After years of painful arthritis keeping them from the activities they enjoy in life, VOA patients share their joint replacement journeys.
Edward James, a retired high school principal, lived with the pain of arthritis for nearly four years before deciding on surgery. He had his right hip replaced on March 31, 2008.
“When you can’t do the things you used to do, you start to get depressed,” James said. “You don’t think it’s that bad, but it really is. You get used to the pain.”
James researched the procedure online but it was word of mouth that made him decide on VOA and Dr. Barrett.
“They are well thought of in the community,” he said.
Before arthritis limited his activities, James was fairly active playing basketball, tennis and racquet ball. He completed master gardener training 12 weeks before surgery and now he’s back in his garden.
“Being retired, there’s lots for me to do,” James said. “Most of all, I can bend over and tie my shoes. I couldn’t do that before. I have a lot more flexibility.”
On May 19, 2008, Geoffrey Newing had his left hip replaced after living with bone-on-bone pain for almost two years.
“All of the cartilage was gone,” Newing said. “I ran track and raced jet skis. I just wore it out,” Newing said.
Like Edward James, Newing’s joint replacement journey was a positive one. He was back to work two weeks after surgery and had no pain. Eight weeks after his surgery, Newing vacationed in France.
“The only thing that hurt was my feet from all the walking,” he said. “I can’t believe I recovered so quickly. It was just tremendous.”
Although Newing recognizes the majority of people view hip replacement as major surgery, for him “the outcome of what I went through is minimal to get my quality of life back and do the things I enjoy doing.”
Even when military retiree John Clements was living with bone-on-bone pain in his right knee, he started his day at 6 a.m. and kept going until about 10 p.m. He lived with arthritic deterioration in his knee for 20 years.
Clements had his right knee replaced on June 23, 2008. He interviewed three orthopedic surgeons before deciding on Dr. Barrett and VOA.
“Dr. Barrett is the only one that asked me questions about my lifestyle before and what I expected to do after the operation. He was the only one interested in what I had been doing and what I wanted to continue to do,” Clements said.
Clements owns a construction electrician business. He is also a firearms instructor and works with the police, military and civilians.
“I’m very active doing many, many things. The thing that was limiting was the immobility in my leg. Now, I only have to work on strengthening my leg.” Clements said.
In addition to continuing to strengthen his replaced right knee, Clements is working on strengthening his left knee to prepare for replacement in October. If the left knee is built up before surgery, the recovery time should be faster.
After going through his first knee replacement surgery, Clements had this advice for anyone considering joint replacement:
“If you’re used to pain and you like pain, then don’t do it. If you want to get rid of the pain, have your knee replaced. There is no pain like bone rubbing on bone going through your body.”
Clements also said that after his surgery, his flexibility is coming back.
“There is no doubt in my mind I can have good flexibility and range of motion,” he said. “I’m not going to skip a beat.”
Attend a seminar to learn more about joint replacement surgery. Seminars are held at The Joint Center at Valley Medical Center at 11 a.m. every Monday. Call 1-888-265-6468 for more information.
Dr. Barrett is the medical director for The Joint Center at Valley Medical Center. He was named a top doctor in the July 2009 and September 2007 issues of Seattle Magazine, as well as the August 2009 and 2008 issues of Seattle Metropolitan Magazine.