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♪ - [Margaret]

I have always walked. And even in the Navy, I was a jogger. Walking is something you can do anywhere, anytime, and has made it easy for me to do that as my main exercise. Yeah, a few years ago, I was starting to notice that my hip would bother me from time to time, and it wasn't a nuisance until...during

COVID shutting everything down. Because I was still doing a very good exercise program, and then, all of the gymnasiums and fitness centers had to shut down due to COViD. So, after the restrictions were lifted, and I went back to the gym, I wasn't able to do all the exercises I had been doing just a few months prior to that. That's when it was starting to really get bad, and I noticed that my left foot was turning out, not straight, when I would walk.

And I thought, "Something is not right." I called my local physician, well, she's referred me to an orthopedic surgeon within Baptist Health, and it was Dr. Cervoni.

- [Dr. Cervoni]

I think it's very important to know your patient. I think, with especially in the field of orthopedic surgery, where you're treating musculoskeletal injuries and disorders, things such as what they do, their career, their hobbies, interests, sports, they're all very important in determining the best approach to treatment. Margaret is a patient of mine who happens to be a retired Navy veteran. And when we examined her and looked at her imaging, she had sort of the end-stage of osteoarthritis in her hip.

And we talked about different treatments, and she had tried some that we had recommended but still without relief. And ultimately, she wanted to proceed with total hip replacement.

- And I said, "I'm ready. Do it." My recovery, I have to say, I believe took a shorter time than perhaps the average. Part of that, I believe, is because prior to my surgery, they have an orientation class.

- The patient is central to this. And so, we have a program at Baptist where, before the surgery, there's one or two meetings. And, not just with myself as her physician, there are specialists, physical therapists, surgical coordinators, that meet with Margaret, and they explain to her what she's going to be going through. And so, once she understands that, she's empowered to do better.

- I'm thankful that my leg is straight, my foot is straight, I walk normally. I walk without pain, I go to sleep without pain, there is no pain. It's just terrific.

- At Baptist, we have a consistent culture of doing not just what we're expected to do, but over and above that, things we can do.

- I can only say good things about all the care, all the staff, all the interactions I had throughout at Baptist Health.

- To see patients participate in their care, and to see her take off after surgery, and now, she's looking toward fishing, and the spring is coming, and all the things she's going to do this year that she didn't do last year, makes me feel that, as a team, we've done our job.

- I'm happy to be going strong after 70. Now, being retired, and now that I'm able to get around, and my son is living in the same town, we're going to start fishing together, and I'm so looking forward to that. It's good to have a co-fisherman around that I can go bait a hook with. ♪ [music]

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