 Valdes, 64, who has lived in Lincoln for half his life, has an
active lifestyle. His leisure activity includes bicycling, walking
and gardening, and he handles the lawn work for 10 yards. He was
sure the pain was simply a pulled muscle.After an X-ray at his
doctor's office, he learned that the top of his femur, his thigh
bone, "didn't look quite right." He took medication to alleviate the
pain, but decided after a month that something else needed to be
done before he traveled to Florida for his daughter's graduation in
August.
Valdes needed a total hip replacement. And that's where Abraham
Lincoln Memorial Hospital came in with its Memorial JointWorks at
ALMH program. The Lincoln hospital offers a variety of orthopedic
surgeries, including hip, knee and shoulder replacement. Dr. David
Olysav, who performed the surgery, leads the orthopedic team at the
hospital.
"The goal of the JointWorks program is to help joint replacement
patients return to their normal life and recover as quickly as
possible," Olysav said.
Patients attend a pre-procedure education class, where they and
their coaches learn about pre-surgical exercises, the procedure,
medications that will be used, what happens at the hospital and what
to expect
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Valdes' surgery was on July 17, 3 1/2 weeks before his daughter's
graduation for her master's degree at the University of Southern
Tampa. He went home on July 20 and was fully recovered within a
couple of weeks.
"The pain was kept under control," Valdes said. "I started
walking the day after surgery. They wanted me to walk to the end of
the hall, but I walked all the way around the second floor."
His hospital stay was followed by physical therapy at the
hospital twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, for an hour. "They
work you out," Valdes recalled.
But the results were worth it, he said. "I feel a lot better. I
can do everything that I used to do, but there's no pain now. I
couldn't have asked for any better care at the hospital."
[Text from file received from
Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital]
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