Valerie G., Rotator Cuff Repair – Patient Success Story

Hi, my name is Valerie Gardner. I’m a hair stylist. I do a lot of paddle boarding and pickle ball and a lot of working out. So, when I first had my injury, it wasn’t like an acute injury. It was more over time. During my work days, I was having trouble holding the blow dryer up. My clients would recognize, “What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you holding your arms up anymore?” I just couldn’t work anymore. It was getting very difficult to do the things that I really enjoy doing in life.

That led me to go see a doctor. I had a couple cortisone injections and also tried physical therapy to strengthen all the muscles around it. There was a moment when another doctor said to me, “Can you just live with this pain?” And my thought process was, “I don’t want to.” I feel like I’m too young to live with this. there’s more things I want to do and I don’t want to stop working. I want to keep going. I’m not ready for all that yet to be stagnant.

So then my doctor referred me to Dr. Baker. He looked at my scans. My bicep was torn. My rotator cuff was torn. My supraspinatus was torn in a place that it just doesn’t tear. The only way to save it was to use the hyaluronic acid graft. And I was grateful for an opportunity to use it because otherwise I’m afraid I may have had to stop working. So the day of surgery, I went in early in the morning. It was a pretty easy process. Dr. Baker came in and met with me and got out of surgery and I was just in a sling. My recovery went very well. I was excited to be able to get back to work. I started slow and worked my way up.

When my one year mark came is when I was just fully relieved and I am very mobile now. I can do anything that I was doing before. Before my surgery, I couldn’t lift my arm past right here on my own. And after my surgery, I mean, I’m good to go. I want to thank Anikah, my care team, and Dr. Christopher Baker. The integrity system changed my life.