A Comforting Approach
"He has a beautiful, lighthearted personality. He just wants to smile, he just wants to help."
Kathy is a pastor, a mother of two, and a grandparent to “three of the coolest grandchildren that you ever would want." She and her now-late husband traveled often, visiting all 50 states and 23 of 30 Major League Baseball stadiums.
But in 2017, Kathy suffered a serious arm and shoulder injury when she fell at her house.
"It must have been such a thud because my husband was in his man cave in the basement, and up he came," she says. "And I was in such horrible pain. We got to the hospital, and the arm was broken. The humerus was broken.
"And after all that was said and done, I still had pain in both shoulders. Both rotator cuffs were torn."
Kathy had her left rotator cuff repaired but after a painful rehabilitation process, chose not to get her right rotator cuff fixed.
In the spring of 2023, she still was dealing with the effects of the torn right rotator cuff, She called the orthopaedic care team in Williamsport and got an appointment with Ryan Byers, PA-C, at UPMC Williamsport.
Ryan ordered an x-ray of Kathy's right shoulder. After getting the results, he brought in orthopaedic surgeon Ronald Campbell, MD, who told Kathy she needed surgery.
“He said, 'You've got to have it done,'" Kathy says. "But because the rotator cuff was torn and the arm didn't heal properly, he decided to put a whole new shoulder in."
Kathy is a surgery veteran, having undergone eight brain surgeries over the years and two ankle procedures with Zachary Ritter, DPM, chief, Foot and Ankle Surgery, UPMC in North Central Pa. So, the thought of another operation didn't worry her.
Dr. Campbell's personality also helped to put her at ease.
“He and I connected because he has a beautiful, lighthearted personality," she says. "He just wants to smile, he just wants to help. You can see all that."
After the surgery, Kathy notices a major difference in her ability to function.
"Reaching over my head, mostly — anything like that," she says. "Because I am a widow, I live by myself, of course, and so I have to do all that by myself. It was great to be able to do all that again."
Kathy is thankful for the care she has received from Dr. Campbell and Dr. Ritter over the years. The care she received at UPMC, along with her own faith, helped her during her most trying times with her injuries.
"PT isn't easy for anything, and I've been through a lot of PT," she says. "But I've been blessed to have absolutely awesome people be my physical therapist. And I just express my faith through what I'm doing to encourage them, too.
"I think it's a two-way thing. If you reflect your joy and how blessed you are to have the Lord in your life, it can be reflected right back again. It helps. It makes the healing go faster."
Kathy didn't choose to need shoulder surgery, but she did choose UPMC.
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