ADVENTIST HEALTH LODI MEMORIAL ORTHOPEDICS Expert orthopedic care close to home

As a former All-American in college football, Jason Kimmel is no stranger to joint pain. Then came the day he literally leapt to his father-in-law’s aid when he was about to fall. Jason fell first — and that was the beginning of a downward slide into excruciating hip pain. “I had never felt that kind of pain before,” he says. It became so bad that Jason finally drove himself to Adventist Health Lodi Memorial. At that point, he couldn’t walk, so he dragged himself across the parking lot and into the Emergency Room. The ER physician introduced Jason to Dr. Alexander Nedopil, who scheduled him right away for hip replacement surgery. From the beginning, Jason was impressed by Dr. Nedopil’s expertise and approach to patient care. “He was very confident that he could help me,” Jason says, “and he wasn’t afraid to take all my questions. I could tell he genuinely cares about his patients.” Jason’s surgery and recovery went beautifully, and today he’s back to his active lifestyle. He’s biking and working out, and he and his wife are once again enjoying trips to their favorite vacation spot in Mexico. Another happy ending — thanks to the expertise and talent of Dr. Nedopil!

By the fall of 2019, Ken Heard was desperate. The pain in his right hip was so bad that he couldn’t even straighten up. He was sleeping a couple hours each night by sitting in his wheelchair and resting his head on the kitchen counter. It was a long drop from just months earlier, when Ken was enjoying an active retirement, and even further from the days when he played competitive volleyball. “There were nights I didn’t want to be here,” Ken says. “That’s how bad the pain was.” Then he met Dr. Alexander Nedopil, who discovered that Ken’s right hip socket had completely disintegrated. He was scheduled for hip replacement surgery right away. Ken was encouraged by Dr. Nedopil’s quick response and by his demeanor. “He’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet,” Ken says. “He’s so down to earth that you can’t help but like him.” Immediately after surgery, Ken was no longer doubled over, and the pain in his hip was gone. “I could stand up straight again,” he says, “and within two hours, I was walking with a walker.” It has been full speed ahead since then — with a brief pause 5-1/2 months later for Dr. Nedopil to replace Ken’s left hip. “Now I can do just about anything I want to do!” he says.

47,000 miles. That’s the total Ken Takao racked up over a lifetime of long-distance running — close to two times the circumference of the earth at the equator! It’s maybe not surprising, then, that Ken’s hip joints were wearing out by the time he reached his 50s. He had his left hip replaced, but over the following years, his right hip continued to deteriorate. Ken found himself limping and wobbling from side to side when he walked. He connected with Dr. Alexander Nedopil and, “right off the bat, we had this fantastic relationship,” Ken recalls. “I could see that he really cared that my hip was hurting and that it was making my life not very enjoyable.” After Dr. Nedopil implanted Ken’s new hip, it was off to the races again — in moderation. “I’m not doing long-distance running anymore,” he says, “but now I can exercise, ride my bicycle and walk/jog. Dr. Nedopil gave that ability back to me.” Six months after his hip replacement, Ken was at Adventist Health Lodi Memorial on another matter. Dr. Nedopil spotted him and came over to chat. That small act of kindness made a real impression. “That’s the kind of person I want as my doctor,” Ken says.

Lacey Coward is young and healthy — an exercise enthusiast who loves CrossFit, the Stairmaster and weight training, as well as hiking and biking. But when she was about 25 years old, she started experiencing pain after her workouts. Even with physical therapy, the pain persisted. As the years progressed, it became excruciating. “I was still able to push through it,” she says, “but I was in pain most days. I was limping, and I couldn’t sleep at night.” When Lacey connected with Dr. Alexander Nedopil, he confirmed she had hip dysplasia — a condition she was born with that had, over time, worn away the cartilage in her hips. Dr. Nedopil replaced both of Lacey’s hips, one month apart, and that changed everything for her. Today, at age 32, Lacey is back at the gym and on the trail — pain free! She has booked her first trip to Yosemite, where she and her boyfriend are planning to go biking. Lacey gives Dr. Nedopil top marks, both for his skills as a surgeon and his kindness toward patients. “Dr. Nedopil was absolutely amazing,” she says. “He was so thorough, and he educated me so well. He had such compassion for me, knowing what I had been through.”

Decades of basketball as a professional player and an NBA coach left George with a half dozen knee surgeries, virtually no ACL and a lot of pain. So after 27 seasons and one of only nine NBA coaches in history to have won more than 1,000 games, he was unable to ride a bike or even play golf. Determined to get better, he called around and Dr. Howell’s name kept popping up. After that, the only regret he had was not going to Dr. Howell ten years sooner.

George was amazed at how well his knee replacement went. Within three days, it was 100% better than it was. Ten days later he was outside and walking. With rehab and will power, today, fifteen months after his surgery, George is doing 25 mile rides,averaging 50 miles a week on his bike and back on the golf course. That kind of recovery sounds like a slam dunk.

Dr. James Belogorsky was never a couch potato. He was a free-style swimmer with a great kick, a 40-mile-a-week runner during medical school and an avid rock climber, hiker, back packer, downhill and cross-country skier…all hard on the knees. So when he couldn’t even make one run down the slopes without pain, he knew it was time to do something. And that’s when he found Dr. Howell.

He looked for quality indicators – Dr. Howell’s low infection and complication rates, his reduced time under anesthesia, shorter time in the hospital and early ambulation all spoke volumes about his competence. Importantly, he was also impressed by the mandatory Joint Education class held by those providing his care, including the physical and occupational therapists. It appears Dr. Belaorsky made the right choice.

Downtime was minimal and he was back to work in just a month, walking 4 miles a day on hospital rounds, waterskiing in six weeks and recovering nicely. In fact, so well that Dr. Belogorsky has had his other knee replaced and is looking forward to returning once again to his active life, thanks to Dr. Howell.

Ken has always been active. He played minor league baseball in his youth and now golfs four days a week and goes to the gym regularly. When he slipped on oil at a rental car agency, he fell and severely hurt both his knees. He had an arthroscopic repair for his left knee, but his pain didn’t improve. In fact, it was only getting worse. He sought out orthopedic surgeon Dr. Alexander Nedopil for a second opinion and was scheduled for a knee replacement right away. Dr. Nedopil told Ken he should be back on the golf course in 90 days—and Ken was playing golf again in only 75. Eventually, he knows he’ll need to have his right knee replaced as well. His experience with Dr. Nedopil has been so excellent, he plans to return to him for his next surgery. “I love to spend time with my grandkids, I love to travel and golf—I’m glad to be able to do all those things again. I may be 74, but I want to look good in my casket!” Ken jokes. “I’ve already recommended Dr. Nedopil to other friends,” he says. “He is excellent at what he does.”

Roberta had already had four surgeries on her right knee—and it was still giving her trouble. The first time she visited the team Dr. Alexander Nedopil, she couldn’t even bend or straighten her knee, even after weeks of physical therapy. After falling twice going down the stairs, she knew it was time for surgery. Now, she can walk downstairs, get on her hands and knees, and get back up from the floor. She can make her leg straight again and bend it far beyond 90 degrees! Thanks to her physical exercises after surgery, she was back to a life that she missed for many years six weeks after surgery. Roberta notes that Dr. Nedopil was the first doctor she ever had who called to check on her after surgery. “Everyone in the whole office is kind and caring—they even sent me flowers,” Roberta says. “You have to do your exercises, you have to follow the instructions, but the surgery really works. I’m so happy to live with more mobility again.”

With a strenuous, demanding job building high-rise office buildings, Ted needs to stay mobile. More and more, he was unable to climb stairs, ladders or even walk without pain. He visited Dr. Alexander Nedopil for what he thought would be an arthroscopic knee surgery and Dr. Nedopil quickly discovered Ted would be better off with a knee replacement. Within the year, Ted had knee replacement surgery. After only four days, Ted was walking short distances without the help of the walker. Every week his mobility improves. He’s up to walking his dog two miles a day and still practices his physical therapy exercises. He’s working up to going up and down stairs and climbing the ladder so that he can get back to work soon. “I’m looking forward to playing baseball with my grandsons—to just getting back to normal life without pain,” Ted says. “For having to have surgery, I have no complaints at all. I am better off now than I’ve been in years.”

“I wish to thank the entire staff at Lodi for the wonderful care given to my wife Brenda on June 14th and October 11th. Brenda had both of her knees replaced by Dr. Stephen Howell and each time the level of care by the entire staff was amazing. Brenda is recovering ahead of schedule due to the entire team on skilled staff. We have been Kaiser members for the past 20 years. We decided to seek treatment with Dr. Howell and wish to acknowledge the amazing level of care Brenda received from his entire staff.”