By J.R. Tidwell / Editor

Brookwood Baptist Health system put on a joint pain seminar for local residents at Senior Connection in Clanton on Aug. 15.

Dr. Lloyd Johnson with Alabama Bone & Joint Clinic was on hand to give attendees information on topics covered by his area of practice.

“I am an orthopedic surgeon, so I work on broken bones, replacing joints, fixing hips and knees, arthroscopy, things like that,” he said. “We have an office here in Clanton. I have another office up in Pelham. We are giving some information about hip and knee pain and talking about joint replacements.

“We are talking about what we look for as patients come in. We discuss treatments that we can do other than surgery, injections that we can do and then surgery if someone needs it.”

Also on hand to speak at the seminar was Sandra Heflin, a district supervisor with Alfa Insurance. She gave an account of her experience having a total knee replacement performed by Johnson on Jan. 22.

“He did a fantastic job,” she said. “Three weeks to the day, I was back at work. I work in an office, so it wasn’t manual labor. But still, I was back at work.

“If you need a total knee replacement, don’t let it scare you. If you do what he tells you to do and what the therapists tell you to do, you will do great. I wouldn’t take anything for it, because the pain is no longer there.”

Heflin also spoke on her experience with the physical therapy required after the surgery.

“I do recommend if you have the surgery, if they offer you in-house rehabilitation or to go to a facility, go to a facility (if you have a driver),” she said. “Take the maximum amount of days you can do. They have so much more equipment there than they can bring with them to you.

“It makes you get up, get dressed and get out of the house. You meet other people there that are going through the same thing. It is a good support group. I went to Encore by Winn-Dixie (in Clanton). There are others, but that is a great facility with great therapists.”

The joint pain seminar was part of a monthly series put on by Brookwood Baptist Health.

“We are so excited about being here,” said Vonceil Sanders, a community relations manager with Brookwood Baptist Health. “We offer educational seminars at least every second Tuesday of the month here at Senior Connection.

“Our goal is to promote health and wellness throughout the communities that we serve. This is a great opportunity to get down into the Calera/Clanton area to promote the services we offer through Brookwood Baptist Health.”

According to Sanders, Brookwood Baptist Health has been holding these seminars at Senior Connection for about a year and a half, and they are designed to bring information on various subjects to local residents.

“The topics vary,” she said. “We try to cover all topics. Whenever we come, we ask what topics the people want to hear about. They tell us, and we will bring in speakers to cover those health topics. We bring in physicians and healthcare professionals to speak on topics that are really needed in this area.”

Johnson said he likes the setup these seminars afford to attendees.

“The nice thing about it, you can get information in an informal setting,” he said. “It’s a good place to ask questions. A lot of times someone else will ask a question that you were thinking about, or maybe weren’t thinking about but needed a good answer for that.”

Senior Connection is located at 304 Park Plaza.