Shoulder Pain Pump Patient Anxious for Diagnosis

Northglenn, CORussell E. has endured 3 shoulder surgeries, all involving the use of the shoulder pain pump. After the first surgery did not appear to work, Russell had to go through 2 more surgeries, procedures he now thinks may not have been necessary. Russell now believes that the shoulder pain pump caused the shoulder pain following his first surgery and all his shoulder pain that has continued to this day.

"When I had my first surgery, they [doctors] never really told me that they were going to use the pump—at least, I don't recall that they did," Russell says. "They used it and after the 3 days of having it in, I started my physical therapy. I had pain in my shoulder that never went away.

"It turned out that the doctor didn't fix the partial tear in my shoulder. I had more MRIs done and it turned out that my shoulder was completely shredded. So, I had a second surgery. They fixed the shoulder, put anchors in it and used the pain pump again. But, when I was done with that surgery, I still had the same problems in the same place in my shoulder.

"The doctor started thinking it might be my bicep tendon. The insurance company denied further surgery, so I got a second opinion which showed that the problem was my bicep tendon—except that they used a numbing medication so that was probably why the pain went away. They did surgery and fixed my bicep tendon and small tears in the area.

"After the third surgery, I still had pain in the same place. Doctors tried to tell me that I probably just had nerve pain, so I took medicine to shut off that nerve pain.

"They used pain pumps after all 3 surgeries. I've had a constant burning in my shoulder since the first surgery. I've also had clicking, popping and grinding since then. I didn't find out about PAGCL until a year and a half ago. I was reading about it and learning about it and I brought it up with my physical therapist but she told me the stuff I was reading was not written by credible journalists.

"My range of motion has always been pretty decent. I was into bodybuilding, so I push myself to move and keep my range of motion. It's hard, but my shoulder is still moving. The thing is, I pay for it. It burns when I'm sitting, doing nothing. It's my left shoulder and I'm right handed, but my right side is taking a beating because the muscles are out of balance now.

"My shoulder has gone downhill big time. I used to get up and go early. I've always been an early riser but now it's hard to get out of bed and get motivated. For a while, I would wake up and take medications because I was hurting and about an hour later I could get up and go. Now, it's 4 to 6 hours after I get up before I can do anything. I get mad because I can't do anything.

"In December 2007, I fell on the ice and landed on my arm, which was straight. The fall made things worse. I'm seeing a shoulder and spine specialist in 2 weeks to get a proper diagnosis.

"It amazes me. The articles I was reading about the shoulder pain pumps say the problems go back to 2004. My first two surgeries were in 2005 and the third in 2006. They should have known about the PAGCL. I brought it up to my doctors and they acted like they've never heard of it before.

"I read about one guy who said he didn't authorize them to use the pain pump but they did and charged him for it. We're being used as guinea pigs. I'm anxious to have the tests done on my cartilage and joint space to find out what's going on. Standing in front of the mirror, I used to be pretty symmetrical. Now, my left shoulder is a good 1.5 to 2.0 inches lower than the right one. Something is off. I feel like the surgery on my bicep tendon was done for nothing because it didn't fix the problem. I'm just hoping there is hope for me."