She had just finished her work day as National Sales and Marketing Manager at a sheet metal manufacturing company in South Auckland. As she opened the driver door of her car and tossed her briefcase onto the passenger seat she felt a painful tug. After performing this action hundreds of times something had just gone wrong. It was 1999. Menopause was knocking.
Xrays followed yet showed nothing much of note but the left shoulder grew stiffer and more painful. It was eventually diagnosed as frozen shoulder - a rotator cuff problem that lasts approximately two years if corticosteroid injections are not used. She had an injection in a sports doctor's office. No ultrasound, just the doctor sitting in front of her with a long needle, saying don't move. He later told her that her physiology was that of a sprinter, not a marathoner. A sprinter is great at getting away from a sabre-tooth tiger. Lithe and flexible but the trade off would be that collagen would disappear early, musculosketal problems would arrive early before middle age. On the other hand, the marathoner, if they could avoid being caught by a sabre-toothed tiger, would experience little deterioration as they aged, just get a bit slower. "Sorry Frances," he said, "you're a sprinter.
As the years went by, twelve to be exact, Frances found herself in France where history repeated itself. After enrolling for jazz ballet classes and violin tuition the shoulder pain returned but this time on the right side. All fun stuff cancelled. Unable to even feed herself because of frozen shoulder she had to rely on her French boyfriend to cut up all her food. The rheumatologist diagnosed frozen shoulder and she was sent to a clinic where an injection into the problem joint was done via ultrasound, an extremely long needle and no local anaesthetic. "Oh, we don't bother with that. Hold her down team." Surely her agonised shrieks could be heard along the corridors. It did cut down on recovery time.
Seven years later, circumstances having gone south (literally), she found herself back in New Zealand, alone and unemployed. Her goal now was to build a house and create a garden from scratch. She had chosen Rolleston in the South Island because there were plenty of serviced sections and the earthquakes that occured from time to time rolled more than shook. Trouble was it was an ancient riverbed; not what you want for a garden. It became
obvious that digging with a spade, fork or trowel was not going to work so she borrowed a crow bar from a neighbour. Frances hadn't accounted for the consequences of a woman in her 60s spending weeks with a heavy iron crowbar. The impacts had set up inflamation in both shoulders, both elbows and both hands. Hello Xrays and non-steroidal anti-inflamatories. Things settled a bit but pain wasn't far away.
By 2024 the left shoulder and arm had limited range of movement. She could no longer reach the end of her fretboard so had to give up playing electric bass. In 2025 she gave up line dancing and by the beginning of 2026 life was getting pretty limited and painful. Daily life was a struggle. It was affecting sleep so constant leaning on healthcare professionals was required. Eventually an orthopedic surgeon agreed that both shoulders needed to be replaced, starting with the left.
The doctors could see muscle-wasting, concentric arthritis and degeneration but the rotator cuff was undamaged despite having been told she'd had frozen shoulder in NZ and then in France. "You probably never had frozen shoulder," postulated the surgeon. He never explained why both ends of the planet thought she had.
What follows is the lengthy process to replacement.
Frances (me) started out this year with an ultrasound to check the structures are in place and what exactly is happening in there. Oddly enough, this ultrasound was done with Frances sitting in a chair with the radiographer standing behind her. It was somewhat off-putting but at least it doesn't hurt.
- Special CT Scan: You get a low-slice CT scan of your shoulder a few months before surgery.
- 3D Reconstruction: Software turns the flat images into a clear 3D model of your bones and wear-and-tear patterns.
- Virtual Surgery: The surgeon tests different implant sizes and angles on the computer model to find the best fit.
- Custom Guides: The final plan can create a 3D-printed guide to help place the artificial parts accurately during the real operation
- Better Precision: It helps the surgeon place the new socket in the exact right spot.
- Fewer Complications: Correct alignment reduces early wear and lowers the risk of the implant failing.
- Personalized Care: It accounts for severe bone loss or unusual joint shapes unique to your body.
There are two pre-admission appointments. The first is with a nurse who takes a medical history and checks medications. I gave her plenty to think about. The second is with the anaethetist but I ended up with a registrar. She too had plenty to think about but a few days later, after a severe adverse drug reaction I decided that the surgical team hadn't asked enough pertinent questions of me So, with the help as AI (as you do these days), I wrote up summaries of suspected gene defects, drug interactions, other health issues especially relating to pain and not damaging my voicebox this time, please. I was then called in to have a particular Xray. Apparently these images tell the surgeon what size hardware to put in my shoulder.
I really feel it is important to give them LOTS of info in order to keep you safe on the day. Your helath is in your own hands, as well as your team. This is a big surgery and I'm going in in two weeks not in the best of shape. The follow-up blog post will explain the surgery and post-surgical challenges in complicated situations.
Follow this link to see how a CT blueprint works
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