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Speaker 1: Welcome to Wellness on MASS. I'm doctor Nicole Sapphire and

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Speaker 1: today's episode is both deeply personal and I guess a

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Speaker 1: little professionally enlightening is I'm going to take you kind

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Speaker 1: of behind the scenes of my recent shoulder surgery. That's right,

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Speaker 1: I am recording this episode of the podcast straight from

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Speaker 1: my couch because I'm four days post shoulder surgery. So

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Speaker 1: what happened. Well, I had both of my shoulder rotator

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Speaker 1: cuffs operated on when I was in my twenties, so

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Speaker 1: that was two decades ago. I was a gymnast all

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Speaker 1: throughout school, competitive cheerleading. I had lots of injuries. I

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Speaker 1: had knee surgeries from torn acls, and by my twenties,

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Speaker 1: again I had both of my shoulder rotator cuffs worked on.

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Speaker 1: I was kind of a hot mess, let me tell you.

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Speaker 1: But as I entered my thirties, I was feeling stronger

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Speaker 1: than ever. I was even playing soccer on an adult team.

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Speaker 1: I wasn't having any really issues. I was feeling great.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't until a fateful night during the COVID pandemic

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Speaker 1: December twenty twenty that I made a big mistake. I

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Speaker 1: decided to walk on my staircase, a grand staircase. I

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Speaker 1: think it was thirteen stairs from top to bottom. I

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Speaker 1: did that wearing socks, and I didn't have any runners

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Speaker 1: on my stairs, so as you can imagine, I slipped.

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Speaker 1: That's right, my foot slipped out from underneath me. I

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Speaker 1: married to a brain surgeon, So the first thing that

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Speaker 1: I thought of and instinctively was to protect my head

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Speaker 1: and neck, because my husband had told me way too

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Speaker 1: many stories about patients who fell downstairs, broke their neck,

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Speaker 1: got a brain bleed, devastating consequences. So instinctively I threw

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Speaker 1: my arm behind my head to protect my head and neck.

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Speaker 1: And the good news is, by the time I reached

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Speaker 1: the bottom, I had not hit my head or neck.

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Speaker 1: The bad news I sacrificed my arm to protect my head.

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Speaker 1: I'm very glad I did. It could have been much

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Speaker 1: worse had I hit my head or neck. But laying

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Speaker 1: at the bottom of the stairs, I knew something was

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Speaker 1: wrong with my arm. My oldest son was next to me.

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Speaker 1: He witnessed the fall. He screamed for my husband. They

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Speaker 1: came running to me. I stood up and I just

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Speaker 1: looked at them and I said, I am okay, I

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Speaker 1: do not need to go to the hospital right now.

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Speaker 1: I just need to go into my bedroom. I need

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Speaker 1: some alone time. I'm skipping dinner tonight, but I'm okay.

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Speaker 1: I didn't hit my head. I don't have any signs

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Speaker 1: of internal bleeding or anything of the sort. I knew

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Speaker 1: something was wrong with my arm, but it wasn't something

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Speaker 1: we needed to call nine one one four, so I

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Speaker 1: decided to go and spend some alone time. At four am,

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Speaker 1: I woke up my type A personality decided to rage

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Speaker 1: purchase grip socks for my entire family, and I did that.

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Speaker 1: By five AM. I called my primary care doctor, saying

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Speaker 1: I have a non functioning arm. I need to get

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Speaker 1: to surgery. But again, doctors are the worst patients, so

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Speaker 1: of course I'm not going to go to the hospital.

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Speaker 1: I just needed to make some phone calls. Long story short,

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Speaker 1: I essentially tore everything you could possibly tear in one's shoulder.

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Speaker 1: The first surgery repaired my biceps and repaired my labrum.

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Speaker 1: It also helped kind of put together some of the joint.

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Speaker 1: I was then in a sling for six to eight

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Speaker 1: weeks afterwards. Day one, in physical therapy, it was obvious

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Speaker 1: my shoulder was still very unstable, so I had to

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Speaker 1: go right back into another surgery. This time they repaired

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Speaker 1: some of my pectoralis, my capsule, some of my rotator cuff,

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Speaker 1: and then I was again in a sling for another

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Speaker 1: six to eight weeks. When I came out of that,

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Speaker 1: I had to get some injections into the joint because

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Speaker 1: of just severe pain. We could tell that my shoulder

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Speaker 1: wasn't back to normal. But then again, I mean, do

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Speaker 1: things ever really go back to normal after such a

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Speaker 1: severe injury. I had realistic expectations that maybe it would

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Speaker 1: never be one hundred percent normal again. There were times

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Speaker 1: when I would stick out my arm and I could

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Speaker 1: just tell it is just not as stable as I

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Speaker 1: want it to be. But I was able to drive,

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Speaker 1: I was able to cook at home. I was able

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Speaker 1: to do my job. Part of my job as in

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Speaker 1: breast and interventional radiologist is I do a lot of

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Speaker 1: biopsies on patients, whether it's biop saying the thyroid, limp nodes,

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Speaker 1: the breast. I was able to do my job, and

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Speaker 1: for me, I was happy. I had just spent far

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Speaker 1: too much of twenty twenty one in a sling, and

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Speaker 1: I was very happy to be out of the slink.

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Speaker 1: So even though the conversation between the surge and I

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Speaker 1: was we may need another surgery, I was holding off.

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Speaker 1: A few months later, it was starting to get bad again,

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Speaker 1: but again I was not ready to go to surgery.

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Speaker 1: I got a second opinion, a second opinion. Doctor said, listen,

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Speaker 1: you do need another surgery, but as long as you

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Speaker 1: keep your arm strong, you keep rehabbing it, you can

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Speaker 1: probably hold off for a while. Well, I held off

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Speaker 1: for a while. Three years later, here we are, twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty five. I was doing great until the last few months.

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Speaker 1: I've been feeling some more pain when I'm doing biapses

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Speaker 1: at work. I just I can feel it kind of

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Speaker 1: getting weaker and weaker. Despite me working out and doing

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Speaker 1: everything I can to keep my body as strong and

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Speaker 1: healthy as possible, the shoulder was starting to fail me again.

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Speaker 1: So here we are July twenty twenty five, nearly five

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Speaker 1: years from that fall, and it was time to do

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Speaker 1: one more surgery. And I'm glad I did because I

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Speaker 1: can tell you I am now four days out from

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Speaker 1: the surgery, and so far I am feeling better than

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Speaker 1: I have since the fall. I came out of Antesesia,

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Speaker 1: I didn't feel nearly as sick. It's hard being down

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Speaker 1: an arm, being back in that sling again, especially in

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Speaker 1: the summer when all you want to be is outside.

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Speaker 1: You don't want to be weighed down by this sling

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Speaker 1: and bandages and stitches and all these things. But I

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Speaker 1: can tell you I'm feeling optimistic because I'm being proactive.

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Speaker 1: I didn't just grind my shoulder down until it really

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Speaker 1: failed and would have been even more difficult to repair.

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Speaker 1: But here I am. I'm at the beginning of this

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Speaker 1: recovery journey. I'm going to spend the summer rehabbing it,

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Speaker 1: getting stronger, so as we enter Fall twenty twenty five,

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Speaker 1: the new school year, I'll be stronger than ever, stronger

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Speaker 1: for myself, stronger for my kids, stronger for my patients.

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Speaker 1: So eyes forward. You know, sometimes it can be challenging

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Speaker 1: going through these surgeries mentally. We obviously know that there

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Speaker 1: are physical challenges there. Not being able to drive sounds silly,

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Speaker 1: but even do laundry, put your hair in a ponytail,

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Speaker 1: wash your own hair. It can really affect you mentally

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Speaker 1: because you become so dependent on others around you. And

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Speaker 1: I pride myself on being a strong, independent person. Then

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Speaker 1: all of a sudden, I can't even get my hair

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Speaker 1: in a ponytail. That can be challenging, but I'm very

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Speaker 1: grateful that I have friends and family who surround me

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Speaker 1: have offered themselves to help. I have a whole cadre

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Speaker 1: of friends who are sending food knowing that I'm unable

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Speaker 1: to cook this week, and my husband is on call

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Speaker 1: so he may or may not be able to be

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Speaker 1: home in the evenings. I have family that are constantly

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Speaker 1: checking in with me. My kids are picking up and

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Speaker 1: doing their own laundry. I mean, God bless America. If

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Speaker 1: this is what it takes for people to chip in

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Speaker 1: around here at the house, you know, it's a sacrifice

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Speaker 1: I was willing to make. So the procedure is self

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Speaker 1: what I had done. When they went in, there was

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Speaker 1: a ton of scar tissue all around the nerves, so

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Speaker 1: they had to do this intricate dissection of all of

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Speaker 1: the nerves surrounding that kind of supply my entire arm.

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Speaker 1: I'm having a lot of nerve sensations in my arm.

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Speaker 1: I believe this is all normal postop, and it'll take

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Speaker 1: some time because they really did a lot of work

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Speaker 1: on my arm. Those nerves, but I can tell you

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Speaker 1: it's not a good feeling. It's this constant feeling of

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Speaker 1: like my arm still being asleep. So stay tuned on

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Speaker 1: that because I'm hoping that gets better. That's the only

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Speaker 1: thing that's really bothering me right now. I can deal

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Speaker 1: with the ache of the shoulder, but it's that nerve

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Speaker 1: stuff that are bothering me a bit. For me, I'm

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Speaker 1: going to do everything I can to try and decrease

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Speaker 1: my inflammation as much as possible because my nerves are

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Speaker 1: absolutely inflamed. I will be taking like oral anti inflammatories

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Speaker 1: like an ibuprofen. But if you know me, you know

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Speaker 1: I am all about the natural ways to decrease inflammation.

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Speaker 1: It's why I create a drop our x my liquid herbs.

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Speaker 1: I actually have a blend. It's called Soothe. It's full

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Speaker 1: of turmeric and ginger and it is a natural way

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Speaker 1: to decrease inflammation in the body. We are cultivating the

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Speaker 1: garden as much as possible, getting all the natural herbs here.

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Speaker 1: I'm taking my drop our X sooth, I'm taking my

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Speaker 1: oral anti inflammatories. I'm icing, I'm resting, which for me

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Speaker 1: is very difficult to do. But I'm doing everything possible

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Speaker 1: to give my body the best chance of getting back

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Speaker 1: to good. I am going to start physical therapy this week,

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Speaker 1: which sounds crazy. I'm not even a week out of

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Speaker 1: the OAR, but they want to start moving my arm

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Speaker 1: and I am dreading that because physical therapy is so

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Speaker 1: painful when you are newly posted up. Anybody who's done it,

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Speaker 1: they can attest to it. I'm sure I will be

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Speaker 1: cranky coming out of physical therapy, but again, these are

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Speaker 1: all the things you have to do to get yourself

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Speaker 1: as strong as possible. So I'm going to be doing it,

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Speaker 1: and I'm just going to make sure that I continue

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Speaker 1: to reach out to my friends and family and ask

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Speaker 1: for help. Very difficult for someone like me to do,

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Speaker 1: but you have to. We are humans. We are not

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Speaker 1: meant to do this alone. We are social animals, so

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Speaker 1: I am not too proud to ask for help, and

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Speaker 1: so I'm going to you're listening to Wellness on Mass.

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Speaker 1: We'll be right back with more. Before we conclude this

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Speaker 1: episode of Wellness on Mass, I have to comment on

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Speaker 1: what is going on in Texas. You know, I'm not

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Speaker 1: really watching a lot of TV or even the news

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Speaker 1: much right now. I did get called to comment on

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Speaker 1: Fox and Friends this weekend because of the devastation that

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Speaker 1: these Texas floods are causing in central Texas. My friend,

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Speaker 1: actually one of my closest friends from medical school, is

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Speaker 1: a physician in San Angelo, Texas, where this flooding is

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Speaker 1: all occurring, and I was able to talk to her.

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Speaker 1: She said, these surrounding neighborhoods are destroyed, but thankfully the

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Speaker 1: hospital itself is structurally intact. They are taking in a

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Speaker 1: whole bunch of patients because if you think about it,

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Speaker 1: we always worry about the direct damage from the floods

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Speaker 1: to the structures, so washing away homes, destroying all of

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Speaker 1: our belongings, and the immediate danger of being swept away

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Speaker 1: by the water and drowning, But there are so many

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Speaker 1: indirect ways that this flooding can cause damage. And what

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Speaker 1: they're seeing in the hospital is patients who are not

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Speaker 1: able to get their medical care out patient, or they're

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Speaker 1: not able to use their oxygen at home, or they

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Speaker 1: were in home hospice. So all these patients are now

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Speaker 1: needing to be cared for in the hospital because there's

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Speaker 1: nowhere else for them to go. People have also been

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Speaker 1: up to their chest in this floodwater, so it's exacerbating

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Speaker 1: their asthma, their copd, their heart disease. And on top

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Speaker 1: of that, there's at risk of infections, whether it's pneumonia,

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Speaker 1: this water. This water is like a toxic soup. It

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Speaker 1: is full of sewage, bacteria, debris. There's so many bad

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Speaker 1: things in this water. And not to mention in the water.

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Speaker 1: The debris can actually cause you to cut your skin

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Speaker 1: and you can get skin infections. If you ingest it,

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Speaker 1: you can get a GI track infection. I mean, it

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Speaker 1: is just it is a disaster. And at this point

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Speaker 1: you have at least eighty two have died, dozens are

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Speaker 1: still missing. It is a complete devastation. I hate what

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Speaker 1: I'm seeing online that people are pointing fingers as though

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Speaker 1: this is some politician's fault and this is just not

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Speaker 1: seclell of a natural disaster. Did you even see what happened?

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Speaker 1: There is a pediatrician who from Texas. They had some

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Speaker 1: vile posts on social media. They essentially said any MAGA

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Speaker 1: does I mean, I'm gonna misquote this. She said something

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Speaker 1: along the lines of, let's see may all visitors, children

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Speaker 1: and non MAGA voters and pets be safe and dry

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Speaker 1: Kerr County MAGA voted to cut FEMA, they denied climate change.

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Speaker 1: May they get what they voted for? Bless their hearts.

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Speaker 1: This doctor, Christina Prost, this is of course a now

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Speaker 1: deleted social media post, but it went viral. She's a

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Speaker 1: pediatrician in Houston, and she felt the need while children

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Speaker 1: were dying, while people were swept away and missing and

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Speaker 1: lost their entire livelihoods, she decided to make this political.

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Speaker 1: And you know, we saw this a bit during COVID.

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Speaker 1: We saw people, specifically doctors who are supposed to be altruistic.

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Speaker 1: We're supposed to have taken oaths for saying do no harm.

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Speaker 1: But yet, just like we saw during COVID, you saw

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Speaker 1: pediatrician office saying we're not going to see you if

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Speaker 1: unless you are. They essentially outcasted anybody who didn't have

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Speaker 1: the same mindset as them. The fact that this woman

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Speaker 1: put this post up it is disgusting. She has lost

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Speaker 1: her job, according to reports online. And all I can

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Speaker 1: say is, you know, shame on her. People need to

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Speaker 1: come together, people need to help others. Not everything should

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Speaker 1: be political. And as I continue to heal both physically

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Speaker 1: and mentally from my shoulder, surgery. I'm just reminded how

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Speaker 1: resilience is built not just in the body, but in

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Speaker 1: the mind and spirit. Recovery is rarely linear. It can

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Speaker 1: be uncomfortable, it's absolutely inconvenient, and it is most certainly humbling.

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Speaker 1: But it's also an opportunity to reconnect with ourself and

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Speaker 1: reconnect with those around us. And while I am focused

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Speaker 1: on my own healing right now, I just can't stop

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Speaker 1: thinking about the countless Texans facing a far greater battle.

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Speaker 1: It's hard to feel sorry for myself when I look

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Speaker 1: online to see what these people pople are dealing with.

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Speaker 1: The devastating floods have upended lives, destroyed homes, and placed

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Speaker 1: a serious burden on public health, and I can't believe

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Speaker 1: people are politicizing it. I'm absolutely disgusted by it. Until

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Speaker 1: next time, Thank you so much for joining me on

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Speaker 1: Wellness on Mass, I'm doctor Nicole Sapphire. Thanks for listening

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Speaker 1: to Wellness on Mass on America's number one podcast network.

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Speaker 1: I Heart Follow Wellness on Mass with doctor Nicole Safhire

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Speaker 1: and start listening on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever

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Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, and we will catch you next time.