Barbara and Ed Schriber
Dynamic duo back in action after multiple joint replacements
Barbara and Ed Schriber are very active retirees. Barbara, 67, is an avid pickle ball player and long-distance marathon walker. Her husband Ed, 78, is a former college football player and pickle ball enthusiast as well. Between the two of them, this dynamic duo have six joint replacements between them! In 2018, Barbara had emergency hip replacement surgery on her left hip. It was her first joint replacement. “I thought it was my back, but the MRI showed that it was my hip,” says Barbara. “There was a fracture in my ball joint.” Barbara was in the ER on Tuesday and had the surgery at Thousand Oaks Surgical Hospital on Friday. “I couldn’t have asked for a better experience,” says Barbara who now lives in Arizona. “Los Robles along with Dr. Bawa is the only place I’ll come for my joint care.”
Fast-forward to March 2020 – Barbara was playing pickle ball and blew out her left knee. Without hesitation, she scheduled her knee replacement at Los Robles Health System in June. “This time, Dr. Bawa used the Robot and I was walking without aid within three days – and had no pain within four days,” says Barbara.
“She was able to see the benefits of a robotic-assisted knee replacement combined with the rapid recovery protocols I have in place,” says Dr. Bawa. “Because she was so active, my goal was to get her back in the game as quickly as possible.”
“I look at it as teamwork. Excellent surgeon, excellent nurses and excellent physical therapists,” says Barbara. “And if I don’t do the work afterwards then I won’t have a successful result.” About a month after Barbara’s surgery, her husband Ed decided it was time to take care of his right hip. For Ed, it was his 4th joint replacement – a shoulder in 2008, his left hip in 2012, and his right knee in 2015. Ed was nearing bionic status.
“I had always been active,” says Ed a retired pilot. “Like a lot of people who need elective joint surgery, it’s easy to put it off. But I want to remain active as long as I can, and I had full confidence in the care I would receive from the team at Los Robles.” Ed says he put the hip surgery off for a year but decided to time his surgery one month after his wife’s so that she would have the time she needed to recover. This was Ed’s fourth joint procedure, but it was his first robotic assisted joint surgery. “This time the recovery just seems faster,” he says. “After three days, I was walking with no pain. Even the surgical incision didn’t hurt.”
“He had severe osteoarthritis in both hips and had the unique experience of comparing a robotic assisted procedure with a non-robotic assisted procedure. He could see firsthand better than anyone the benefits of the robot,” says Dr. Bawa. “The most gratifying aspect of my job is seeing the patients after surgery being able to return to activity and things they could not do before due to their arthritis.”
Barbara and Ed are fortunate to be able to recover at a relative’s home in Thousand Oaks and look forward to getting back on the pickle ball court before the end of the year. “Even if we didn’t have family here in Thousand Oaks, we’d still choose to have our joint replacements at the Thousand Oaks Surgical Hospital of Los Robles” says Barbara. “It’s a Four Seasons experience with an exceptionally caring staff and expert care.”
