John Whitton Bria

I’ve spent a lot of my life in motion - cycling, running, climbing, hiking, skating, walking - but tennis has always been my sport. Nine years ago, during our morning walk on leash, my young dog Skye, an English Shepherd, bolted after a deer that appeared suddenly, whipping my right arm around behind my back. An HSS MRI showed a high-grade tear in my rotator cuff but shoulder surgery and the lengthy recovery were not going to fit into my life. I chose just to live with it while waiting for a better time to have my right arm fixed. Not willing to give up tennis, I started playing left handed, and after lots of practice and hard work, I was able to compete with my old group and play in team matches. In my own mind, though, as an unnatural left hander, I felt as if I was using someone else’s arm.

Jumping ahead 9 years, I am 73, still playing left handed, and a high impact collision during a competitive tennis drill with much younger players damaged my right shoulder once again, enough so that it was pretty much unusable for anything. This turned out to be a lucky accident.

I made an appointment with Dr. Carl Cirino, and an MRI revealed much more rotator cuff damage with severed and shredded tendons. Dr. Cirino was confident he would be able to make the necessary repairs and give me a shoulder that would, in his words, "last another 25 years." He performed the surgery, and I diligently followed his post-op protocols for physical therapy, and 5 months later, I hit my first right handed tennis shots in years, completely rebooting my system and feeling normal with my dominant hand back in charge. Dr. Cirino’s skills restored both my athletic ability and my confidence when I walk on the court. I am ecstatic and grateful.