Back on his feet

by Melissa Soria
Pharos-Tribune staff writer

July 30, 2007 11:10 am

— “I’m alive and kickin’,” Logansport resident Rick Scott said after a round of golf Saturday afternoon.
Scott plays golf six out of seven days of the week. A retired elementary physical education teacher at Landis Elementary School, Scott has been physically active all his life.
“I’ve always played sports,” he said.
He played football for Ball State University, played basketball and baseball in high school and participated in a slow-pitch softball league every summer for several years.
But deteriorating cartilage in his right hip at the end of last year caused the 55-year-old to slow down.
“It was very painful,” Scott said. “I couldn’t walk anymore straight forward. It was painful to walk up the stairs.”
He had been a referee for basketball, but the pain forced him to give it up.
Scott was prescribed pain pills and inflammatory medication, but nothing made him feel 100 percent.
After a few months, Scott said he decided he had to do something about the pain he described as a 9 1/2 on a 10-point scale.
A friend recommended he see Dan Daluga, an orthopedic surgeon at Unity Healthcare in Lafayette.
“I was lucky,” Scott said. “It only went on for about three to four months. Some people put up with it for years.”
Daluga suggested Scott undergo a non-invasive surgery only he and four other orthopedic surgeons in the United States are currently performing.
On Jan. 30, Scott arrived at St. Elizabeth in Indianapolis for his surgery.
He had an incision of two-and-a-quarter inches. No tendons, ligaments or muscles were cut, Scott said. Daluga instead moved the muscle to gain access to Scott’s hip.
Scott recovered quickly, and he was able to walk the day after the surgery was performed, a feat the old surgical procedure would have never allowed.
He remained in the hospital an extra day because of illness from the anesthetic.
“Some people get out the same day of the surgery,” he said.
For the first week, Scott walked with a cane, but seven to eight days later Daluga told him he didn’t need it any more. He was driving within 17 days.
Scott was impressed with the new surgery option he was able to experience first-hand.
“Twenty to twenty-five years ago, what would have happened to me?” he said. “Would I be crippled? There wouldn’t be many options.”
Scott traveled to Florida seven-and-a-half weeks after the surgery to do what he loves: play golf for five days.
Scott says his hip feels better every day. He does have discomfort now and then, but nothing compared to the pain he felt before. He says he would recommend the new procedure to anyone.
Scott said the surgery should last him 15 to 20 years, a good thing because now he can go back to doing the things he enjoys most — playing golf and spending time with his wife, Peggy, and daughters, Natalie and Abby, who followed in their father’s footsteps. Abby, 20, plays golf at IUPUI and Natalie, 17, plays golf for Logansport High School.
One thing’s for sure.
“I feel lucky that I’m back to normal,” Scott said.
Melissa Soria may be reached at (574) 732-5143 or via e-mail at melissa.soria@pharostribune.com