic injuries,

arthritis tends to be more insidious.

You know, you kind of notice it gradually over time.

But it can become as debilitating as some
of these acute fractures and other injuries.

She was having trouble with night pain, and moving,
and taking care of things around the house,

and cooking, and just things
she really, really enjoyed.

So losing those things can take a toll emotionally too.

- It was miserable.

And I didn't realize how much it
had affected my personality too.

I've really had kind of felt
like I was becoming worthless

because you weren't able to contribute anything.

- Oddly enough, the ones that really
have the worst shoulders to start with

are often the ones that notice the biggest difference.

Because, you know, a shoulder that was in
a bad shape from a bad soft tissue injury,

or from arthritis where bone was
growing on bone, they are in so much pain

that relieving that from a surgery, even
though it involves an invasive procedure,

they can notice almost instantaneous relief.

And that was the case with JoAnn.

- When I woke up, and I had my left shoulder done
first, and there was no pain from that moment on.

In fact, when I went back for my six weeks
check-up on my left arm, my first question was,

"When can we do this one?"

- [Jim] To be honest, she wasn't much
fun to be around, and then she is now.

I mean, that's one of the great things about
that, she really kind of changed completely.

And almost overnight, after her shoulder surgery.

So, I guess the pain was so much better.

- Our first goal of these types
of surgeries is to relieve pain.

And, joint replacements, whether
it's the hip, the knee, or the shoulder,

are tremendous pain-relieving operations
which is just, in itself, a great benefit.

But, then they get patients moving,
whether it's, you know, out playing golf,

or playing with her grandkids was her...
you know, came with every visit with her.

These are things that keep us happy and, you know,
human beings should move, they should be happy.

We've seen it last year when, you know,
we weren't able to do all these things that

connected us to our family, what that
did to us, you know, as a society.

And, you know, these types of things
that we're able to do with these surgeries,

that's what we're trying to get back, quality of life.

And it's great to be able
to offer that here at Baptist.

- My heart is just overflowing to be able to
do something as simple as playing in the dirt

with my grandson.

That was just amazing.

He goes, "Oh yeah, my ba can do this now.

Her shoulders are fixed."

I would definitely recommend Dr. Abeln's
group, and I have recommended them.

It's life-changing.

If I had to do it again, I wouldn't wait,
and that's what I've told other people.

Don't live in pain, go have something
done, because they can fix you."

I told them, "I'm going to be a
bionic woman by the time I'm done."

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