When the Consultant Becomes the Patient

Michael Olmes of Fremont has been in the operating room for joint replacement procedures thousands of times – not as a patient, but as a manufacturer’s consultant for joint replacement implants.

The senior sales consultant for Johnson & Johnson has partnered with Washington Health and other hospitals for more than 20 years, working behind the scenes during surgeries. Olmes is on hand to make sure artificial hip and knee joints fit perfectly, and that surgeons have everything they need in the operating room.

In December 2024, Olmes, 49, went from OR consultant to patient when he had his hip replaced. The father of three grown daughters had struggled with pain from an old hip labrum (cartilage) injury that acted up again in 2021.

“I had noticeable hip pain from a judo injury eight years ago, and I was dealing with it. I thought it was isolated to the labrum,” Olmes explained. “The pain had originally dissipated but came back. It got to a point that I needed to take Advil or Aleve just to get through the day.”

The active hiker, snowboarder and pickleball enthusiast was managing the pain himself, avoiding sports and doing stretching and physical therapy exercises, but it wasn’t getting better.

‘My Hip Was Bone on Bone’

“I was at the hospital one day consulting on upcoming surgery cases, and I asked a physician assistant what I should do about my hip. She sent me to get an X-ray. After taking the X-ray, it was so apparent that the technician called out to me, ‘You need a total hip replacement.’ ”

Knowing what X-rays of deteriorated joints look like, Olmes knew the tech was right. “Once I saw the X-ray I knew. I’ve seen these kinds of hip X-rays every day. It was a shock, but I knew that replacement was the only solution. Conservative treatment wouldn’t work. My hip was bone on bone.”

Since Olmes had worked for years with Alexander Sah, MD, of Sah Orthopaedic Associates and Washington Health’s Institute for Joint Restoration, he immediately knew which surgeon he wanted to operate. He even got to choose the hip implant he wanted used.

“I felt nervous but very calm at the same time,” Olmes recalled. “I work with Dr. Sah every day and didn’t want anyone else doing my surgery. He’s one of the most skilled surgeons I’ve worked with and he performs many total joint replacements in California. He has a great program. He works with some of the best nurses and technicians in the Bay Area, who take their jobs very seriously. I felt like I was with family.”

Dr. Sah did an anterior hip replacement at the Washington Outpatient Surgery Center, and Olmes returned home four hours after surgery.

Pain Mitigation Makes Recovery Easier

“The things that Dr. Sah does with pain mitigation helped me recover quickly,” Olmes explained. “He uses what I call ‘magic honey,’ a substance with honey-like consistency, that sticks to the soft tissue and acts like Novocaine. This is among the things he does so patients can get up after surgery and move around without pain killers and minimal discomfort.”

Two weeks after surgery, Olmes was doing range-of-motion exercises and gentle walking. “After six weeks, I was back playing pickleball, taking it slowly. Every day that I would play I realized my body could do a little more. I felt better playing than I did prior to surgery. I was shocked by how good I felt.”

He added: “I’ve seen so much progress with joint implants in the past 20 to 25 years. Device makers have solved a lot of issues with the implants, and they’re now the gold standard.”

Olmes, who was a college athlete at the University of San Francisco, is back to his busy lifestyle: skiing, snowboarding, hiking, pickleball, and consulting in the operating room three to four days a week.

“Having this experience has been a blessing in disguise, because now I have firsthand knowledge of what joint patients experience. I now have the patient perspective.”

His advice as both a J&J consultant and hip replacement patient is simple: “When you consider joint replacements, look for the surgeon who does total joints as their major practice. Go to the one who does 250 surgeries or more a year.

“In my opinion, that’s Dr. Sah. Washington Health has invested in the newest technologies and has one of the best total joint programs in the state.”

For more information on the Institute for Joint Restoration and Research, visit https://www.washingtonhealth.com/IJRR.