- [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." ♪ [music]
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