Thank you, Dr. Maish, and your wonderful team who actually made me cry with happiness in surgery because my knee now bends and straightens! It’s already life changing. I am so very grateful that I made that last call.
Hi, My name is Patricia. I’m 64 years old. My journey started in 2004 when I had a total left knee replacement. The procedure went well, no complications, and within 3 months I was up and around with a perfectly functioning knee. 15 years later, it’s just as good as new.
In 2014, the same surgeon replaced my right knee. From day 1, there were complications. First, there was an issue with pain medications, which caused my blood pressure to drop severely (they blamed the anesthesia), so I was not allowed to have ANY PT while in the hospital. By the time I got home, on the 5th day, the Dr still insisted I wait 10 more days to start PT. No walking nothing but ice packs and bedside exercises. I co-operated, but it felt like something was wrong…right from day one.
As the weeks went on, I had in-home PT 3 times a week for several weeks, and the Therapist thought my leg might be misaligned, although he said it may be from swelling. I asked the surgeon about it on my next visit, and he said the therapist is NOT a surgeon and had no right to tell me there might be something wrong. So I went home and went to a different PT company. My new physical therapist was wonderful. She worked with me for several months, but between the pain and swelling, there was no improvement, so I contacted the surgeon. After about a year of no improvement, I finally told him that the knee was not right and he needed to do something to fix it. He said he would “appease me” and take a look. He removed a piece of scar tissue, but that made little to no difference. The pain and swelling only got worse. He said I would have to “learn to live with it” and sent me back to physical therapy. The new physical therapist sent her report and told the Dr. that she could not continue to “torture me” when something was clearly wrong. He suggested that she should start looking for a new occupation and prescribed pain medication.
I sought the advice of another Ortho Dr., and he told me that I probably had an infection. He drew fluid from the knee but it was negative. So, his DX was to try to exercise my leg more and if it isn’t any better, to see him again.
In the mean time, I was to a back Dr. who said that my back was out because of the limp I had now developed, because I could neither bend or straighten my right leg. He thought I might have water on the knee, so he attempted to draw fluid, but nothing came out. He said I would have to take more pain meds, added muscle relaxers and to use a TENS unit. He also gave me a back brace (even though it was not my back that was the problem, but the knee!) I can’t go to a chiropractor because of a Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm, so because no one would take a chance on fixing my knee, I was now going for injections in my spine to ease the pain from the staggered gait. All this was because of a knee which I knew was never right from day 1.
I went to an arthritis Dr., who prescribed more pain medication for the problem and told me that the state is now cracking down on opioids, and that it would now be an office visit, a urine test and a $40 co-pay each month to get an RX. Still, no help in finding a solution to what is causing the pain and severe swelling in my knee. When pressed for an answer, this Dr suggested it might be my arthritis causing the problem.
After that, I went back to the surgeon who told me to return if it didn’t get any better. He was very rude and told me that the implants looked fine on the x-rays and said that “people my age are just happy to be alive”, so I should learn to live with it. I was livid, so I decided to go out of my county to another, and located a Dr. who was supposed to be the guy to go to for revisions. His DX was that the x-rays looked good and that he was not going against what his good friend (Dr. #2) said, and maybe it was time for me to slow down. He said to take Tylenol.
Then I went to another arthritis Dr, who again prescribed pain medication until we had an argument over giving me pills vs. his actually finding a solution for the problem. He hinted that I might have mental problem. He also suggested I try medical marijuana for the pain…a pain which he had NO idea what was causing it!
I was at my wit’s end, thinking maybe I am insane and there really is nothing wrong with my knee, but inside, I knew better. Frustration was setting in, and I was beginning to think, “This is the rest of my life, so I had better get used to doing nothing”. I was about to give up when something wonderful happened.
I had surgery in February (not related to my knee), and that surgeon asked what was wrong with my leg. I gave him a rundown, and he told me to call Geisinger Orthopedics in Danville. That one call saved me from a life of misery. I was given an appointment for another Dr. there, but a few days later Dr. Maish called me and asked how soon I could get there. I saw him that day and it changed my life. He didn’t treat me like the others did, like I was some useless old lady who had nothing better to do than sit on a recliner and take pain pills, but rather he gave me hope…hope that he could fix it! He said there was a 20% chance of failure, but without trying, it was a sure 100% failure rate. I had my blood work, and within 2 weeks, I had my surgery date scheduled.
That was 1 July 2019. From that day on, my leg has felt “NORMAL” for the first time in years. It is now 16 Jul 2019, and my knee is bending smoothly, straightening, and I can even get into the passenger side of a car! I can’t wait until I can get on a ride at an amusement park with my 5 yr old granddaughter. That was something I could never do because I couldn’t bend my knee enough to fit in the seats of the rides. I know that PT will take several months because the muscles are atrophied, and it will take hard work on my part, but I want people to know that there IS help out there and to NEVER give up. It’s your body. You know what feels right (or wrong!) better than anyone.
Update: It is now August 8th and I have over 100 degree bend. The most I’ve had since 2014 was 67 degrees. I feel like a new person! I cannot express enough, the importance of NOT giving up! And my limp is almost gone.
