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Mountain View News May 9, 2026

ROTATOR CUFF STUFF

UNLOCK YOUR LIFE


By the time you read this I will have gone under the 
knife – again. This time for a repair of one of my rotator 
cuff muscles. If you suspect you may have a shoulder 
injury that requires surgery, read on. You can follow 
my progress at the Facebook page listed at the end of 
this story.

It started many years ago. First with a sore bicep muscle. 
Then difficulty pulling off clothing over my head. More 
recently pain while lifting weights for arm work. Then 
discomfort while sleeping on it. I pretty much don’t pay 
attention to minor aches and pains. As someone who 
has worked out more than 30 hours a week for 40 years, 
you get used to strains, sprains and muscle knots that 
come and go. But this has persisted for a long time. And 
now that it is definitely not going away, it needs to be 
taken care of.

What exactly are the rotator cuff muscles and what do 
they do? The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and 
their tendons that surround the shoulder joint, helping 
to keep the shoulder stable and allowing you to move 
your arm in various directions. These muscles are:

1. Supraspinatus: Located on the top of your shoulder 
blade (scapula), this muscle attaches to your humerus bone and helps lift your arm 
away from your body.

2. Infraspinatus: Found on the back of your shoulder blade, it allows you to rotate
your arm outward.

3. Teres Minor: Also on the back of your shoulder blade, this muscle assists in rotating
your arm outward.

4. Subscapularis: Situated on the front of your shoulder blade, it helps rotate your arm
inward.

Together, these muscles and tendons form a "cuff" around the top of your arm bone (humerus), 
keeping it securely in the shallow socket of your shoulder blade. This setup allows 
you to move your arm in many directions, such as lifting, reaching, and rotating, while 
keeping your shoulder stable. The deltoid muscle is the outer shell that moves and shapes 
the shoulder. The rotator cuff muscles are deeper stabilizers that keep the joint secure.

In my case, it’s a complete tear of the supraspinatus muscle and tendon that is involved. 
After years of overuse, the muscle has torn off the bone and slipped back making the other 
muscles pick up the slack to keep the arm moving and functioning as best as possible.

Such tears don't heal on their own due to limited blood supply to the tendons, which hampers 
the body's natural healing process. Plus, the detached tendon may retract, making 
natural reattachment difficult. Over time, the muscle can weaken and be replaced by fat 
tissue, further complicating healing. Despite this, not everyone with a complete tear would 
opt for surgery. Many find relief through physical therapy, which can improve function 
and reduce pain. But, for someone like me, who wants to continue to have a high level of 
physical activity using my arm for lifting weights, swimming and fitness classes there isn’t 
really a choice. And if I leave it as is, it will eventually lead to an entire shoulder replacement 
which my doctor said is way worse than a hip replacement!

The procedure is done arthroscopically. Just a few holes in the front and back of the shoulder. 
It really is a fascinating process to see how they anchor sutures into the bone and then 
sew the tendon back onto it. Kind of reminds me of one of those bags that cantaloupes are 
sold in. Criss crossed mesh. Technical name is Transosseous-equivalent (TOE) double-
row repair.

Whatever it’s called I’m not looking forward to it. Two surgeries within 10 months means 
another summer of no fun. Recovery time is the worst part. At least 4-6 weeks in a sling. 
Then a full 3 months to get back to using it in any kind of normal capacity. God forbid I 
retear it during healing (something that happens more often than you would think – about 
25% of the time in people my age) and need to have surgery all over again. To make matters 
worse, I think I have the same issue in my other arm but I’m not ready to deal with 
finding that out just now.

Sometimes I feel like the body parts are breaking faster than I can fix them. But the good 
news is that they CAN be fixed. Yes, parts wear out from years of overuse. I absolutely expected 
that. Still I much prefer this over heart disease, diabetes, stroke and obesity issues. 
I guess an occasional 'repair' from an active lifestyle is a worthwhile trade-off for overall 
long-term health.


WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A LITTLE 
MORE TIME? 

"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. 
Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's 
relativity." ― Albert Einstein

When I turned 40, I became more attuned to death. I thought dying 
at that age would be shocking—a tragedy—but it happens. I decided 
I'd better start taking better care of myself.

At 50, I accepted that death was definitely on the menu. I'd better start having more fun.

In my 60's, I'm doing my best to make the most of things, and I find it harder than I expected. 
My questions have changed. Is it possible to be truly known, or to truly know? Everyone 
around me seems so sure of everything, while I seem to know less and less.

At this point, I find myself asking: "What would you do if you knew you only had a little more 
time?"

I'd try to be kinder and laugh more. I'd get out of the house and meet new people. I'm trying to 
be less resistant, more forgiving, and more loving.

Henry David Thoreau said, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front 
only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I 
came to die, discover that I had not lived... I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of 
life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath 
and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms..."

I will be 64 soon, and my mother was 66 at the time of her death. I'd love to eliminate everything 
that's not essential, but I'm finding that to be more difficult than I imagined. It's easy to 
acquire possessions, but far more difficult to shed them.

I woke up this morning thinking about forgiveness.

I'm noticing the small transgressions and slights that I've held onto. My longtime friends and 
friendships have changed. One of my coping skills is constantly reminding myself that everything 
changes, and nothing stays the same, but sometimes, my resistance is so subtle that it 
sneaks up on me.

Lots of my friends are judges now. That has changed the landscape of friendship in the legal 
community, and I was hurt by it. Many now believe their relationships with lawyers should 
be confined within the four walls of the courtroom, regardless of decades of friendship before 
they took the bench. I felt abandoned, excluded from lives I once shared.

But I'd never considered the other side. In today's world of constant surveillance and scrutiny, 
perhaps these once-close friends now live in a kind of social prison. Every interaction outside 
the courtroom risks being misinterpreted, photographed, or posted online. Their position demands 
a distance that may pain them as much as it does me. I'm learning that there's another 
way to interpret what felt like rejection. It may not be personal after all, but the price of the 
robes they wear.

The real question isn't what we would do with more time, but how we choose to spend our 
precious moments now. Let go of what doesn't serve you. Don't resist love when it appears. 
Practice self-kindness daily. The time to live fully isn't someday—it's today.

Lori A. Harris is an award-winning transformational coach for the extraordinary results her clients 
achieve. Learn more about her at loriaharris.com.


Michele Silence, M.A. is a 37-year certified fitness 

professional who offers semi-private/virtual fitness 
classes. Contact Michele at michele@kid-fit.
com. Visit her Facebook page at: michelesfitness 
Visit her Facebook page at: michelesfitness.

INSPIRING WOMEN OF SIERRA MADRE AND 
SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES

Meet Carol Canterbury from Sierra Madre

Carol received her realtor’s 
license in July 1997 and has 
been a realtor since 1998. She 
said that she will keep selling 
homes forever!

She also has been volunteering 
in Sierra Madre since 1986.

When asked if there is 
something special that she 
would like to share about 
herself, Carol simply stated 
“I'm just a plain old lady!”

We wanted to know of any 
obstacles that she had to 
overcome.

Carol responded that “Obstacles 
are normal in real estate.” 

She balanced raising two sons, 
and cared for her husband, 
Tom. In 2010, Tom started 
showing signs of Parkinson's in 
addition to his bipolar disorder. 
By 2020 it was discovered that 
he had Lewy body dementia. 
He went into hospice at home and passed away in June 2024. 

Carol stopped chairing chamber events for Sierra Madre in 2024.

We asked Carol, in which ways she’s been a part of the fabric of her community and what she 
loves about her community? 

Carol spoke about volunteering. She said that all of her friends volunteer, as “it's what we all believe 
in.” “If you want events to continue, you must stay involved.” Carol’s mother also volunteered in 
the community. She mentioned that the city has huge budget issues now, and that events we love 
are in danger of being cancelled.

She also wanted us to know that there are town meetings that ask for our help and input!!

She told us that Judy Webb, a realtor colleague, taught her so much. She learned a lot of history 
from the Heasley's and Doc White. She also mentioned how lucky we are to have Doug Hayes, 
and how he has an absolute museum in his collection of local historical artifacts! 

We asked Carol “how she stays inspired”

She said that she gets inspiration while running on the trail. It also helps her “jingle brain” figure 
things out. 

Carol’s Words of wisdom

“We have to preserve our history. When we go, we are taking all our knowledge. We need more 
videos of conversations and we need to spread our knowledge.”

Thank you Carol for all you do!

Written by Gigi Hutchinson & Annette Pizzo-McGill 

From The Traveled Path Collaborative

“Our MISSION is to host a unique collaboration of creative and inspiring women who empower 
each other to follow their path and realize their dreams.”



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