Every cell, organ and joint needs to function well for us to live our healthiest lives. In the same ethos, everyone has a role to play in your care at Rush. For many patients, the first person they see when coming to Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush is Ibrahim Benadada, head valet.
“When people first come here, they are in pain,” he said. “I tell them, just trust the doctors. They make it personal.”
He assures every patient everything is going to be OK. He means it. For nearly 20 years, Benadada has witnessed how clinicians and scientists come together to solve challenges and improve patient care. He has seen how the work of passionate researchers like Catherine Yuh, PhD, junior research faculty member at Rush University, leads to better results.
‘Contributing to a greater good’
Dr. Yuh remembers how active and fun her grandfather was. He had no trouble keeping up and playing with his grandchildren. She also remembers how drastically things changed when he fell and herniated three discs.
“He became bedridden,” she said. “And I saw how difficult it was for my parents to care for him.”
The experience became her motivation to find solutions.
For the past decade, Dr. Yuh has been working toward a future unlimited by pain. She started her career as a basic science researcher, working alongside scholars such as Markus Wimmer, PhD, the Jorge O. Galante, MD, DMSc, Professor of Orthopedic Surgery.
Now, Dr. Yuh and her team are connecting tissue-level analysis with imaging, motion capture and computer simulation to gain a more comprehensive picture of joint disease — for instance, why the joints of patients with femoroacetabular impingement, or FAI, are shaped the way they are. The hip joints of people with FAI have bony overgrowths that cause abnormal contact of the hip bones leading to pain and tissue damage during movement. Over time, it can result in injuries such as labral tears and, eventually, osteoarthritis.
By looking at more factors together, Dr. Yuh believes the field can determine how they interact and contribute to joint disease and prevent and reduce joint damage and deterioration.
“If we can identify what puts someone at a higher risk of developing severe musculoskeletal diseases like osteoarthritis, we can diagnose them earlier, before those conditions affect your livelihood,” she explained. “I want to help people regain their ability to move. Even if I never meet them, I will know that something about my work is contributing to a greater good.”
From the lab to global operating suites
Dr. Yuh’s work builds on decades of research pioneered at Rush that have made surgeries like hip and knee replacements less invasive, longer lasting — and more successful. Jeff Levitetz has experienced this shift in orthopedic care firsthand. It's why he has directed his philanthropic support to medical research that’s transforming the field.
Levitetz had his first knee surgery in the 1970s and recalled how painful it was. Between the procedure, the pain and the medications, he remained in the hospital for five days.
Levitetz first came to Rush in the early 2000s. He was not satisfied with a knee replacement he received at a different institution, and techniques for revision surgeries were still evolving. Rush was the only hospital Levitetz found that was willing to work with him. In recent years, he has received same-day procedures at Rush — a stark contrast to the care available in the 1970s.
“I’ve come out better and stronger because of the patient care I’ve received at Rush over the years, and so much of that has to do with research,” he reflected. “I think it speaks for itself.
“Rush did the revision surgery with open arms and gave me a new lease on life. I can’t really describe how appreciative I am of the team at Rush.”
Philanthropy fuels the cycle of research to understand, prevent and treat pain
Benedada and Levitetz give to Rush so our clinicians and scientists can continue finding solutions that preserve joints, reduce pain and restore livelihoods.
“The best part, for me, is when a patient comes out of our doors and says, ‘Ibrahim, I’m done!’” Benedada said.
The results patients such as Levitetz see because of research make him proud to be a part of the process. For his part, Levitetz envisions a future without surgeries like the ones he has had. He believes if anyone is going to achieve it, it will be the surgeons and scientists at Rush.
“I find that the doctors who are really interested in furthering their cause and making their practice better are researchers,” Levitetz said. “And Rush is on the cutting edge. There is no fear in the research they do. Their advancements are driving the future of orthopedic care.”
