I was born in Tuscaloosa, AL and I still live here. I played a few sports like football and basketball growing up. Now, I enjoy staying active and doing activities like swimming, lifting weights and using my rowing machine.
With my injury, it wasn’t a single event that made it occur. It has been a gradual worsening of my shoulder joint and I had to have shoulder surgery. Before I had my surgery it was bone on bone, and was a combination of small injuries from the past that I had ignored.
I saw Dr. Wayne McGough and he was the one who did my shoulder replacement surgery. My experience was wonderful from the start. I didn’t have to wait too long and the staff was tremendous and very knowledgeable. I have always said that Andrews is the kind of place that will restore your faith in the medical profession. Everyone knows what they are doing and wants to help you with your needs.
The recovery process has been amazing! I am barely 6 weeks out from when I had my surgery and I am almost getting full motion back and the pain is about 97% gone. Before I had my surgery, I had almost let myself become acclimated to the pain and I knew I needed to see someone. It was amazing to me what little pain I had after the anesthesia wore off. After about 72 hours, I didn’t need any pain medicine. There was a lot of swelling which is normal but that went away in about 1 week and ½ to 2 weeks. I am doing physical therapy at Trinity here in Tuscaloosa and the team here is great. They do a great job of communicating with Dr. McGough and his team on what I need to be doing.
My return to normal activity has been great. Of course, I have to take it easy when I swim and continue my active lifestyle but I am slowly returning to normal. The pain level has gone down and it makes it worth it. I am progressing every day and that is what matters. I am able to continue to be optimistic in the healing process as well.
I would absolutely recommend Andrews and I already have! It is such a great place and I hope that everything I have shared would encourage someone to get something done if they need it. If they are curled up in pain and don’t know what to do, I hope they can get out and find someone who can help them. I love that Andrews offers a non-surgical opinion and that they offer a less invasive option first. I dealt with my pain for longer than I should have and I hope I can be an inspiration to others.
