Are Caregivers Postponing Needed Surgery Due to The Covid-19 or Other Factors?

John, this is a fine howdy do stay up all night and study for test. Yes, that's right. They're testing me tomorrow to see if I have this thing and if I have no grace had been 19 and guess what they are hundred percent sure that I do to or have idled up in Roseburg… Hope the caregiver. We are so glad to have you with this and this is very special so we got great guest and you just love these foot with John out before we get into that they're going to see if I got John my sidekick here who so sharp. He's not allowed around balloons John Highfield, I'm feeling fantastic how are you concerned about you will. I've had this pesky cough, and they think because of this, because my proximity to Gracie that I've had this thinks they can attest me tomorrow to see if I have antibodies that they do they want my blood. Okay you know what that means that you weld a ramp somewhere out there there people to go to get TV preacher quality hair so I'm glad you're getting tested again because you were tested earlier tested negative and graceless like a living and you're just being stupid. You know you got it. I don't feel like I have it but you never know. So anyway that's what you find out tomorrow. I will let you all know I will tell everyone I will keep everyone apprised of what will happen through this process in the list to see I get right to a very special guest at the southern joint replacement Institute in Nashville Tennessee.

There is a very prominent orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey hundred who has a long list of credentials that I won't spend a lot of time on but I would encourage you to look him up. He is an amazing surgeon and just a great guy and he's very very great: to the show today so… How you feeling I'm feeling great.

I hope you are well and I wish you luck on your test tomorrow when I will study all night and I don't feel bad I Gracie said you know – he said when are you tired. I said yes, Lisa. Do you have a headache.

I said I've had to in the last month and but that's part of the job the caregiver for 34 years ago to have a headache, so will see. But if I do have antibodies.

I'm happy to help out and then hopefully they can be of some use to some people but were starting to come to reopen the country a little bit slowly but surely elective surgeries and by elective surgeries like people immediately think well this is something you don't you just want to have like plastic surgery for cosmetic stuff. No, my wife's amputations actually were elective got to the point where she sat with the surgeon told to look surgically. There's nothing more we can do about this when it's bad enough for you, then we need to have a conversation about take the limbs off and that's exactly what she did many years ago, but there a lot of electric circuit. There's a lot of joint replacement knees, hips, and so forth that people been putting off because of this thing. What are your thoughts on this now as were starting to integrate and how can people come to mentally get prepared. What we need to look for what we need to do what's going on with you guys about it and what are your thoughts.

Thank you for what you do what you have done for caregivers all over the world. You know I work in the world of placement so only say that I replace hips, knees and shoulders, mostly for folks that have arthritis and pain in those joints for years typically have failed other treatments then make a decision we make that decision together have been replaced by large as I was think about this program. You know the folks commanding a attic caregiver is looking approach and it is a large surgery that requires quite a bit of rehabilitation following some prior knee replacements her hip replacement social replacement.

It's six weeks to three months of physical therapy and sometimes it's well beyond that. As far as exercise, getting people to appointment in a clinical therapy appointment to restart our patient. These are some patient had been planning on this for a year and want to burn a lot of pain. We have different ways we can help and support them. In the meantime, very fortunately start in virtual visits with patient. I think one thing that's underrated to be able to kind of interact with these folks were putting metal and plastic and people's bodies. So I take that very seriously. I would take a lot of time to educate patients about this to build a relationship with these folks and we call them lifelong. After the surgery, so this is been a nice time for a lot of our patients to recommend education law goes a long way. I think you understand that as well to kind of reduce anxiety going into a procedure the patient seem to do a lot better X jump in SU click list when you putting parts in the people's bodies, plastic and metal so forth. What about this with the virus.

Is there any chance of this thing migrating to those parts. What is this just stay in the respiratory tracker of what what about that sort of thing, yet not not typically so. At the right one that is more of a pulmonary situation only think about part.

Possibility if it gets infected that could be a bacterial infection that data here can travel in the body and they tend to look for and can latch onto are attached to form for materials know if you have plastic or metal in your body, not a virus that's not anything you need to be worried about, and even apart the course. The parts that come on. These are manufactured and then sterilized event package in such a way, there's really no way for virus on to expect that part so that that is not even part of the concern. Now you being in a hospital or hospital environment certainly is of concern that something that were talking with patients about to leave your thought on this thing is now. Patients can be in the hospital how long this estate normally for. For example, for a shoulder know when you do a rotator or knee replacement anything like that hello is a hospital stay for that yet. We are fortunate so the biggest advancements probably in the last 15 to 20 years in our world and around anesthesia and the way that we deal with folks pain after surgery. So for me I'm doing probably 20% of my surgeries on an outpatient basis actually go on the same day. That's good right that's very good so that way they can come in, have a procedure limit their interaction and touch points with folks in that environment and then go home to their own environment. Return to that environment. Now the other 80% typically are 75% gone the next day. So that's what you want now not as you know, not every surgery goes according to plan, and maybe people have to stay longer in the hospital by large of our patients a little bit older, so you need an vulnerable category when we talk about the virus and those of the patient's copy that will be delayed a little bit longer you looking for healthier candidates for surgery. During this phase 1 restart as far as about the surgery surgery center versus hospital thoughts on that one. Yeah so high I I do surgeries in the surgery center. I think there are advantages. I think at the restart in the beginning of having surgery in a surgery center again when you go into a surgery center you're talking about a smaller environment that much easier to control and manage our services as far as people parse testing less employees are not to worry about a lot of people on every single person. Of course, is exponential, so everyone you're introduced to. Also knows all yellow people could potentially interact with all these other people. So if you think you like that less is more. So you don't want to meet as many people during that episode I think a surgery center offers an advantage you do a lot of like you to go to knee replacement are listed.

What's the weight. Generally speaking, for folks that are needing a knee replacement or hip replacement are the they tend to be little bit more overweight that they tend to be fit. The gist of worn it out because of running or whatever what's what's going on with that yeah all over time we seen that being an issue where United States of America and are fortunately new hazardous and obesity epidemic anybody.

As is well aware also.

People you arthritis may have a genetic component. People are predisposed to get it sometimes dictate posttraumatic situation where you had an accident had damaged the cartilage in other situations, it's more of a mechanical thing that's where the weight comes in. If you have course more load on the truck and you have more there on the tires phenomenon so that we see quite often now we know that some portion of the folks that are higher weight are higher risk for surgery to spend a lot more time trying to optimize them before surgery. We learn that that's important right to have less chance of having a major complication. If we can help them before surgery, rather than do the surgery and tried to kill the complication. One of the things that I see on a regular basis with little caregivers we tend to put on weight this one of the landmines a talk about in the book, and when I got so big it took two dogs to bark at me and started doing things to really take that weight off, but I will also see people that are obese and dealing with. You could just tell that that that their knees are buckling with this strain, and so forth. But they're pushing a wheelchair for somebody. And so taking the time off to get their knee fixed is almost means not impossible, but it's incredibly difficult to do because he's gonna take care of their level and it sent you notice he sees people suffering with this and yet there are being called upon to take care of someone else while they're suffering with no just put it off and put it off and put it off. You know you've run into this were people just with just keep putting it off, but at some point your you're doing, you're actually creating more problems.

They go ahead and getting it done with that be a fair statement, absolutely. We feel like our patients are patients that have the arthritis and are the caregivers rightly have a significant other, sometimes or within an clinic, other times not that have not all the issues that you cover all the time right dementia, chronic heart disease, cancer, or have a disabled child right and they have to care for. So they just can't neuron 24 seven 365 and here we have this conversation quite regularly.

Note the tenant course you know you have to take care of yourself.

We can take care of others and often times they delay their care. Sometimes it makes a little bit harder, but helping them understand and a lot of you are so good to talk about this, but there's so much guilt that's associated with the date they they don't participate in self-care because you're so selfless and at some point they start to break down amnesiac obscene arthritis and other people see another way is right so there's no weight gain and resolving medical problems and can come along with that we can help patient to have a good thing and I love my job. Think of the best job in the world could give a surgery that reliably the least pain allows people to get back to the life will people afraid of this because of the okay was going to happen to me.

You know, is to get a commission is to take care of mama do it. And these are hard realities for for maladies.

This is a hard thing to me. I've got a wife who has severe mobility challenges, and other types of things as well and you know me taking time off to recuperate from surgery is almost unthinkable and I don't need surgery right now and I'm grateful for them. Try to be very good steward of my knees and my body and my shoulders and so forth and but at the same time you know it's this is this is a strong reality for folks and I don't I don't know the answer for that. That's a blanket answer across the board for people, but I do know this, that you know healthy caregivers make better caregivers, and if were not healthy words were endangering to people and are not passive face this typically speaking, if you're a senior 49 years old and reasonably healthy person. If you're having a knee replacement. What what is the normal expected time and let Lola something goes drastically wrong was normal expected time of recovery and for your well grandma you walk about five hours after surgery is crazy to think about no Dale Walker to get to a cane after a week now. Your we asked you not to overdo it because you know what a knee swelling and a lot of it is range of motion on the therapies a little harder than a hip replacement project work on that bed, but I had patient go back to work after 46 weeks obscene depend on the location or someone that works no on concrete and manufacturing facility that might be closer to three months for recovery is probably about three months. To be honest with you when you're not thinking about your knee all the time you continue to improve the entire first year as far strength and stamina. You've heard it from the desk. I had them on here because the countries opening back up if you postpone things in your life that are crippling you postpone getting the sinks fixed your hurting two people. This is the expert. Dr. Hajek is that this is what he does at the southern joint replaced this into the national SJ RI.com please please please sit down with your physician. Let's look at a plan of what it's like to get you back walking and health of those who struggle to think things.200 mm left town called Schiller really appreciate what you do as well. You stay healthy okay tell the doctors make the doctors to this thing arose where the sofa the caregiver will be right