Orland Park Woman Back Tending Horses After Revolutionary Hip Replacement Surgery at Silver Cross Hospital

A horse lover for many years, Laura Berry had her share of falls; she even had a horse fall on her once. 

Since it was some 30 years ago, Berry could shake that one off. But when she fell in the driveway of her Orland Park home in February, she knew this was different. 

“I tripped over my own feet,” said Berry, 71. “And I was pretty shaky when I stood up.” 

Berry went to the Silver Cross Emergency Care Center in Homer Glen, close to her home. Still, she was hurting when she got there.  

“They took an X-ray and saw I had broken my left hip. They called for an ambulance, and they took me straight into Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox and up to a room while I was still on the gurney. That was service!” 

The next day, Dr. Majd Tarabichi, an orthopedic surgeon on Silver Cross Hospital’s medical staff, performed a hip replacement.  

“A while back, hip replacement surgery was kind of a harbinger of deteriorating health for patients,” Dr. Tarabichi said. “But hip replacement surgery has evolved greatly since then.” 

Historically, doctors performing the surgery would operate through the patient’s side, he said, cutting through muscles and tendons to access the hip joint. 

Now, Dr. Tarabichi said, the surgery is done through a small, horizontal incision in the patient’s front side, while they’re on their back, maneuvering around the muscles and tendons instead of cutting. 

Having the patient on their back instead of on their side also allows him to easily X-ray the area to make sure the new ball and socket are in the right place. 

“Doing the surgery this way is faster and also better for the patient. I’ve had some hip fracture patients who were able to go home the same day.” 

Berry said she was up the same day of surgery, and after some physical therapy lessons to take home with her, she was discharged the next day. 

A home health nurse and therapist visited several times a week for a few weeks, Berry said, adding she felt great almost immediately. 

“I was supposed to rest for a couple weeks, but I talked my husband into driving me over to my friend’s house where I keep my horse, Nate, with his brother, Nick. I just had to go by and rub their noses. They loved it, but I also had carrots for them!” 

Dr. Tarabichi said such a quick recovery would have been unthinkable before the newer anterior procedure. He and his colleagues get a lot of practice – some 500 hip and knee replacements a year. 

“This type of hip surgery is extremely common,” he said. “As we get older, bones get more brittle, especially in post-menopausal women. Hip replacement surgery has been called the Operation of the Century for how it has allowed patients to resume normal life instead of slowing them down. And the anterior approach has made the procedure that much better.” 

Berry said she feels great and is back to tending to her beloved horses, as well as starting a new fitness program … and finally taking a trip to Boston to see her grandkids that got postponed because of her injury. 

“I can’t say enough good things about Dr. Tarabichi, the nurses and everyone at Silver Cross. They were so nice. They answered all my questions. I never felt afraid. They care about you as a person.” 

For more information or a referral to an orthopedic specialist on staff at the Midwest Institute for Orthopedics at Silver Cross Hospital, visit silvercross.org