Nathan Meeks

As an Army Veteran who had a right shoulder injury during Air Assault school, I understand the importance of an active lifestyle. Army medicine claimed that I injured my rotator cuff and prescribed me the standard shoulder injury recovery regimen. Yet my shoulder never completely healed and I would have repeated pain that prevented me from participating in certain repetitive movement exercises such as swimming.

Fast forward to 2022 and I had the privilege of volunteering at Pleasant Valley High School and meeting Dr. Foad and his family. I observed his interaction with patients he ran into while attending the school events and noticed how attentive and caring he was even out of the office. I was impressed with how he took the time to listen and respond with compassion and understanding.

In 2024 my shoulder injury returned with a vengeance preventing me from many day-to-day activities. Veteran Affairs Health Care said they could refer me to a local orthopedic surgeon and I jumped at the chance to work with Dr. Foad. From the beginning Dr. Foad was patient, attentive, and willing to explain in detail exactly what he was thinking. He told me that the main issue wasn’t the rotator cuff but the bicep tendon. He discussed the pros and cons of the two options for my specific injury and discussed the procedures and recovery times.

Surgery happened on a Friday without complications or issues. He discussed everything with my wife after surgery and I was referred to his in-house physical therapist Brad Harper. Within just a few days I was seen and we started on an aggressive recovery process. During my first post-op visit with Dr Foad, he went over everything with me including what my shoulder and bicep tendon looked like both before and after surgery was completed. He clarified what my recovery program would look like and made sure that I was able to meet certain goal posts that he sets for patients.

Less than 2 months later and I am at 90% range of motion and I am able to perform certain movements without pain that I couldn’t do before the surgery. I was nervous going in but I have felt nothing but relief at how quickly I have been recovering and how well I have been treated by Dr. Foad and his staff. I would recommend him to anyone who is looking to have orthopedic procedures done in joint and tendon repair.