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Patient TestimonialDr. Bill, ADVANCE® Medial-Pivot Knee Recipient (Minimally-invasive knee surgery) Dr. Bill has a great deal of knee-surgery experience – both as a surgeon and a patient. He
has been performing knee surgeries for more than 30 years in Wisconsin. As an avid snow skier,
injured on the slopes more than once, he has been on the receiving end of knee surgery nine times.
The ninth surgery, on his left knee, was a replacement with Wright Medical’s Medial Pivot knee implant, and he says it is likely the end of his experience as a patient. “I don’t even think about it anymore,” Dr. Bill, 68, said. “The only thing I might need, eventually, is a poly exchange because I expect to be active for another 20 years or so.” Poly exchange refers to needing to replace the polyethylene that acts as a contact surface at the bottom of the joint. Dr. Bill plans to continue all the activities he enjoys including snow skiing, backpacking, water skiing, river trips and flying his airplane.
He chose Wright’s ADVANCE® Medial Pivot knee because he liked the design, its range of motion, stability and wear characteristics. His replacement surgery was about four years ago and was performed by Drs. Michael Anderson and David Becker. Dr. Bill said he had an unusually “lucky” surgical experience because he never felt enough pain to warrant taking pain medication, and his recovery was fast and complete. “It felt much better immediately after surgery. The surgery was on a Friday, and on the following Monday I drove my car,” he said. “After five and a half weeks my wife and I walked six miles.” Dr. Bill and his wife are also back to hiking in the mountains of Colorado and Utah, water skiing, and doing precision aerobatics in his plane, which places large demands on the knees while manipulating the rudder controls. “It has revolutionized my life,” he said of his knee replacement. “Forty years ago people with these kind of knee problems just had to stop all activity. So these replacements are truly amazing in how much they can do for us.” These results are specific to this individual only. Individual results and activity levels after surgery vary and depend on many factors including age, weight and prior activity level.
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Dr. Bill’s knee problem began when he was in college. A knee injury left a piece of bone
loose in the joint and the cartilage grew over it. He later had surgery to remove the piece of
bone, but that left a hole in the joint. “I got along well for quite a long time and did plenty
of backpacking and skiing,” he said. “But finally the knee got worse. I could still ski, but I
couldn’t walk away from the mountain afterward.” After a series of open and arthroscopic
surgeries, with limited results, Dr. Bill was forced to give up his activities. He became out
of shape and somewhat depressed. That, along with the constant and increasing pain, convinced
him he needed to seek a more permanent solution.
He has snow skied every year since his surgery, and says he is in better physical condition
now because he can work out regularly. He and his wife snow ski with instructors, “so we go
at it pretty hard and fast – I haven’t had any problems.”
