Should I get shoulder surgery? Success story or total disaster?

So, judging by this photo, what’s the verdict: are we looking at a perfectly restored, 100% functional shoulder with a properly fitted prosthetic—or just a massive failure on the part of modern medicine?

No, this just isn't right. I mean, why wouldn't you just reach out to the orthopedic surgeon who actually performed the procedure?

Casey Palmer5 said:No, this just isn't right. Why on earth wouldn't you just call up the orthopedic surgeon who actually performed the procedure?

And he claims everything is just fine...

Anyone else feeling differently about this?

LP

Which "detail" isn't adding up?

Maybe if a doctor in here actually explained how this works...

To kick things off, we’re really missing a solid piece of the clavicle...

😲 If this is what you look like right after surgery, I honestly don’t even want to imagine the state you were in before. That shoulder doesn't look functional at all, but hey, if they managed to patch up all those torn ligaments and tendons, you might pull through. Just be prepared—you're going to need a massive amount of time and some serious physical therapy to get everything strengthened and back where it belongs.

Casey Palmer5 said:To start with, there's a significant chunk of the clavicle missing...

... and the rest of the fragments aren't even aligned correctly...

I'll lay everything out—exactly how the process unfolded and what went wrong—once I find a window of time later tonight.

Amy Fowler58 said:😲 If this is what things look like post-op, I honestly don't want to know what the pre-surgery state was. That shoulder doesn't look functional at all, though I suppose if they patched up every single ligament and tendon, you might be fine. You'll just need a massive amount of time and serious physical therapy to get everything strengthened and back where it belongs.

Does anyone actually believe bone can just slide back into its proper place through physical therapy alone? I highly doubt it.

The short version: a few years back, I took a nasty fall and dislocated my shoulder, tearing several ligaments in the process. Two weeks later, I was in surgery at a private clinic where they reset the bone using a screw and repaired the ligaments. That screw held for about ten days—though I’m probably the one to blame there, since I apparently rolled onto that side in my sleep and heard a sickening *pop*.

Over the next three months, during various follow-ups, the doctors at that same facility kept insisting everything was perfectly fine. They claimed there was some "minimal" cranial displacement—roughly the thickness of a bone fragment, give or take—and argued that another surgery wasn't necessary. Does that mean the clavicle doesn't actually need to be in its natural position? If so, what on earth was the point of the first surgery? Eventually, after three months of this botched healing, I had to practically beg another surgeon at the same hospital to at least remove the screw, since it had migrated out of the lower bone and was causing issues. Instead of doing what I asked, he performed a clavicle shortening procedure without ever informing me or getting my consent.

Everything is fully documented in my medical records.

Now, nearly four years later, my left shoulder looks visibly shorter, my range of motion is limited, and any kind of strenuous physical labor is painful. Sometimes, the pain just hits out of nowhere for no apparent reason.

I filed a lawsuit against the hospital. An independent medical examiner—handpicked by the defendant's insurance company, naturally—did a three-minute "examination" of me. My lawyer already told me the expert's findings aren't looking good; apparently, according to them, nothing is wrong. I haven't even brought myself to read the actual report yet. I just don't have the energy.

So, yeah. That’s basically the whole mess.