Grateful patient supports and participates in shoulder research
Many grateful patients who make a gift do so to show appreciation for their successful outcomes. For Jay O’Brien, positive experiences at Cleveland Clinic were reason enough.
Mr. O’Brien made a $10,000 gift to Cleveland Clinic to support shoulder research days after corrective rotator cuff surgery. He says he wanted to make the gift regardless of his own outcome.
“My experience at Cleveland Clinic was so positive, that when I left the hospital days after surgery, I made up my mind that I was going to make a donation,” Mr. O’Brien says.
Successful Re-do Surgery
While officiating a swim meet in May 2007, Mr. O’Brien slipped, fell and dislocated his left shoulder. His local physician in Louisville, Kentucky performed rotator cuff surgery, but despite aggressive physical therapy, he didn’t recover full shoulder function.
In February 2008, he was referred to Joseph P. Iannotti, MD, PhD, Chairman, Orthopaedic & Rheumatologic Institute at Cleveland Clinic, to re-do his original shoulder surgery.
Mr. O’Brien’s recovery is slow, but he’s hopeful he’ll regain normal physical activity. Already he’s showing progress. He says he can reach for a door handle, close his car door and scratch his head – all of which he couldn’t do prior to surgery.
Unlocking a Mystery
Mr. O’Brien hopes his contribution toward shoulder research will eventually help improve surgical procedures and recovery for other patients. He doesn’t want others to experience the same physical pain that he endured.
“From a purely academic standpoint, I think there’s great mystery about how shoulder rotator cuffs heal. I had a bad experience because the first time my rotator cuff didn’t heal correctly and nobody really knew why,” Mr. O’Brien says.
He says the research environment is where changes and advances originate.
“If we can make things better for people who have devoted their lives and careers to researching, then that’s the right thing to do,” Mr. O’Brien says.
Study Participant
Mr. O’Brien still questions why his first shoulder surgery failed, even though he religiously went to physical therapy and didn’t re-injure his shoulder. So, when he was asked to participate in Cleveland Clinic’s Bead Study, which tracks the healing process in cases of massive rotator cuff tears, he readily accepted.
“I gladly volunteered to have beads in my shoulder because my doctors, Dr. Iannotti, Dr. Derwin, Dr. McCarron and their teams, are trying to figure out the exact question I’ve been trying to get answered: 'Why do rotator cuff repairs fail?'” Mr. O’Brien says.
He and 9 others participating have 6 to 7 beads the size of a pencil tip inserted into their shoulder to track the healing progress. The beads’ positioning determines how well the shoulder muscles are healing and when it’s safe for a person to resume normal activity.
The less a bead moves, the better. Tracked via ultrasound, x-rays and CAT scans, a bead’s movement indicates that shoulder repair is stretching apart and therefore not healing correctly. This information could help practitioners customize therapy.
To make a gift supporting the Orthopaedic and Rheumatologic Institute or any area of Cleveland Clinic, visit iSupport, our secure online giving site, or call Institutional Relations and Development at 216.444.1245 or toll-free at 800.223.2273, ext. 41245.
Related Links
Orthopaedic & Rheumatologic Institute
Learn more about shoulder replacement
Read about shoulder pain
