“Seeing this kind of amazing patient progress is the most fun you can have in medicine.”

She likes being part of the Sonoran Orthopedic Trauma Surgeons, Arizona’s only medical group that specializes in trauma orthopedics. “It’s mentally and physically challenging,” she said. “No two surgeries are ever the same.”

"Patients who, like Moore, are having their worst day when they come to you in the Trauma Center can only get better," Dr. Prokuski said, “and they’re really appreciative of whatever you do for them.”

Moore was airlifted to John C. Lincoln’s Level I Trauma Center with a ruptured abdominal aorta and small intestine. John C. Lincoln trauma surgeon Kara Villareal, MD, repaired his aorta and removed about eight inches of his shredded intestine in order to stitch it back together.

Only after his life-threatening injuries were stabilized could Dr. Prokuski do her part. Trauma care is multidisciplinary.

“I like that aspect,” she said. “You can do other kinds of orthopedic surgery as a solo practitioner,” she said, “but in trauma you need lots of other people working with you. You need specialty-trained trauma general surgeons, plastic surgeons, neurosurgeons and vascular surgeons. I like being part of the team.”

Orthopedic trauma surgeon Laura Prokuski, MD, shows her patient, Sean Moore, an X-ray of some of the hardware she installed to hold his shattered pelvis in place.

She repaired Moore’s shattered pelvis, his fractured right femur, a cracked bone in his ankle and three broken foot bones.

Moore thinks he spent several weeks in intensive care before spending the remainder of his two months in the hospital in a medical/surgical unit. But he’s not sure, because most of his ICU time was spent in a medically induced coma.

Youth is an advantage, and, after an extended stay in a skilled nursing facility, Moore was healthy enough to return home, where he was planning to spend his 22nd birthday anywhere but in a hospital.

Moore’s experiences with hospital care have inspired him to work toward a career in the hospital. “I just started school, a program to become a medical laboratory technician,” he said. “I was really inspired by my medical experience.”

For more information, visit JCL.com/orthopedics.