Cory said that his shoulder was wrecked because he treated his body "like an amusement park." Along with sports such as wrestling, he also installed drywall, which probably made his condition worse. By July 2009, Cory's doctor told him that he had suffered two labral tears. (The labrum is made of a thick tissue that is susceptible to injury with trauma to the shoulder joint. It is common to suffer a labral tear with a shoulder injury. As well, the labrum also becomes more brittle with age, and can fray and tear as part of the aging process.)So Cory had shoulder surgery—he was in and out of hospital the same day. "My doctor said there were no complications and instructed me on the use of the shoulder pain pump," said Cory. "I just had to push the button if I had any pain, and it would make my entire shoulder numb. I had the pain pump at home for four days and then I removed the device from my neck and followed up with a prescription for pain pills. Then I went to physical therapy for two months and went back to work.
"Depending upon my activities, I was still having pain. Luckily it didn't affect work too much—I was washing dishes for a local restaurant at the time and didn't need to lift more than 30 pounds. But I noticed that the pain had yet to subside.
"I phoned my doctor when my pills ran out and got a refill. Another few months went by but the pain was still there, although it was intermittent. I would wake up at night with a dull pain but the shooting pain was bothering me; I knew this wasn't right.
"A year goes by fast—I noticed I still had the pain and still had a limited range of motion. Then a couple of months ago my dad saw an ad on TV and asked me what kind of shoulder pain pump I was given in the hospital. When my dad told me, I realized that the shoulder pain pump explained why I still have pain in my shoulder. It's not a pain like someone punches you in the arm; it's a really deep pain in the socket. If I hold my arm in one position for a long time, it will start to hurt.
"For some reason I didn't throw the pain pump away after it was finished; instead I had put the pump in the back of my closet. It was a Stryker and that pretty much sums it up."
A number of lawsuits have been filed against shoulder pain pump manufacturers in federal court, including Stryker Corp. (Coincidentally, the firm's headquarters and Cory reside in the same state—Michigan.) According to its Web site, Stryker pain pumps deliver medication directly to the surgical wound site or in close proximity to the nerves associated with the surgical area. Studies have concluded that pain pumps, such as the models manufactured by Stryker, may be directly related to PAGCL—Postarthroscopic glenohumeral chondrolysi—when given directly in the wound site.
Naturally, Cory is worried that he has PAGCL—a very painful condition that occurs in the shoulder when the cartilage between the humeral head and the glenoid (the ball and socket of your shoulder) has broken down to the point where bone meets bone.
"I didn't go back to my surgeon because he works at the hospital, but I did express my concerns to my GP about deteriorating cartilage," said Cory. (Shoulder pain pumps may cause permanent damage to the shoulder by eating away at the cartilage.) "My doctor said my pain isn't that severe and he put me on anti-inflammatory pills. He also said that every surgery has a different recovery based on the individual. So I didn't go back to him.
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"Do I have PAGCL? Honestly, it depends on circumstance, but I do know that I had a more active lifestyle before my surgery—it's kind of a crap shoot.
"They say time heals all, so now it's just a waiting game. I've been on these anti-inflammatory pills for six months and still not getting any better. Seems most of the time I see my doctor the problem doesn't get fixed. I'm at a loss regarding what I am going to do next; I certainly can't self-medicate. And I don't want to have another surgery—that is one step I want to avoid if at all possible. So what's my next step—a lawsuit?
"If I have degenerating pain because of this pump, that really sucks…"