July 6, 2001 press release
Congressman Joe Baca and LLUMC surgeon Christopher Jobe, MD, hold press
conference
 |
| LLUMC surgeon Christopher Jobe, MD and Congressman Joe Baca |
Congressman Joe Baca (D-Rialto) discussed his recent elbow surgery
at a press conference at Loma Linda University Medical Center on Friday,
July 6.
Christopher Jobe, MD, professor and chief of orthopaedic surgery, performed
the congressman’s surgery on Wednesday, July 4. Dr. Jobe also participated
in the press conference.
Congressman Baca’s operation became necessary after he ruptured
the ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow while preparing for
a congressional baseball game between the Democrats and the Republican
in Washington, D.C., last year.
The operation, which lasted approximately 90 minutes, is generally only
performed on athletes. Congressman Baca plays many recreational sports,
including baseball and golf, and also had a 17-year career as a catcher
in a professional fast pitch softball league.
The operation, called ulnar collateral ligament graft reconstruction,
is the same operation that Dr. Jobe’s father Frank Jobe, MD, pioneered
and will perform next week on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher,
Darren Dreifort. Dr. Frank Jobe is team physician for the Dodgers and
assisted with the congressman’s surgery.
“I’m hoping that I will have a bionic arm,” the congressman
joked. “I’m hoping that my pitching will improve and that
I’ll be able to throw the ball between 80 and 90 miles an hour.
Maybe since the Dodgers are in need of a pitcher, I might be the one
that they’re looking for.”
“The surgery we did on congressman Baca is known in the lay press
as the Tommy John procedure,” Dr. Jobe said. The procedure is performed
predominantly on professional baseball players and is named for the
baseball player for whom it was created.
The procedure is performed using the palmaris longus tendon, an extra
tendon in the hand. The congressman’s tendon was harvested and
then woven through holes in the bones of his elbow to form a new ligament.
Over the next year, the congressman will work with a physical therapist
to mature the tendon into a ligament, according to Dr. Jobe. He will
also work to condition his arm to throw again.
“Your primary worry [with the procedure] is the large nerve that
comes right past that ligament,” Dr. Jobe said. Damage to the nerve
would have made it impossible for congressman Baca to spread his fingers
or feel his little finger. However, there were no complications with
the congressman’s surgery.
“The treatment out here at Loma Linda is fantastic and superb.
I recommend it for anyone,” congressman Baca said. “I was
very fortunate, and San Bernardino County is very fortunate to have
Dr. Christopher Jobe. I think sometimes we don’t realize that we
have superb doctors and excellent surgeons that are in our area, and
they’re right here at Loma Linda University Medical Center.”
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Linda University. All rights reserved.
Revised
Monday, July 9, 2001 3:22 PM
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