Richard Boukas

I am a professional guitarist for more than fifty years and a lifelong swimmer. My left shoulder was bone-on-bone for three years, impeding my performances and making swimming impossible. I was recommended to Dr. Rodeo by my HSS PT, Betty Chow (I did five months pre-op PT with her). Dr. Rodeo is a renaissance man of medicine - brilliant surgeon, team physician for elite professional teams and Olympians, and cutting-edge researcher in soft tissue regeneration. At our first meeting there was no doubt he would be the doctor who would perform my surgery. His humility and direct medical specificity in answering my questions was both assuring and refreshing. He totally understood my musical and athletic goals. The highly complex three-hour surgery went perfectly. I started HSS outpatient PT with Brian Goonan (also a guitarist), who has allowed me to collaborate and propose my own exercises in addition to the normal protocol. I worked the PT program diligently, gaining significant range of motion and strength every week. At 13 weeks, Dr. Rodeo cleared me to return to performing, swimming and running - three to five months sooner than my expectations (PT will continue for up to a year or longer). I am so grateful to Dr. Rodeo and Brian for restoring my artistic and athletic life. I couldn't be in better hands.