Life Throws a Curve Ball
I started the year with the best of intentions. I would post a blog on my website at least once/month. The first went out on January 25 and here we are in May and this is just the second blog of the year. So what happened?
Let me just say, life threw me a curve ball!
On February 20th, 2025, I slipped on some melting ice in my parking lot while going to lunch. It happened in a split second. The ice was melting and it just looked wet; however, before I knew it, I came down with full body weight onto my left shoulder. I immediately knew it was badly injured. My daughter was with me (she had driven down to have lunch with me) and my Chiropractic Assistant, Tisa, was there. We took an x-ray and fortunately, nothing was broken but I had pseudo-paralysis so I knew some tendons were not attached.
I went to Sherwood Urgent Care in Lonoke where they confirmed what we already knew, no fracture, and they referred me to OrthoArkansas. I had an MRI and what they found was not pretty. I had complete tears with resection of the supraspinatous and infraspinatous tendons as well as damage to the biceps tendon and the deltoid muscle. Surgery was the only option. The surgery happened on March 11th. They did a scalene block so my left arm was completely numb after surgery and for the first 24 hours but then came the pain. I had a prescription for painkillers and I took them. While they were effective with reducing the pain and allowing me to sleep, they caused constipation that I found to be unbearable. But I needed them some for the first 2 weeks and had another bad weekend around week 4 and needed them.
If you’re reading my blog this far you probably know that I rarely take medications. I did not want to take the pain pills but I had to get sleep and was so grateful to have them in spite of the unwanted side effects. You may also know that my purpose as a natural health care doctor is to keep as many people as possible out of the medical system. I do this through helping people lead healthier lives and avoid the usual “diseases of lifestyle” that send most of us to the doc. I feel very strongly after my 42 years of practice that MUCH of the illness in the country could be avoided if we just cleaned up our diet and food. But that is the subject for another blog.
My basic hierarchy of health care is: Nature first, medicine second, surgery third. But some situations are beyond nature and medicine and must proceed directly to the surgeon. I am most grateful for the wonderfully skilled doctors, nurses and caregivers who have attended to my care during this ordeal. Everyone I have interacted with seemed sincerely dedicated to helping others. I am also so very thankful for the modern technology being used today. The surgeon used bone anchors made of calcium that will resorb back into the body and leave no foreign object in the bone. He also used a high tech suture that would facilitate the growth of new tendon cells. But along with all that technology, I was doing Nature. After the fall, I immediately started taking Boswellia Complex by Mediherb and Ligaplex I by Standard Process. And by immediately, I mean within the first 15 minutes. I will do a separate blog later about the supplements I’ve taken to support my body through this process. Especially to help with the constipation I experienced!
I was in the sling with the block 24/7 for 7 weeks. I just completed my 3rd week of physical therapy. My shoulder has made great progress and I am now slowly getting back to the office with a limited schedule. I know many of you have experienced surgery before and can understand everything I have written. This was only the 2nd surgery I’ve ever needed in my life so far. I hope it was the last. You also probably know how good it feels to feel good again after a challenging health issue. That’s where I am today. Feeling good to feel good again.