Patient Experiences Complete Shoulder Relief After Six Years

Cosmin Ceh leads a full life as a husband, father of two and the owner of Concept Z Performance, a seller of Nissan car performance parts. Originally from Romania, Cosmin moved to Chicago when he was four and has lived in Arizona since he was 22.

Six years ago, Cosmin fell while snowboarding and injured his shoulder. “I didn’t think much of it at the time,” he said. “But over the years, my shoulder got worse and worse, eventually it became hard to lift things and hold stuff up.”

When he started to experience shoulder pain after his fall, Cosmin went to an orthopedic doctor who told him he needed physical therapy. “PT actually made it worse,” said Cosmin. “After a year of PT with no improvement and worsening pain, I decided to take a break from therapy.”

Shortly after one of his daughter’s fell during gym at school and injured her knee. A physical therapist Cosmin and his wife knew recommended Brian Gruber, MD, MBA, board certified orthopedic surgeon, to them. They had initially tried physical therapy for their daughter, per another doctor’s recommendation with no improvement to their daughter’s knee injury and pain, so they decided to see what Dr. Gruber thought was the problem.

“Dr. Gruber immediately figured out what was wrong with our daughter’s knee and recommended a treatment plan – our daughter was doing better within a week and has now made a full recovery.”

After seeing his daughter experience such a great outcome with Dr. Gruber, Cosmin decided to revisit his own shoulder injury and see what Dr. Gruber thought might be the issue and if it could be fixed.

After an initial exam and some tests, including an X-ray and MRI, Dr. Gruber diagnosed a labral tear that would require a surgical procedure called a posterior labral repair to fully address and restore shoulder function.

“He told me that conservative treatment such as physical therapy would not result in improvement, which I already knew based on my previous experience,” shared Cosmin. “Dr. Gruber recommended arthroscopic shoulder surgery to fix my shoulder and I scheduled it for the following week.”

Cosmin said his surgery experience at Trusted Care Surgery Centers, a surgery center with locations in Arizona, Texas, and California, was very good. “Dr. Gruber has put together a surgical team there that provides a very professional and comfortable experience,” shared Cosmin. “Everything went good the day of surgery – everyone was nice and all went smooth,” Cosmin said.

Cosmin’s wife Simona added that she was incredibly well informed by the surgical staff during Cosmin’s surgery and post-op there. “I felt very informed, prepared and comfortable about taking him home the day of his surgery,” she noted.

He has been especially pleased with his recovery, which Dr. Gruber said has gone incredibly well. Post-surgery, Cosmin did not have too much pain and was able to use cold compression therapy to reduce pain and promote recovery. “I did the cold compression therapy machine for 21 days post-surgery and I think it made a huge difference in helping me recover faster than usual,” he said.

Cosmin also completed three months of physical therapy and plans to continue for a little bit longer so that he can focus on regaining as much strength as possible.

“I wish Dr. Gruber had been my first orthopedic stop,” Cosmin shared. “I would have saved a lot of time and pain as well as gotten to the bottom of the problem much sooner.”

Cosmin added that in addition to being a great surgeon, Dr. Gruber has a fantastic bedside manner and he really listens to his patients

Simona added, “Dr. Gruber has both a well-earned skill from his years of experience and a God-given instinct for diagnosis. He has now properly diagnosed and cared for two of our family members and we are so grateful.”