More Than Just a Surgery – Angela, Part II

A Project Access Patient Spotlight

By Allison Howard

“‘Angela’ was stuck. Osteoarthritis in her left hip was holding her hostage.”

Join us as we pick up on Project Access patient Angela’s story in Angela – Part II. You can read Angela – Part I here to learn how Project Access partnered with NTACHC to connect her to a medical home and access to critical presurgical clearance.

After years of debilitating osteoarthritis in Angela’s hip, after overcoming the roadblocks of stress tests and lack of basic medical care through Heart Center of North Texas and NTACHC, it was time for the pain to go away. Project Access volunteer Dr. Mark Woolf of Arlington Orthopedic Associates agreed to perform the hip replacement, believing it was absolutely necessary to Angela’s recovery.

Project Access coordinated the surgery at Baylor Orthopedic and Spine Hospital at Arlington, where U.S. Anesthesia Partners – Arlington Division would provide anesthesia. It was on the docket.

No matter how anticipated a surgery may be, though, there is always a level of anxiety that rises as it draws closer. We wonder if it will help our pain, if our doctor cares about us as individuals. We wonder if this is truly the answer we’ve been searching for.

As soon as the surgery was complete, any fears Angela carried with her were wiped away. She remembers the process being seamless and was overwhelmed by Dr. Woolf’s attentiveness.

“He visited me often; he came on my last day at the hospital to check on me and ask how I was doing,” Angela says. “He had already volunteered so much of his time for the surgery, and he continued doing so!”

After she healed from the hip replacement, everything changed. Angela now has a new job and is able to go to family gatherings and care for her house – things that arthritis had once taken from her. She says she is motivated by the prospect of a future that is not dominated by pain and that everyone who helped her get the surgery is like “God’s healing hands on earth.”

“Being able to have had this surgery has been a blessing for me and my family and is the most wonderful gift anyone could have received,” Angela says. “I will always be thankful for Project Access because they guided me through this whole process and helped so much.”