Dr. Robert FitzGibbons (left) and Dr. Gregg Koldenhoven (right) receive medals from Dr. Richard Juday.
Front Range Orthopedics & Spine patient, Dr. Richard Juday, awarded Dr. FitzGibbons and Dr. Koldenhoven with his medals he recently won at the 2014 Badminton State Games.
“You’ve heard of ‘re-gifting’ an item at Christmas? Well, I am expressing my gratitude most recently by ‘re-awarding’ my medals from the July 2014 State Games.” Dr. Juday explained. “The doctors at Front Range have allowed me to maintain a happy and active lifestyle.”
Dr. Juday has been playing competitive badminton, on a national level, since 1960. “A lifetime sport is good for you but it takes a toll on the body; nonetheless, I can’t stress enough the importance of having a lifetime sport,” Dr. Juday said. Moreover, Front Range Orthopedics & Spine surgeons have contributed to Dr. Juday’s ability to continue to play badminton, hike Colorado’s mountains, mow the lawn and generally keep up with his wife.
Recently Dr. Juday and his wife went on a backpacking trip: 12 miles round trip; 40 pound packs; 2,700 feet in elevation gain. His left knee (with the replacement) handled the trek like a champ, “I don’t even think about that knee. It’s strong, stable and pain free,” Dr. Juday commented. Nonetheless, Dr. Juday is now having issues with his right knee. Currently, Dr. Koldenhoven is helping manage his right knee with cortisone injections. There may be a right knee replacement in the future, but Dr. Juday doesn’t seem concerned.
2014 Colorado Badminton Champion, Dr. Richard Juday (in green).
Dr. Juday has lived, and continues to live, life to the fullest. His confidence in the doctors and staff at Front Range Orthopedics & Spine are proving to meet and exceed his expectations as a patient. To date he is a patient of Dr. FitzGibbons, Dr. Koldenhoven and Dr. Pater (Dr. Pater has performed a trigger finger release for Dr. Juday).
*Dr. Richard Juday, an electrical engineer retired after 35 years at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, is the beneficiary of having been taught a lifetime sport, badminton, in his undergraduate days at Rice University. Although badminton is not the first sport that might come to mind when one hears the word “racquet”, it ranks first among the racquet sports (including tennis, table tennis, squash, and racquetball) when champion-level players have been monitored for heart rate. These conditions make it so demanding: Play is continuous rather than having, say, all the ball-thumping associated with preparation for service in tennis; the shuttle is hit in the air without being allowed to bounce; the court is open rather than have walls to return the projectile into play, as in racquetball; the court is artfully just so large that a player can barely cover it; effective offensive play is to cause your opponent to move the greatest distance; and service is designedly defensive, to start a long rally in which a positional advantage must be developed, rather than making service aces possible.