Michael's story
Michael has always been a 5:30am gym guy. Staying active has always been part of his routine. But for years, shoulder pain followed him long after he left the gym. At nearly 77, he was done making compromises for a shoulder that hurt all day, every day. The tipping point was simple: he wanted to play ball with his grandkids. “I couldn’t even throw a ball overhand,” he said. “The pain was basically 24/7.”
For years, Michael adapted. He modified workouts. He gave up tennis. Golf became difficult. Even sleep was interrupted. “Just being able to turn over at night and not be in pain,” he explained. “Things you just don’t really think about.” Eventually, he decided he did not want to wait any longer.
“If I’m going to take care of it, carpe diem,” he said. “It made no sense to wait.”
After consulting with specialists near his Boulder, CO home, Michael was referred to Armodios Hatzidakis, MD, orthopedic shoulder surgeon with Western Orthopaedics in Denver, CO. Imaging confirmed significant deterioration in the joint. Given the condition of his shoulder, Dr. Hatzidakis explained that a reverse shoulder replacement offered the most reliable long-term solution.
In a reverse shoulder replacement, the normal ball-and-socket anatomy is switched. This design allows other muscles, particularly the deltoid, to power the shoulder when the rotator cuff is severely damaged. “I told him I wanted to do this once and be done,” Michael said.
Surgery and recovery
Surgery took place in June 2025, and it was successful. However, Michael is quick to caution that while the outcome has been worth it, recovery requires patience. “It was not an easy surgery or rehab,” he shared. He spent six weeks in a sling, relearning daily tasks with his left hand since it was his right side that was repaired. “It’s amazing how adaptable the human body is,” he said. “You learn to do stuff with the other hand that you never thought you’d be able to do.”
Once rehab began, Michael’s biggest issue was slowing down. “I was told the biggest problem I would have is controlling how fast I go in rehab,” he recalled. “So even though it was against my natural inclination to push, I followed directions pretty much to the letter.” Seven to eight months later, the difference is dramatic. “Amazing. Absolutely amazing,” he said.
Before surgery, everything — even working out — was shaped by pain. “My workouts were controlled by how much pain I could tolerate,” he recalled. “Now it’s muscle fatigue. The pain is completely gone.”
His progress was not only something he felt. It also showed up in the data through the Shoulder Subjective Patient Outcome Tracker (SPOT), a patient-reported questionnaire developed by Dr. Hatzidakis that is used to measure pain, function and satisfaction before and after shoulder replacement surgery.
What is the SPOT questionnaire?
The Shoulder Subjective Patient Outcome Tracker (SPOT) is a patient-reported questionnaire developed by Armodios M. Hatzidakis, MD, and colleagues to help measure how shoulder problems affect daily life before and after shoulder replacement surgery. The team published its research on SPOT in a recent issue of Seminars in Arthroplasty.
SPOT evaluates 10 shoulder-specific areas and helps pinpoint how patients feel in everyday life, including things like pain at rest, pain during or after activity, sleep, strength, exercise and sports, and overall day-to-day function. Unlike broader shoulder questionnaires, SPOT is designed to identify the specific ways shoulder problems affect quality of life and track how those areas improve over time.
Among the clearest changes demonstrated in the SPOT was Michael’s ability to sleep through the night. Before surgery, he rated his ability to sleep through the night without his shoulder bothering him at 0%. By his six-month follow-up, that score had improved to 100%, matching what he described in daily life. His SPOT responses also showed major improvements in comfort with activity, strength, exercise and overall function. By then, he had already returned to the gym, including shoulder pressing dumbbells again.
Choosing quality of life
For Michael, the outcome is about more than the gym. “Quality of life is everything,” he said. “You learn to deal with the pain. It becomes part of your day. And then it’s conspicuous by its absence when it’s gone.”
Today, he is back at the gym and, most importantly, back to throwing a ball with his grandkids. “At this point, it’s all about quality of life,” he said. “It’s really the cherry on the sundae of life.” For years, pain was the background noise. Now, what stands out is the silence. To learn more about reverse shoulder replacement, visit us online.