Michael R. Anderson, MD (Host): Hello, everyone, and welcome to this episode of The FortCast. I'm your host, Dr. Michael Anderson, president and CEO of Fort Healthcare, and also ear, nose and throat physician. And I'm very excited to have our guest today. Today, we'd like to welcome Dr. Pete Deol to The FortCast. Dr. Deol, thank you for joining us today.

Pete Deol, DO: Thank you. It's great to be here.

Host: And before we get started, most of our audience knows that I've been with Fort Healthcare for a little over 20 years. And Dr. Deol, if you could please tell us a little bit about yourself. And we're so excited to have you, because you are our new foot and ankle specialist. But please tell us a little bit about your background.

Pete Deol, DO: Yeah. Well, you know, I grew up in the Midwest. I grew up in Illinois, outside of the Chicagoland area. I did all my training in Missouri and then in Cleveland, and then down to Columbus, Ohio for a year at orthopedic foot and ankle fellowship. And then, after training, I moved out to Denver. It's my first practice out there. I was in practice for 17 years out there. I became the head of our foot and ankle division within a large orthopedic practice. And I took care of everything from the toes all the way up through the knee, including bunions and arthritis, fractures, ankle replacements. So, you name it. I met my wife and we got married. We had four little kids and decided it was time to move back home.

Host: Well, I can tell you with four kids, you are a very, very busy man, and I'm sure your wife is just as busy. And Fort Atkinson's a lot like Denver. So, I think you'll find it very similar.

Pete Deol, DO: Yep.

Host: All kidding aside, it is just wonderful to have a foot and ankle orthopedic-trained specialist on our medical staff. So Dr. Deol, please kind of educate us a little bit on the differences between an orthopedic foot and ankle specialist versus, say, like a podiatrist.

Pete Deol, DO: Yeah. You know, it comes from two different worlds. And so, as an orthopedic surgeon, I went through medical school, traditional internship, did my five years of residency at the Cleveland Clinic, and then sub-specialized, taking all that knowledge of joint replacements, trauma, sports from everywhere from the neck down, and then took that and concentrated it into the area of foot and ankle. So, you bring a quite a bit of experience and practice of anatomy and techniques and can kind of hone in on that kind of niche. Podiatry takes a bit of a different approach. They go to podiatric school. And then, after that, there are varying residencies that they may complete, which gives them ability to do certain things within the foot and/or ankle, and that varies from provider to provider.

But when you're seeing an orthopedic foot and ankle specialist, we've had a much broader training, and then little by little hone that into something more specific. So, the advantage is when I take call at the hospital, I can take care of hip fractures and knee tibia fractures and ankle fractures and treat people who have shoulder injuries. But my heart lies in the foot and ankle world where I've just been able to, you know, focus for the last 17 years.

Host: Well, I appreciate that background. It's very important to kind of understand the difference between the two specialists. And we certainly appreciate our podiatry specialists. We've worked alongside them for many, many years, but certainly Dr. Deol, we definitely welcome your expertise to our medical staff.

So, with that being said, why don't you tell us a little bit about what major entities that you treat as a foot and ankle specialist? What are the most common things that you will see in your office?

Pete Deol, DO: You know, the interesting about thing about foot and ankle is that there's a lot of things that literally walk in the door. So, you know, it'd be everything from a bunion and a hammer toe to arthritis. I grew up as an athlete. in high school and college. And so, I still really enjoy the sports side of things, ankle scopes, cartilage injuries, Achilles tendon injuries, ligament injuries. But all of it's really interesting to me, which is what attracted me to foot and ankle, because you can do joint replacements, take care of, you know, simple sprains, all the way to complex reconstructions.

Host: Well, I tell you, you know, you and I, we're on exact opposite ends of the spectrum. I'm the neck up, and you couldn't be further away from neck down. So I, I certainly, appreciate that. One thing I wanted to touch base on is the total ankle. You know, before I met you, quite frankly, I didn't even know that those existed. Could you educate us a little bit on what that means?

Pete Deol, DO: Yeah. So, you know, everyone's really familiar with ankle, knee replacements and hip replacements, you know, your neighbor, a relative. And, you know, that has a longer track record. It's been around for a period of time longer. The ankle replacement world really kind of, you know, kicked off in the 1970s, and it's been developing gradually.

It's just as much smaller, you know, group of people. There's not as many people with ankle arthritis as you see with hip and knee. But really, it's really taken off in the last 15 to 20 years. It's really become the standard of care for ankle arthritis. And in my previous position, our facility did the largest number of total ankle replacements in the entire Rocky Mountain region.

So, we were able to take care of patients who'd never had a surgery, all the way to people who've had ankle replacements that needed to be revised. And so, we got, a lot of really good experience. We were able to take care of some really great patients. But it's really rewarding because you get to see from start to finish that ankle that they don't even want to walk, you know, to the bathroom with, to the one that they want to go on a hike with. So, it's really one of those things for the right patient, and the right procedure, people can do remarkably well.

Host: Well, it's a brand new service that we offer here at Fort Healthcare. And so, I think we are all getting educated on what your expertise is, because our patients and our community are truly going to benefit from it. With the total ankle, after somebody receives a total ankle, is there a fair amount of physical therapy involved in it?

Pete Deol, DO: Yeah. You know, I think for foot and ankle care particularly, that's probably one of the hardest things is that it's a very delicate area. We have to take some precautions that you don't have to take in other joints like knees and hips. So because of that, it takes a little bit of time to kind of get some momentum building, but physical therapy is a really big part of it.

And, you know, with a couple three months invested into the recovery, by that point, people are usually back to getting into their activities and things that, you know, bring them joy. And it's a partnership. It's between me, it's the patient, it's the therapist, it's their medical team, it's everybody being on the same page and aligned to make sure that we've got their goals in mind.

Host: So, Dr. Deol, anybody who's got a bothersome foot or ankle or even a little bit above that, they can come in to see you directly, correct? Or do they need a referral, to be seen? Tell us a little bit about that.

Pete Deol, DO: Yeah. I mean, kind of all comers, you can directly schedule online. You can come in depending on your insurance plan or get referred by your primary care team. We see people through the emergency room and urgent care. So, we've got availability same day or next day. And I'm happy to get you in and take a look.

Host: Well, I know you're very good about access. You're very friendly at getting people in and being seen in a very timely fashion, so we certainly appreciate that. One thing I wanted to touch base on is you mentioned it a little bit on the beginning where you talked a little bit more about the orthopedic side of things.

So obviously, you take call, you cover our emergency room, you cover our inpatient services here at Fort Healthcare, and your skillset goes beyond the foot and ankle where you are able to take, in an acute fashion, care of those who suffer injuries from their hips or their knees or shoulders. Isn't that correct, Dr. Deol?

Pete Deol, DO: Yep. Yep. So, in my previous position, out in Colorado, I was not only the lead of our foot and ankle division, but I also participated in the trauma call team. And we took care of a level one trauma center. So, you know, ski injuries, car accidents, motorcycle injuries, I mean, kind of whatever walked through the, the doors of the level one trauma center, I was part of the team that took care of it.

So, all the way from, again, simple injuries to pretty complex multi-limb injuries. So yeah, I'm very comfortable seeing patients through the ER, seeing them at the hospital for anything trauma-related.

Host: Well, I've learned a lot, just in talking to you, Dr. Deol. I mean, we've never had a foot and ankle specialist, with an orthopedic background like you in the past here at Fort Healthcare. And I just continue to learn, about your expertise and the true amount of services that you can offer our patients and community. I want to just say thank you for joining me on this episode of The FortCast today.

Pete Deol, DO: I appreciate it. I can't tell you how happy I am to be here. So, thank you for everyone.

Host: Yeah, thank you too. And if you or a loved one needs their foot or ankle checked out, please make an appointment with Dr. Deol. But otherwise, thank you for joining me on this episode of The FortCast. Please share us on our social media channels. And this is Dr. Anderson saying thank you and have a great day.