Conditions + Treatments
Frozen Shoulder (Adhesive Capsulitis)
Shoulder Capsular Release Surgery
Shoulder Injury/Condition
I grew up in Gadsden, AL and graduated from Southside High School. Like most kids, I played a variety of sports growing up, but settled in on golf and basketball in high school.
I was offered a golf scholarship to my dream school, Auburn University, and played on the team from 1992-97.
After college I played professional golf on various tours for 9 years. After retiring from professional golf, I got my amateur status back and was fortunate to finish runner-up in the 2018 U.S Mid- Amateur Championship.
Today, I am a financial advisor in Charlotte, NC where I have lived for the last 22 years. My wife, Lindsay, and I have a 15-year-old son, Henry, and 11-year-old daughter, Fran.
In May of 2021, I was driving down the road in Charlotte and noticed a very large limb of a Bradford pear tree slowly breaking off a tree to my right. It fell across the road in front my of car. Unfortunately, there was no way to avoid slamming into it. When I hit the limb, it spun up in the air and came thru my windshield and impaled my right chest.
I was rushed to a local hospital where I was stabilized, and spent 10 days in recovery. I had 4 broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a torn bicep and pec, and many other injuries to my arm, shoulder, and chest. My main artery was exposed, but thankfully it wasn’t severed.
Within a couple weeks of being discharged from the hospital, I began physical therapy and participated in 40+ physical therapy sessions that summer.
During my recovery, my shoulder started bothering me. I stopped physical therapy and went to a local orthopedic doctor. He diagnosed me with “frozen shoulder” and recommended I wait it out, as it would “thaw out” over the next 9 to 12 months. However, I decided to get a second opinion.
I reached out to a close friend and golfing buddy, Dr. Norman Waldrop at Andrews Sports Medicine in Birmingham. Dr. Waldrop highly-recommended me getting a second opinion from his partner, Dr. Lyle Cain, and helped me schedule an appointment.
During my initial appointment with Dr. Cain, he suggested we immediately do something about my frozen shoulder by “going ahead and ripping the band aid off” and having capsular release surgery.
Dr. Cain commented that he was confident that following surgery, he would have me back playing golf in about 3½ months, and he was spot on. While I have permanent nerve and muscle damage, my range of motion is back to normal.
My recovery process wasn’t easy as I had another 35-40 physical therapy sessions. I have been slowly getting back to normal with life and hobbies, like golf. What I thought was 4-5 months of total recovery ended up being a full 12 months.
I am grateful I have been able to get back on the course because it is a big part of my life, but I am even more thankful that I was given the opportunity to have surgery at one of the best sports medicine facilities in the world.
The region is lucky to have Andrews Sports Medicine, and I would 100% recommend them. They truly are the best of the best. Thank you to Dr. Cain and Andrews Sports Medicine for getting me back on the course and enjoying a physically-active life with my family.
