Truman C.

Occupation – Nurse, retired

Location – Santa Cruz, California

Age – 77

Treatment – Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement

I’ve always been active around the house, working in my garden, and my husband and I hiked for years while I was working.  In short, I don’t sit a lot.

I began to develop pain in my right shouldera few years ago, so visited an orthopaedic surgeon in the area who had done knee surgery on me a few years prior.  He found that the rotator cuff had a small tear, but felt I could avoid surgery with some cortisone shots.  On and off over the last two years I had a shot, and was able to keep up with my normal activities.

When my shoulder started hurting earlier this year, the orthopaedist saw that in addition to some arthritis, the tear in my rotator cuff had gotten worse. He referred me to another local orthopaedist, but since he also did not specialize in shoulder surgery, I was referred on to Dr. Peter Reynolds of Santa Cruz Orthopaedic Institute.

That wasn’t the only encouragement I got to see Dr. Reynolds.  I worked for 28 years for Dr. Chandra, an internal medicine physician, who highly recommended him.  By that time, the pain was excruciating, so that day Dr. Chandra got me into see Dr. Reynolds, who is the “go-to” doctor for shoulders in this area.

The Santa Cruz Orthopaedic staff was very responsive and friendly; I never felt like I was a number and they let me know when there was a delay.  Erin, Dr. Reynolds’ physician’s assistant, was really sweet in talking with me and keeping me updated, as was and the X-ray staff and Cameron, who handles the prescriptions.  The office is really busy, but no one made me feel like they were in a rush.

I had the X-ray done and within a couple hours, Dr. Reynolds knew exactly what was wrong.  A few days later, on July 14, 2011, Dr. Reynolds performed surgery, finding that the rotator cuff had pretty much disappeared as the tear had gotten so bad.  He performed a Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement on my right shoulder, a procedure allowing him to replace the shoulder when there is no functioning rotator cuff.  I have a ball and socket prosthesis.

Dr. Reynolds is the only one in the area who performs this surgery and I was so thankful not to have to travel over to the Silicon Valley.  I was in the hospital for three days and was on strong pain medication.  Dr. Reynolds was there to see me every day.  I have a lot of confidence in his abilities and he has such a nice manner.

I spent six weeks in a swing before starting physical therapy in late spring. My shoulder pain has disappeared and I’m back to my normal activities in my garden.   I’ve been very dedicated to my therapy and have made good progress, getting up into the 130 degree range for raising my arm.  I developed some bursitis in my shoulder that affected my elbow, not related to my shoulder replacement.  In late September, Dr. Reynolds prescribed some anti-inflammatory medication and a short break from physical therapy until my pain goes away.

I’m really looking forward to resuming physical therapy and increasing my range of motion.  I’ve been so pleased with my experience with Dr. Reynolds and Santa Cruz Orthopaedic, and have already referred a few friends to their offices.   I could not say more about their professionalism and responsiveness.  It’s great to know we have this kind of expertise in the area.

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