Though Feb. 15-19 is Army Medicine Patient Recognition Week, one patient wanted to reverse the script.
Ohio native Kerry Singer sang the praises of staff at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital for the excellent care he received.
"I'd like to say kudos to Dr. (Maj. David) Crawford's team, they did a wonderful and excellent job," the retired Army mechanic said.
At some point during his 20-year military career, he suffered an injury that resulted in hip pain that continued to be aggravated after he retired in 2004.
After being referred to orthopedics, Singer initially decided to go with the less-invasive procedure of getting a shot to lessen his discomfort. "Dr. Crawford advised me, 'We can try a shot, but you're going to have to have a hip replacement.'"
Crawford was right. The shot didn't work and Crawford and his team performed a total left hip replacement Dec. 15.
"I went in and everybody was great," Singer said. "They told me what was going to happen and (now) there's no excruciating pain." He was in the hospital for about five days, followed by a week in rehabilitation. He said he was up walking the day after the surgery.
Though he's no longer getting formal physical therapy, Singer said he's got a program of his own that he does at home.
Singer was assigned to Fort Campbell in 2002 and, once he retired from the Army following a deployment to Iraq, decided to stay in the area due to the economic opportunities and cost of living. He worked several contract jobs on post for about 10 years once he left the Army.
"My wife passed away about a year and a half ago and my daughter comes and helps me out every once in a while, so things have been working out pretty decent," he said. "I'm feeling great compared to how I was feeling."
"Dr. Crawford said I should be about 100% in about a year, but I plan to beat that," Singer said with a chuckle.
Army Medicine has a goal of providing world-class, patient-centered care that addresses all of the patients' health care needs. Based his on his experience, Singer said the BACH staff delivered on that tenet.
"The Army has made leaps and bounds in care (it provides). The staff was thoughtful, generous and there when I needed them," he said. "They were awful supportive, and I'm talking about military personnel, as well as civilian personnel."
Social Sharing