Transcription:
How Joint Camp Helps Prepare you for Knee or Hip Replacement

Bill Klaproth (Host): If you have pain or limited movement in one of your joints, your doctor may recommend joint surgery. So, what is that and total joint replacement joint camp; what is that? Hmmm. Let’s find out with Dr. Fadi Saied, an orthopedic surgeon with Dignity Health. Dr. Saied, thanks for your time.

Fadi Saied, DO (Guest): Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Host: You bet. So, I am dying to know about this. what is total joint replacement joint camp?

Dr. Saied: Sure. So, once you’ve seen your orthopedic surgeon and you’ve made the decision that you are going to proceed with knee replacement or a hip replacement; we have a boot camp if you will to get you ready for that surgery and for everything you need to know before and after the procedure and to have as much information and everything you need to have a successful outcome.

Host: So, it’s a boot camp to get you ready for total joint replacement surgery?

Dr. Saied: Exactly. It gives you all the tools and all the information you need to have as smooth an outcome as possible.

Host: That is really cool. So, what is the benefit to the patient then and what does the program ultimately need to accomplish getting someone ready for a total joint replacement surgery?

Dr. Saied: So, the point of the whole program is to give you all the information that you need and to give you all the expectations and questions that you have answered before you even have your surgery. That way you can have your house set up as you want to, you can have your therapy scheduled, your ice machine that you know everything before the procedure, and you know how to get ready and to have that procedure be as smooth as possible; not just in the hospital but more importantly when you go home.

Host: So, I’m imagining the drill sergeant yelling at a knee, get in shape you, but I guess that’s not it. but that makes sense, you are helping to answer all of their questions in advance of the surgery. Like you said, getting their house in order. Better to do it before than after. So, it’s nice that people can do these things ahead of surgery and not have to worry about it after. Is that right?

Dr. Saied: Correct. It resolves most people’s anxieties because – sometimes we do everything we can and answer all those questions for you in our clinic when you come see us in our preoperative appointment; but the more information, the better. So, this is just reinforcing some of the information and adding to some of the more specific questions you may have.

Host: So, in your experience then, this does help patients achieve a more successful outcome. Can you talk about that?

Dr. Saied: Absolutely. I mean and the way that you are able to have a more successful outcome is because they are able to anticipate and any issues that may arise or that may be an issue for them like needing transportation to therapy or potentially getting things like cooling machines or ice machines for your knee before the procedure to help with your outcome. Little things like getting your walker and cane before surgery and even setting up appointments that you may need required for example a lot of the times, we will have our immediate postop appointments; you’ll have the dates for those before you even have surgery.

Host: Well that really does help the outcome because sometimes people may forget to schedule an appointment if they don’t do it in advance.

Dr Saied: Exactly or even forget to schedule their therapy I mean which is as important as the surgery itself.

Host: Yeah, so good to have that locked in in advance. So, how does the hospital work with the surgeons in order for the patient to have these resources? How does that work?

Dr. Saied: So, there’s usually a docent, which we’ll talk about later, who is a person who is in charge of all the individuals that have joint replacements at Dignity, and she checks and verifies to make sure that for example, that they have their walker, their cane, that they’ve already scheduled an appointment for their therapy, that they have a postop appointment. Those are all things that she specifically checks to make sure the patients will have an excellent outcome.

Host: So, let’s talk about the docent and for someone not familiar with that. What is a docent and tell us briefly about the program.

Dr. Saied: I would say that’s kind of like your team captain except this is the person hired by the hospital itself to guide you, to be your formal guide through the joint replacement process in addition to your physician and the clinic team. So, this is the individual hired by Dignity Health to help you have as smooth an outcome as possible.

Host: So, are you assigned this docent? Is that how it works?

Dr. Saied: Yeah, usually and it depends on the hospital. But for example, where I work at Dignity at Memorial, there is usually once docent who is taking care of all of that.

Host: So, tell us how this team captain works. They interface with the doctors, the surgeons, the therapists, the patient, the patient’s family. Tell us a little bit about that.

Dr. Saied: Sure. So, the docent checks on the patient to make sure they are progressing appropriately, to make sure they have everything they need. If they see an issue, for example the patient didn’t get a walker or cane, she helps coordinate that. Or if she sees for example that the patient does not have an appointment scheduled with therapy; she will contact the surgeon’s team directly to make sure that we help the patient schedule therapy. She also makes sure that you have all the required medications that you may have after the operation and to make sure that you’ve already picked them up or someone has picked them up for you.

So, she works – she’s a close part of our team in which she regularly contacts the surgeon and or the surgeon’s office to make sure that we make – that your process is as smooth as possible.

Host: So, Dr. Saied, total joint replacement joint camp, you said is like a boot camp before surgery; so, when does boot camp start for people? Is it a month out, six weeks out; how does the process work beforehand?

Dr. Saied: Well typically, it usually starts around a month before and up to several weeks before surgery. As long as it’s done within a month before surgery, that’s usually when you retain the most information. So, we typically do that as soon as we can through surgery, but usually about between a month or so or sooner from your surgical date.

Host: So, if you do a good job, do you get a furlough? Do you get a little bit of time off then?

Dr. Saied: I wish. It just doesn’t work that way.

Host: I’m kidding. So, no, you’ve got to be regimented and that’s what the boot camp is for getting someone ready for surgery. So, then after surgery, how long does the docent or like you said, the team captain stay with the person making sure they go to the appointments and other things that may be needed?

Dr. Saied: Actually, as from what I understand, the docent can be really contacted any time if you are having any issues, but typically the docent is helping you for about a month from your date of surgery. So, let’s say a month meaning a couple of weeks before surgery, up to a month before surgery and up to a month after surgery.

Host: So, if you could wrap it up for us Dr. Saied, for the person listening to this podcast who is about to go into total joint replacement joint camp; what’s your best advice for that person?

Dr. Saied: My best advice would be to make sure you read all the information we dispense to you and to write down any questions you have, to go to the joint camp and bring any of those questions you have as well. And to just anticipate any issues that you may have and to be as prepared as you can for surgery before your surgical date. That would make sure that you have the smoothest recovery possible.

Host: Great information Dr. Saied. And thank you so much for your time today. For more information on total joint replacement joint camp, please visit www.dignityhealth.org/bakersfield/ortho. Once again, that’s www.dignityhealth.org/bakersfield/ortho. And make sure you subscribe to Hello Healthy in Apple podcasts, Google Play or wherever you listen to your podcasts and check back for our next episode soon. This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health podcast. I’m Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.