In October 2024 Bill Nixon had rotator cuff repair surgery done by Dr. Brandon Burris. According to Bill, this damage was more than likely the result of 55 years of tennis. It started as a growing pain in his shoulder with limited range of motion coming to a head in one forehand that made his arm instantly unusable. Dr. Burris' assessment instantly identified the problem which was confirmed by MRI. Dr. Burris understood that Bill's motivation was to get back on the court as quickly as possible and stated that his priority was to make that happen. I remember very clearly Dr. Burris saying, "the surgery is a piece of cake, but the recovery is no joke." Bill took his words seriously, but really didn't understand how true that would be. Dr. Burris said it would probably be about a year before I'd be playing tennis comfortably, but maybe not at the competitive level I had been at. As a competitive ALTA player this was hard to hear but I knew it was necessary.
The surgery went very well, with the rotator cuff repaired, bicep tenodisis, and a bone spur removed. Hours later I was back home with a numb arm and no discomfort. "Let me say this, when they tell you to start taking the pain killers before the pain starts…DO IT! Did I do it? Nope. Lesson learned.
To summarize the recovery process…the hardest thing I've ever gone through in life. I know this process can be different for everyone, but for me it was terribly difficult and I went into this in really good physical condition. I had various levels of pain all the time and barely slept for eight weeks. I learned to love daytime naps with my dog and cat! The struggle led to some dark days, but what really helped was when I began pouring all of my energy into my recovery through exercise and stretching. Physical therapy was tough initially, but gave me the opportunity to take an active part in my recovery. That was huge, physically and mentally. I progressed quickly in PT largely due to my incredible therapists at Results PT but also due to the diligent and challenging work I did at home. As important as all the pieces are together, I firmly believe you will only achieve an optimal outcome by putting in the hard work.
Dr. Burris was happy with the progress at all my check ups
and he said that around 10-11 weeks there is typically a big improvement in how
people feel in terms of pain and ability to sleep. It was literally overnight
at about ten weeks and everything changed. No pain and I could sleep through
the night! My rehab continued to progress at a level my therapist said exceeded
by far, where I should be and at about five and half months I was cleared to
start lightly hitting tennis balls. Hitting lightly didn't last long and at
about seven months I was astonished at how well I was hitting and how good I
felt. I was back to playing competitive tennis at about 11 months and in Winter
2025 I played and won a City Finals match with my partner that helped our team
win the championship. I'm now playing some of the best tennis of my life and
feel like I have a 23 year old shoulder! I'm so grateful to Dr. Burris for his
incredible work, easygoing way and most importantly, for restoring my ability
to continue with my passion at a very high level. Now I have him caring for my
sore knees!