Gigi’s SLAP Tear Repair and Rotator Cuff Fix with Dr. Pokabala

I started experiencing pain in the middle of December 2020. I’m not sure what I did to hurt myself and assumed it was wear and tear. I work at Petco and was lifting dog food when the pain first started. It eventually got to the point I couldn’t lift my arm, and I needed help getting dressed.

I went to my GP for an x-ray, but the x-ray did not show anything. After that, I went to see Dr. Manugian, and he referred me to Dr. Pokabla. Dr. Pokabla ordered an MRI, and it showed a slap tear in my bicep and a cyst. He told me I was a good candidate for surgery to attach my bicep muscle.

On March 16th, I had my surgery. The morning of, everything went great. The staff at the Germantown Surgery Center explained what they were doing before they ever laid a hand on me. This helped with my anxiety and helped me feel confident going into surgery. After surgery, I found out that Dr. Pokabla found more once he got me on the table. In addition to the tear in my bicep and the cyst, I had a torn rotator cuff! Dr. Pokabla went ahead and fixed it while he was in there.

My follow-up visits were awesome. The communication between Dr. Pokabla and Lacy is incredible, and they kept up with how I was doing in therapy. Since I was still experiencing pain, they sent me to see Dr. Wargo, and he helped significantly reduce my pain.

At each of my visits to OrthoSouth, I never felt like another file. It felt good to be treated like I matter, and feels even better to be able to raise my hands in church again.

I still do PT at home but am at the point where I can lift my arm and do everything by myself. If I could offer a piece of advice to someone starting their journey at OrthoSouth, I would tell them this: hold on, be at peace, and trust the process. OrthoSouth isn’t just a group of doctors- they’re like a family, and they care about your pain.