How a Common Shoulder Surgery Gave Scottsdale Resident Jodi Amendola Her Active Lifestyle Back
Jodi Amendola at her home in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Jodi Amendola is no stranger to orthopedic conditions. A year before finding Brian Gruber, MD, MBA, who performed a shoulder debridement surgery on her left shoulder, Jodi had ankle surgery and surgery on her opposite shoulder. “I’ve been to lots of orthopedic practices,” she shared. “Integrated Orthopedics is the best run practice I’ve seen. The entire team is very professional and friendly.”
Jodi’s case was somewhat unique in that a pre-existing condition required coordination between Dr. Gruber’s office and another specialty physician. The physician requested that the procedure be performed in a hospital rather than a standalone outpatient surgery center, with a specialty anesthesiologist as part of the operating team.
“Integrated Orthopedics was very accommodating to my unique needs,” Jodi stated. “With other practices I’d been to it was a big hassle for them and they kept reminding me of it.”
After becoming frustrated with her current orthopedic doctor, Jodi was referred to Dr. Gruber by a family friend, who’d had a shoulder operation performed by him and was very pleased with the results and his overall experience with the practice.
Jodi had been dealing with a lot of pain in her left shoulder for a long time. She was at the point where she could no longer engage in her active lifestyle playing tennis, pickleball, working out, weight-lifting and yoga. “For well over a year I could not sleep on my left side,” said Jodi.
Prior to surgery, Jodi had tried many things to attempt to resolve her shoulder pain. “You name it, I tried it,” she stated. “I did physical therapy, steroid injections, dry needling and chiropractic treatments.”
Now three month’s post-surgery, Jodi is doing great. She said her recovery was so easy. “I was in physical therapy the next day and have been pleased with my progress from the very beginning and am nearly fully recovered.”
Many patients have goals similar to Jodi’s when they elect to have orthopedic surgery. Jodi wanted to be free from pain and able to resume participating in the activities she enjoys. She shared that she has definitely had the outcome she’d hoped for and is happy to be back to the things she loves to do.
“I would 100 percent recommend Integrated Orthopedics and Dr. Gruber,” said Jodi. “From the receptionist to the clinical team, they are all very professional, accommodating and excellent at what they do.”
Originally from New Jersey, Jodi resides in Scottsdale with her husband Ted and their teenage daughter Jackie, where they have lived for 20 years. She is a marketing professional and owner and chief executive officer of Amendola Communications – a full service marketing and communications agency based in Scottsdale, Arizona.
About Arthroscopic Shoulder Debridement
Arthroscopic shoulder debridement is a procedure used to remove debris and damaged tissue in the shoulder joint. This procedure is performed as minimally invasive as possible by using a very small camera called an arthroscope. It is a common shoulder surgery with very good outcomes associated with it.