The interrupted sleep was annoying. And having to reposition his holster was frustrating. But, Hammond Police Cpl. Todd Larson finally turned to medical intervention for his shoulder pain when he struggled to play catch with his children.
He had coached his 9-year-old son in baseball and 12-year-old daughter in softball. "I'd have to throw it back underhand," he says.
The now 42-year-old had been weight lifting since he was 14, growing up in Highland. Behind-the-head lifting wore on his shoulders. While playing on a football scholarship at Butler University, he was injected with cortisone shots to ease the pain. But by senior year, his shoulder was being wrapped.
When he became a police officer after working five years as a pharmacist, the physical demands only compounded his pain. "My shoulders got worse, my mobility got worse," he says.
During training exercises, he couldn't put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed.
One doctor told him he had a frozen shoulder, but physical therapy gave little relief. He was referred to Dr. Anthony Romeo, orthopedic surgeon and head of the Shoulder Service at Rush Medical College, who also serves as team physician for the Chicago White Sox and the doctor who performed landmark surgery on pitcher Jake Peavy.
After Romeo and a medical resident reviewed X-rays of his shoulders, Larson sat in an exam room, overhearing their conversation on the other side of the door. His shoulder movements had created ridges in the joints, which was coupled with arthritis. "The resident said, 'He'll never be able to be a cop again,'" Larson says.
When the doctors came in the room, they clarified that an end to his professional career would be likely with one type of surgery. But, the surgery they wanted for Larson was different. It was expected to bring back a full range of motion.
The procedure creates a new shoulder with no plastic socket. Instead, the surgeon reams a new, deeper biological socket. That socket forms a layer of fibrocartilage. Over time, it molds itself around the metal ball of the upper arm.
With his level of activity, Larson was a good candidate for the "ream and run"—as it is known—surgery, Romeo said.
"We've learned that total shoulder replacement takes away people's desired lifestyle," Romeo says. "We needed another solution."
A traditional ball-and-socket replacement would not hold up well to powerful activities. Larson would have been restricted to lifting no more than 25 pounds per arm.
Larson had surgery on his right shoulder April 18, 2011. He was back at work four months later. Surgery on his left shoulder was October 17, and he returned to work the first week of February.
Larson, who is in his fourteenth year with the Hammond Police Department, continues to strengthen his left shoulder through rehabilitation. Increased upper body activity, coupled with medical advances, has changed the story on shoulder surgery.
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