Saucon Valley coach Ed Kolosky is back to normal following shoulder replacement surgery at St. Luke’s<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Ed Kolosky, a.k.a \u201cCoach K,\u201d suffered agonizing pain and restricted movement in his left shoulder for some 20 years. Any time he played golf, coached his athletes at Saucon Valley High School, shot hoops or cruised along on his mountain bike, the Hellertown resident was reminded that his shoulder needed medical attention, that it wasn\u2019t going to heal on its own.<\/p>\n
At 66 years old, and still coaching track and field, swimming and cross-country, the coach wishes he had gotten surgery at St. Luke\u2019s sooner than last November. He\u2019s thankful to St. Luke\u2019s Chief of Orthopedic Sports Medicine Gregory Carolan, MD., of St. Luke\u2019s Orthopedic Care, who operated on him, vastly improving his personal and professional life.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did it perfectly,\u201d said Coach K, \u201cHe\u2019s the master of his craft.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coach K adds a robust shout-out to physical therapist, Jeff Hetrick, PT, MPT, at Physical Therapy at St. Luke\u2019s\u2014North, for his post-surgery rehab. At St. Luke\u2019s, he had a team of champion caregivers that got him back in his game.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust a few months after the operation,\u201d he adds, \u201cI was doing things I couldn\u2019t do comfortably in years and pain-free!\u201d<\/p>\n
On a week-long golfing trip with his buddies in March, Coach K was amazed by the transformation. Not only could he swing his clubs unimpeded and painlessly, but he\u2019s now crushing his drives 70 yards further than ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cI whispered a prayer of thanks for Dr. Carolan and Jeff with each drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coach K\u2019s problem began when his shoulder was jammed and dislocated by a friend\u2019s elbow during a pickup basketball game back in 2004. Unrested, unrepaired and ignored for so long, the joint injury developed advanced osteoarthritis from the repetitive bone-on-bone friction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe injury started the degenerative process,\u201d explained Dr. Carolan. \u201cHe gradually lost the cartilage in his shoulder, his ball and socket wearing it away and increasing deformity of the joint.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in constant pain, taking extra-strength Tylenol morning and afternoon,\u201d added the Coach.<\/p>\n
Why did he put off the surgical repair for so long?<\/p>\n
\u201cI was chicken,\u201d admitted the lifelong jock. \u201cI had heard about the horror of rehab after the surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n
He initially went to Dr. Carolan in hopes of finding a non-surgical solution.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried conservative approaches to manage his symptoms: anti-inflammatories, cortisone shots and physical therapy over the years,\u201d added Dr. Carolan. \u201cThey had limited effectiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me, \u2018Your shoulder is a freakin\u2019 mess. You need to get it fixed.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The turning point came last fall when Coach K was chided by his granddaughters for throwing a softball underhand when they were playing catch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said, \u2018Pop-pop, you have to throw overhand,\u2019\u201d he recalls. \u201cThat was enough for me.\u201d He suddenly had the courage to undergo the knife.<\/p>\n
During the surgery, which took less than an hour, Dr. Carolan replaced Coach K\u2019s ball and socket with a metal and plastic joint. He performed what is known as a \u201creverse\u201d shoulder replacement, in which he attached the new socket to the end of his arm and connected the new ball to his shoulder bone, opposite of the conventional procedure. This technique provided the needed functionality to Coach\u2019s joint, since his rotator cuff was damaged beyond repair.<\/p>\n
Dr. Carolan performed the meticulous operation, one he\u2019s done many times, guided by a 3D model of his patient\u2019s shoulder, obtained from a CT scan of the ruined joint. The painstaking planning, using advanced imaging and navigation technology, resulted in a joint that will serve his patient well for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
Dr. Carolan completes 100-150 shoulder replacements each year. He has performed these operations on people as young as 32 and as old as 98, though the average age of his shoulder replacement patients is 65-75 years.<\/p>\n
After surgery, Coach K was astonished he didn\u2019t need to take pain meds. The long-acting nerve block anesthesia administered in surgery controlled the pain for several days when it would have hurt the most.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t toughing it out,\u201d he insisted, \u201cI really didn\u2019t have pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd PT helped the healing progress quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
He started a nine-week physical therapy program less than a week after surgery, guided by Hetrick, who specializes in post-shoulder replacement rehab.<\/p>\n
\u201cEd was a great patient who did everything I asked him to do and more,\u201d Hetrick said. \u201cWe worked on restoring functionality and strength to his shoulder, and he continued these exercises at home. And for this, he got an ideal outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coach K and his St. Luke\u2019s team were amazed and pleased at how far he progressed so quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI soon was able to raise my arm above my head without pain or hesitation for the first time in decades,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His shoulder hasn\u2019t felt this good in years. On the track, in the gym, on the pool deck and astride his bike, he sings the praises of his St. Luke\u2019s ortho team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want people to know the quality of care I received from St. Luke\u2019s was top-notch,\u201d he said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be more pleased with my entire experience there.\u201d<\/p>\n
He offers this advice to anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation to him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
About St. Luke\u2019s<\/b><\/p>\n
Founded in 1872,\u00a0St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network<\/a><\/u><\/b>\u00a0(SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 20,000 employees providing services at 15 campuses and 300+ outpatient sites.\u00a0 With annual net revenue of $3.4 billion, the Network\u2019s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke\u2019s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke\u2019s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.\u00a0 In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only four-year medical school campus.\u00a0 It also operates the nation\u2019s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 45 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with more than 400 residents and fellows. In 2022, St. Luke\u2019s, a member of the Children\u2019s Hospital Association, opened the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to kids.<\/p>\n SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare\u2019s\u00a0five-star<\/i>\u00a0ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.\u00a0 It is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades\u00a0Top Hospital<\/i>\u00a0and a Newsweek World\u2019s\u00a0Best Hospital<\/i>.\u00a0 The Network\u2019s flagship University Hospital has earned the\u00a0100 Top Major Teaching Hospital<\/i>\u00a0designation from Fortune\/PINC AI 11 times total and eight years in a row, including in 2023 when it was identified as THE #4 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY.\u00a0 In 2021, St. Luke\u2019s was identified as one of the\u00a015 Top Health Systems<\/i>\u00a0nationally.\u00a0 Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the\u00a0Most Wired<\/i>\u00a0award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information. \u00a0The Network is also recognized as one of the state\u2019s lowest cost providers.<\/p>\n Information provided to TVL by: Saucon Valley coach Ed Kolosky is back to normal following shoulder replacement surgery at St. Luke’s. Ed Kolosky, a.k.a \u201cCoach K,\u201d suffered agonizing pain and restricted movement in his left … Continue reading Shoulder Replacement Surgery at St. Luke\u2019s Puts Saucon High\u2019s \u201cCoach K\u201d Back in the Game<\/span>
\nGary R. Blockus<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"