Well - Fall 2011 - (Page 9)

Thanks to a new shoulder implant he received at UNC Health Care, Tomas Eikinas continues to swim, bike and run his way to high triathlon ﬁnishes. N EARLY 2010, TOMAS EIKINAS OF CARY COULD BARELY get through a day at work. Intense shoulder pain, the result of failed shoulder replacement surgery, often sent him to his parked car, where he would try to reduce the agony by lying motionless in the front seat. Today, a year and a half later, getting the 47-year-old Tomas to stay still at all is the challenge. Beyond keeping in step with his active career in software management, he is competing in triathlons—swimming, cycling and running his way to high nishes. He recently placed 44th in an event of more than 300 triathletes. “It is pretty amazing to see how far I’ve come,” concedes Tomas. “I never thought I’d be able to do all the things I can do now.” Tomas’ renewed lease on life is the result of a new shoulder implant he received at UNC Health Care in April 2010. The revision surgery, performed by R. Alexander Creighton, MD, a sports medicine specialist and associate professor within UNC School of Medicine’s Department of Orthopaedics, removed the faulty partial joint implanted years earlier and inserted a new partial joint during a procedure known as a hemiarthroplasty. Highly self-educated on the bene ts, risks and limitations of shoulder replacement, Tomas chose Dr. Creighton to perform the surgery after a lengthy physician search and interview process that took him as far away as Boston. The decision, Tomas explains, “came down to nding a specialist I trusted in the local area that had the extensive training, skill and experience in handling these specialized procedures.” He says most orthopaedic surgeons he talked to were conducting an average of four shoulder replacements a month, but Dr. Creighton was completing up to four per week. > www.unchealthcare.org 9 FAR LEFT PHOTO: HEATHER LAUFFER FOR TAMARA LACKEY PHOTOGRAPHY; ABOVE PHOTO: PROVIDED BY TOMAS EIKINAS I http://www.unchealthcare.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Well - Fall 2011

Well - Fall 2011
Contents
UNC Health Care News
Community
An Urgent Solution
It’s Not Too Late to Get Your Flu Shot
Back in the Race
Nutrition
Calendar

Well - Fall 2011