BizMEDICINE
Dr. Steven Zeiller
PRESCRIBING RELIEF FROM PAIN
Getting Patients Back to ‘Normal’ By Lee Allen Over the past quarter of a century Tucson Orthopaedic Institute has become Southern Arizona’s largest multispecialty orthopaedic group urging those in need to “get back in the game with comprehensive care from a team of trusted experts.” No matter where an injury happened or how, their medical specialists fix banged-up elbows, hands, shoulders, feet and ankles – everything right up to total joint replacement – at eight area locations. They offer a no-appointment, walkin clinic for acute injuries, and their testimonials are numerous from grateful patients who showed up in pain and found relief. One of those is competitive distance runner Dan Heston of Marana, who extols the virtues of TOI doctors. During the work day, he shows homeowners how to build outdoor kitchens and fireplaces. When not doing that, he’s running – competitively, frequently and for long distances. That was until he went on a dimly lit construction zone – an ill-conceived trip for an experienced runner of 30 years – that sent him to the TOI orthopaedic specialists with torn tendons after tripping through an unseen excavation. “They elected not to do any kind of medical Band-Aid injections because I’d just keep running and probably do further damage, so we skipped the 150 BizTucson
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Spring 2019
drugs and opted for physical therapy,” he said. “After just a few visits, I was back training and running 50 to 60 miles a week. Physical therapy can do wonders for the human body.”
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Our patient stories provide essential feedback as we work every day to improve our care.
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– Dr. Andrew Mahoney Tucson Orthopaedic Institute
He should know something about the mind over body equation because he pushes his body so hard. “I like to see how hard I can push myself physically and although you break your body down pretty good, I don’t feel I’ve
reached a stopping point yet. In fact, that injury came shortly before one of my best runs – a 26-hour, 106-mile distance run that ended as the national anthem signaled the start of the El Tour de Tucson bike race.” Dr. William Prickett and colleagues at TOI may have to prepare Heston a frequent-patient card as he recently expended himself a bit too hard in the gym and tore muscles so badly he couldn’t walk. “This time, they put me in a boot, added some meds and exercises, and got me rehabbed and back on the road again so I could finish a marathon run down Mount Lemmon.” Ronnie Grate, a fitness specialist at Grate Performance Training and a member of the Canyon Ranch Fitness Team for more than 20 years, got to know Dr. Russell Cohen and the concept of robotic hip replacement when several decades of running and jumping workouts brought him more pain than pleasure. “I love what I do in helping clients achieve their goals – but the initial pain was slowing me down,” he said. “It was getting progressively worse. I’d be walking and out of the blue the pain would be so bad, I’d have to stop before I could take another step.” In his late 50s with three decades as a fitness exercise specialist, he thought the progression of time was catching up continued on page 152 >>> www.BizTucson.com