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Patient TestimonialVirginia, ADVANCE® Medial-Pivot Knee Recipient
Virginia farms land with her son and is used to pretty demanding
physical activity. Raising hogs has been particularly hard on her knees, as
it requires a lot of stress and constant up-and-down movement, squatting for
long periods of time, and even requiring Virginia's whole body to move the pigs
onto the truck, all of which are physically exhausting! In addition to working
with hogs, she has also bales 45-50 pounds of hay, corn stalk, and straw daily
and loads these bundles into the elevator and up to the barn.
She had her right knee replaced in 1997, and it took her five weeks to recover from the surgery. According to Virginia, her knee "swelled like a stovepipe," and she experienced severe muscle spasms for a week. Her doctor had also recommended she get her left knee replaced, but she was really concerned about the difficult road to recovery and range of motion, as she just didn't quite get back the range of motion she was expecting from the first surgery. She decided to wait until she couldn't stand the pain anymore for the second surgery, and when she could no longer push a grocery cart in her supermarket, she knew it was time to go in for the second knee.
"I'd be sitting in a wheelchair right now if I didn't have the knees done, I'm sure of that. Before I had my Wright ADVANCE® Medial-Pivot Knee, I was using a motorized cart at the grocery store. I was too young for that! I had so much pain when I would step on it - from the car to the store. Within 2 weeks of my implant, I was really getting around and walking well on it." "Believe me, I put both knees to the test every day. I just happen to prefer my ADVANCE® Medial-Pivot Knee."
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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As she got older, Virginia started experiencing excruciating pain in both
knees due to physical demands placed on her joints and arthritis. She had
scope surgery done on both knees and often took heavy does of medication to
ease the pain, but nothing helped. Her physician, Dr. James Mueller, told
her she had no cartilage left in her knees and her joints were badly deteriorated.
Total knee replacements would be required.
Around this time, Dr. Mueller had heard about Wright's ADVANCE® Medial-Pivot Total Knee System at a medical conference and identified Virginia as a candidate for this implant. In contrast to her first total knee replacement, Virginia was back to walking in just five days. Her husband was shocked at how fast she got going after implantation with the ADVANCE® Medial-Pivot Knee. Virginia reports that her new knee replacement offers her greater flexibility and more side-to-side motion. She is able to easily twist her left foot around to put her rubber boot over her shoe. She doesn't have the same luxury with her right foot.