Our patients rely on ARC Access for a lifetime of connected care. Watch how it has made a difference in their lives. Meet Talya.
Passionate About Soccer
Talya S. has been playing soccer for almost 15 years, since the age of four. She loves the "freedom" she feels when she plays.
"Soccer has pretty much shaped the person who I am today," Talya says. "The hard work, the resilience, the persistence . . . I just give it all I got."
Talya has also experienced an unfortunate downside of playing a contact sport. "On the team I'm known as the one who always gets injured," she says. Her injuries have included: sprained ankles, broken fingers, concussions, a broken hip, and a broken toe.
"The worst one," Talya says, "was a broken elbow that required surgery."
A Health-Care Team that Feels Like a Family
Talya describes being an ARC patient "pretty much my whole life." She remembers picking out stickers after her ARC visits when she was young.
Today, she has warm, personal relationships with several doctors at multiple ARC locations so that she can easily fit visits into her hectic schedule. To make appointments and renew prescriptions, she loves the convenience of MyChart, a secure app on her phone.
Talya feels well taken care of by her team of doctors, each of whom has continuous access to her entire medical history because of ARC's secure Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system.
"We're all like a connected family. They know me and they know what each other are doing," Talya says.
Talya's Care Team
Talya's primary care doctor is Dominique J. Isaac, MD. "I love seeing her," Talya says. "Dr. Isaac has great energy and genuinely cares about me."
Additional doctors on her health care team include: Serena Hon, MD (Family Medicine); Angelle Oliver, MD (Pediatrics); Kenneth L. Cornell, DPM, FACFAS (Podiatry); Jeffrey R Padalecki, MD (Orthopedics); Lee M. Reichel, MD (Orthopedics); Steve Rasmussen, MD FAAD (Dermatology); and Amy Mason, MD (Dermatology).
"The doctors at ARC have been extremely, extraordinarily, super helpful in treating my soccer injuries," Talya says. "I always end up back on the field."
Detecting a Tiny Hip Fracture
Talya first met Orthopedist Jeffrey Padalecki, MD after she injured her hip during an out-of-town soccer game. "A girl pushed me in a weird way. I was just stuck on the ground," she says. She was in intense pain.
An ambulance rushed her to the nearby hospital where she was told that nothing was broken and was sent home with crutches.
Talya's hip pain persisted overnight so her parents took her to ARC the next morning. Dr. Padalecki looked at the hospital's x-ray and detected a small hip fracture.
"Dr. Padalecki noticed it where the hospital didn't," Talya says.
After eight months of rest and physical therapy, Talya was ready to play soccer again.
"It stinks when I can't play," Talya says, but she has learned to use her time on the bench productively. "I get to pay attention to things that I don't see when I'm on the field."
After Hours Clinic for a Broken Toe
When Talya injured her toe during an evening soccer practice, she went directly to an ARC After Hours Clinic. Thanks to radiology services at every ARC location, Talya had an immediate on-site X-ray. It revealed a broken toe.
The staff made an appointment for Talya to see Dr. Padalecki the following morning. Although her toe did not need surgery, Talya had to abstain from soccer as she healed.
When Talya was ready to play again, Podiatrist, Kenneth Cornell, DPM, FACFAS prescribed an insert for her soccer cleat to support and protect her toe.
Briefly Back on the Field
At her first game back, Talya was thrilled. "Even though watching my team is a cool learning experience, there's a part of me that's just dying to go in," Talya says. I want to chase that ball. I want to score that goal. I want to celebrate with my team on the field after we score."
Unfortunately, her joy was short-lived. "Four or five minutes into the game, a girl came from behind and clipped my back leg. Next thing I know, I'm lying on the ground with my face in the dirt and my arm out to the side."
Talya remembers feeling confused. "I didn't think that it was actually real that I was injured again," she says. But when she got into the car, the pain hit and then she looked at her elbow and began to panic. "It was really deformed," she says.
To the Emergency Room
Talya was driven to an ARC After Hours Clinic, but her pain prevented her from leaving the car. At her mother's request, a nurse came out, looked at Talya's arm, and sent her to the Emergency Room.
"ARC actually called the hospital and told them that we were coming," Talya says, "so I had someone greet me with a wheelchair and arm sling."
Calling on her Care Team
The hospital determined that Talya needed immediate elbow surgery. "Dr. Padalecki had helped me a lot in the past so we gave him a call," Talya says.
Using the secure EMR system, Dr. Padalecki looked at the X-ray from "wherever he was" on that Sunday night. He recommended ARC's hand specialist, Dr. Reichel for the surgery.
In less than an hour, Dr. Reichel appeared at the ER.
"I was in a state of blankness because I couldn't believe what was going on. And then, next thing I know Dr. Reichel came into the room," Talya recalls. "He pulled up the X-ray on the computer right next to me."
Dr. Reichel showed Talya where her elbow was broken and explained how he would repair it. "He made me 100% feel like I was going to be healed," Talya remembers
Elbow Surgery and Follow-Up
Dr. Reichel performed the surgery the following day and Talya stayed in the hospital for four nights. "Dr. Reichel checked on me multiple times," Talya says. "It was important that I start moving my hand and arm right away so he kept pushing me to wiggle my fingers, wiggle my arm as much as I can."
Talya worked hard on her physical therapy to rehabilitate her arm and saw Dr. Reichel for follow up visits.
"Even to this day, two years later, he's asking me to bend and straighten my arm and wiggle it around. He's invested in me," Talya says. "He cares about how my life is now."
During Talya's next physical exam, to her surprise, Dr. Isaac also asked about her elbow. Talya felt comforted by Dr. Isaac's concern. "It was a big dramatic change in my life and it was nice to know that she knew it was going on."
Soccer at UT and ARC Care in Talya's Future
With her characteristic hard work, persistence, and resilience, Talya returned to soccer as soon as she was able. In the fall of 2019, she will be playing intramural soccer at University of Texas at Austin where she will be majoring in Business.
"In college, I will definitely continue to be an ARC patient," Talya says. "From getting stickers when I was three years old all the way to my senior year in high school, ARC has had a huge positive impact on my life."
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