Saskatchewan man grateful for hip surgery after long wait

Steve Turnquist is back behind the wheel after waiting years for a hip replacement surgery.

The Saskatchewan man said he’s happy to be back at work, driving trucks again. He was unable to work for more than 18 months and before that spent years in pain.

“I’m really grateful for it. It changed my life,” Turnquist said.

He no longer has to sit on a tractor to spend time with his nephews, he said, or simply stay stuck at home all the time. Instead, he says he’s back to living his life without pain.

“I’m able to get back to work. I’m able to walk. I’m able to go and throw the ball with my nephews,” he explained.

Turnquist’s first surgery happened lsat December. He said he was surprised when his second came a little over six months later. He says it has changed his whole perspective.

“You go from being hopeless and in tremendous amounts of pain and all that you do, every day, just walking every step is so much pain. And then after the surgeries are done… you start to have more hope in life again,” he said.

The Saskatchewan government has been working to catch up on surgeries that have been accumulating since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The speech from the throne Wednesday said an “aggressive” target of 97,000 surgeries has been set for the fiscal year, which would be “the highest number of surgeries ever performed in one year.”

Work is being done to increase surgical capacity in Regina, Saskatoon and regional hospitals throughout Saskatchewan, and partnerships with private surgical providers are being established by the provincial government to assist with the goal.

A new facility in Regina offering in-patient joint replacement surgery is expected to start operations by the end of 2023.

Though Turnquist isn’t waiting for any more surgeries himself, he said he’s glad to see the province putting effort into getting more people the procedures that they need.

“Anything the province can do that can get more people on the operating table as fast as possible to improve lives, (so) that they can carry on and be productive members of society, is a good thing,” Turnquist said.