Thomas W. Peatman, M.D.
Tele-Health Is Working Out
The last thing Michele Matheson expected a few weeks after hip surgery was that she would be healthier than her driver.
Michele, who we are fondly calling “Doctor Mom” because some of her children are doctors, had a total hip replacement on her left hip with Dr. Louay Toma of Muir Orthopaedic Specialists (MOS) in February 2020, and has been making a good recovery.
After her first Physical Therapy visit in early March, she was seeing progress, looking forward to her post-operative follow-up with her surgeon, and anticipating her next PT visit. Amidst coronavirus fears in Contra Costa County, when her nominated driver fell ill, Michele was unable to get to her appointment at the MOS facility. After contacting her surgeon Dr. Toma for advice, she was offered a tele-medicine session, which meant that her post-op follow-up appointment would take place with Dr. Toma by phone.
After discussing her x-rays, her wound, her health and progress, Michelle described the session with Dr. Toma: “I am so happy Dr Toma could accommodate my needs and fears”.
Following that session, Michele was then referred to the physical therapists at Muir Orthopaedics for “tele-rehab”, which was conducted via video conference. On March 20th she spent an hour together with GSOS Doctors of Physical Therapy, Kelsey and Adriana, on Skype conducting a full PT session.
“Kelsey and Adriana were wonderful, very descriptive with their words and showed me exactly what to do, how far to move my leg, how far to move my back” said Michelle. “I feel more flexible and my balance is good.”
Robinson Wills, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Clinical Director at GSOS, commented:
“ With this coronavirus threat, patients are concerned that they are going to miss out on recovering properly.
We have kept many of our facilities open so that healthy surgical or injured patients can get the care they need.
For those with respiratory illness or who cannot get to the facility because their family members or drivers are ill, our tele-rehab sessions are a great option.
The session was noticeably beneficial for Michele and we are so happy we were able to help her. We hope we’ll be able to do the same for others until things get back to normal. ”
Along with bringing the garbage cans in from the street for the first time since her surgery, Michele felt that the tele-health sessions were her best experiences of the week.
“ It’s wonderful to have qualified people telling you what to do. I didn’t even have to take notes, they sent me the e-mail and video after the session. I didn’t feel rushed, they wanted to know how I felt about each exercise. It was very beneficial, I’m going to do another one next week. ”
ABOUT GOLDEN STATE ORTHO SPORTS MEDICINE
Fortunately for Bay Area athletes, whether pro team athletes or weekend warriors, the sports medicine team at Golden State Orthopedic & Spine is game ready and on your side!
Whether you just want to move without pain, or you want to get back in the game, we have advanced diagnostics, treatments and therapies to help you get back – better.
