Shoulder replacement surgery

Man, that really sucks. I've dealt with shoulder stuff before, but not like what you have, more just tears and strains, and I've had to miss out on months of training, and before I knew it that turned into years of training. Thank God my shoulders are good now, more or less, but it's my knees these days.

Not to get into your personal business, as I'm sure you've done your due diligence and you already stated you've spoken with multiple surgeons, but have you done extensive bloodwork, allergy, and genetic testing? I did the found my fitness thing-- Rhonda Patrick was one of Rogan's best guests ever, her company will take your DNA testing results from something like Ancestry or 23 and Me, and cross reference it against a database of any know genetic mutations across your genome that indicate foods etc. that should be avoided. I found out some pretty important stuff. I have a mutation, for instance, where I should avoid Vitamin E completely because it takes a really long time to process it. A report is generated very quickly, and it's fucking cheap, like ten or twenty bucks.

I really feel bad for you that maybe you'll have to completely quit training, and I would exhaust every possible avenue before such a life altering surgery.

I try to stay up to date on all the latest stuff that's happening medically. Not in the woo woo way, but actual cutting edge technology.

They can go in, cut out sections of bone, and replace it with a coral matrix, then the bone grows through it, and the coral is eventually just cycled out. They can probably go in, fish some of those pieces out, shape it up, and then do some stem cell therapy and regrow a lot of that joint. You're still relatively young and in good condition, an ideal candidate because you'd probably heal up well. Just throwing shit at the wall, maybe something sticks. Man, I would try to throw the kitchen sink at it if a replacement is gonna put you on the sidelines permanently.

Good luck, keep us updated.
 
First if all I am not a pro and have a shorter bjj training experience but I understood some things from my mistakes. I neglected strength training at a time and got shoulder pain to the point that I couldn't train bjj or I could only without using my right arm. I couldn't strengthen it back cause it was so much pain from even trying a strength exercise. However I slowly exercised through that pain which got my muscles to support the joints and everything went back to normal slowly.

Right now I wouldn't let upper body strength exercises down. When I miss a week I notice the results. Bjj softens everything.

However you can't exercise through some serious traumas.

But problems mostly occur when you decide to train only bjj alone with nothing additional.
 
Well my life just got thrown for a loop.

Around 2014 I started having lots of pain in both my shoulders. They constantly ached and slowly but surely I started to lose range of motion. I was still competing a lot at the time and had a mantra of just ignore the pain. I was in a good phase medaling at pans and master worlds as a brown belt and taking a bronze at pans my first year as a blackbelt. I figured I had torn Labrum's but just thought I'd take care of it down the road.

Fast forward to 2018 and was at a point where I could no longer raise my hands above shoulder level and could no longer even do one push-up. I figured time to get the shoulders fixed. After a MRI an orthopedic surgeon told me I had bone tumors (benign) growing on the head of both of my humorous bones ( the arm bone connecting to the shoulder)

These were basically jagged bone spurs that had shredded my Labrum's to the lint surgery couldn't fix it. Doc told me I had the equivalent of arthritic shoulders of an 80 year old man. He said the only way I could get relief was a full shoulder replacement. Problem was I am too young a candidate and that the replacements aren't durable so that would be the end of contact sports. I make my living Teaching bjj so we decided I would just ride it out as long as possible.

With the knowledge I started my own school with the hope I could set up something that I could run and make a living off once I can no longer be on the mat. Everything went great I had 130 students within 1 year and was setting myself up where I could afford to bring in an instructor when the day comes. Then stupid Covid hit. I spent pretty much all of Covid doing private lessons 5-6 a day trying to keep the academy from closing.

I think all the wear and tear of that though pushed my shoulders over the edge. Constant pain and now can't lift my elbows past nipple level. Saw surgeon again who said I'm now in end stage arthritis. I have chunks of bone breaking off the humorous just floating around now. If I don't get the shoulders replaced now they won't be able to do it in the future. Going to do my right arm first in September. Looks my days of rolling have come to an end.

I've told my students I'm getting surgery but haven't told them the extent of the injury. Still in denial I guess

I've never had any job but Bjj as an adult and the idea of life without training is very scary to me. Moral of the story I guess is appreciate what you got before it's gone. Also take care of your body



Here is a clip of what turned out to be my final competition match. Luckily got to go out with gold


Speedy recovery, i sincerely hope you'll make it back to the mats in the form of coaching
 
Thanks guys! Trust me i researched every option and just got to the end of the road. Really made me enjoy my last few weeks of rolling. Honestly that will be the hardest thing for me is once I'm back coaching not being able to roll. Despite all the pain I still thoroughly enjoy a good hard match
 
What in the fuck? Those were in your shoulder joint? I'm having trouble reading the ruler scale, but those are multiple INCHES, right? HOW??
Doc said it was the worst he had ever seen in his career. He was amazed I kept functioning all those years
 
Get the surgery and recover, but, don't give up on your dream.

You can still participate in BJJ, even if high level comp is done for.
 
Thanks guys! Trust me i researched every option and just got to the end of the road. Really made me enjoy my last few weeks of rolling. Honestly that will be the hardest thing for me is once I'm back coaching not being able to roll. Despite all the pain I still thoroughly enjoy a good hard match
Everyone is gonna reach that chapter. At least you will be coaching and we will just stop. :lol:
 
I tore my shoulder playing rugby at 18 (went to lateral drop a guy only for a team mate to hit him from behind at the last moment, causing both of them to land on my left shoulder). Had a shoulder reconstruction at 20 and was able to completely heal it but a shoulder replacement sounds super tough (let alone two shoulder replacements). Good luck, seriously.
 
5A42E446-1365-48B3-A4EE-7366D38088F3.jpegWhat the inside of my arm looks like now
 

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View attachment 880894What the inside of my arm looks like now
Damn dude. That's wild. Looks like it went well. You have some bone left around the head of the shoulder? They don't just chop it? Good luck with your recovery.

EDIT: I didn't realize when I first replied to this thread that you had already had the surgery. Those pieces they pulled out were insane. I can't believe you did ANYTHING, much less rolled and even competed. Holy shit dude!
 
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Damn dude. That's wild. Looks like it went well. You have some bone left around the head of the shoulder? They don't just chop it? Good luck with your recovery.

EDIT: I didn't realize when I first replied to this thread that you had already had the surgery. Those pieces they pulled out were insane. I can't believe you did ANYTHING, much less rolled and even competed. Holy shit dude!
They chop off the head then hollow out the bone and screw in the titanium rod. Recovery is coming along well thanks
 
Just rounded 4 years since my hip resurfacing. I'm surprised at the tiny implant in your torso side of the surgery. I have a big old cup in my pelvic that the ball of my femur rests in.

Just work the shit out of your PT. Push the flexibility till your teeth grind everyday and make sure you allow as little scar tissue to build up as humanly possible.

Good luck and keep us posted!

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Been doing alot of PT trying to get some range of motion. Very painful but they say suffer now so I can someday scratch my own ass again
 
Been doing alot of PT trying to get some range of motion. Very painful but they say suffer now so I can someday scratch my own ass again
Till your teeth grind bro, till your teeth grind...

I remember the time I started to be able to slow walk across my training space trying to smooth out my gait....grinding my teeth....

I made that in to a walking lunge routine that I do in between resistance tube sets now.

Man all the slow one leg bridges....

I'm sure there's a whole ton of shoulder specific PT to grind it out with!

Keep up the good work!

Brings me back bro, brings me back!
 
Been doing alot of PT trying to get some range of motion. Very painful but they say suffer now so I can someday scratch my own ass again
Good luck bro. Has your range of motion improved before you had the surgery? I know the surgery itself has reduced the range of motion because of the swelling but after the swelling goes down you should get more range of motion and your pt should help with that too. Hopefully you will be able to raise your arms above your shoulder line.
 
Intense thread, I hope your recovery goes great!
 
Good luck bro. Has your range of motion improved before you had the surgery? I know the surgery itself has reduced the range of motion because of the swelling but after the swelling goes down you should get more range of motion and your pt should help with that too. Hopefully you will be able to raise your arms above your shoulder line.

The physical therapist moved my elbow above my head yesterday. While extremely painful she says it's a great sign I'll recover quite a bit of mobility.

They say next ten weeks I have to passively move the arm around to break up scar tissue. Whatever range of motion I get by then will probably be the limit I'll ever get.

I basically have no strength in my arm currently. Can't raise it on its own at all. After the ten weeks of mobility rehab then we get started on trying to get some strength back

I have a blackbelt named Charles Harriott coming to my school to teach for October so I can mainly just treat rehab as my full time job
 
The physical therapist moved my elbow above my head yesterday. While extremely painful she says it's a great sign I'll recover quite a bit of mobility.

They say next ten weeks I have to passively move the arm around to break up scar tissue. Whatever range of motion I get by then will probably be the limit I'll ever get.

I basically have no strength in my arm currently. Can't raise it on its own at all. After the ten weeks of mobility rehab then we get started on trying to get some strength back

I have a blackbelt named Charles Harriott coming to my school to teach for October so I can mainly just treat rehab as my full time job
FYI, from my distil bicep tendon repair back in 2007 I was told I never would be able to fully extend my elbow again.

I beat that diagnosis and am able to take full Juji Gatame though I tap early now. One of our old Dan's is a Tai Chi black sash and trained me while I couldn't be on the mat in a Chen long form(I'm going to do after working on this digital project this morning). Single Whip was my benchmark for ROM recovery. Every day pushing the extension a few percentages of pain farther extending my elbow.

I'm thinking the first two months are dedicated to bone growth around the prosthetics so no tension past a few pounds. My gut says I'd use a mat to lie on and keep my arm relaxed and stationary so I could use my body to angle into maximum ROM. I had some hip positions I did that kind of stuff-of course clearing it with my PT instructor-with when I didn't have any strength in it.

Brings me back bro, brings me back!

Gotta look up SI joint pain in my lower back this morning. Nagging pain for two months now....
 
Update:

Good news:
Range of motion is much improved and pain drastically reduced. Surgery was a success in that aspect. Arm is still incredibly weak but little by little building it up. Doc tells me it'll be a year until I can lift more than ten pounds with right arm and then will have same surgery on my left.

Bad news:
Sold my school and retiring from Bjj. When I was recovering and couldn't teach I lost a lot of students. Some infighting between my brown belts made it a toxic environment. So I had to come back to the mat too soon. Was able to get attendance back up but the extra workload on my left arm sped up the damage in my left arm making teaching an impossible task. Michelle Watterson is an old friend and she bought me out.

Really hard to let go of the dream I have worked 15 years for but I think part of life is knowing when to let go.

As for now this clip is basically how I feel

 
Damn brother. Well, good luck in whatever is next.
 
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