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There
once was a time when Nancy
Elliott was extremely active. She played in
an adult softball league, cycled, and did
tai chi.
That was 15 years ago, before she
tore the meniscus in her left knee.
Surgery fixed the tear, but Nancy made
a detrimental mistake: She skipped her
physical therapy. In no time, new pain
formed, this time in her kneecap.
“It got to the point that it was all I
thought about,” the Garland resident
says. “I didn’t want to go anywhere or do
anything because it hurt.”
A CT scan revealed that Nancy’s
knee joint was bone on bone, but
she was apprehensive about knee
replacement surgery. Finally, in 2012,
Nancy found Diane Litke, MD, on the
medical staff at Methodist Richardson
Medical Center.
Because Nancy still wasn’t quite
ready to choose surgery, Dr. Litke first
prescribed some conservative therapies,
such as steroid injections and weight
loss. But what Nancy really needed was a
new knee.
“I never once thought that the surgery
wouldn’t be a success; I had the utmost
confidence in Dr. Litke,” Nancy says.
“I just had to be ready to go through
the process.”
That time came in summer 2014.
What’s new about new knees
Knee replacements today are far more
effective than in years past, now lasting
25 to 30 years. Dr. Litke says that starts
with the quality of the replacement itself.
“We do 100 percent custom-built knees
for our patients,” Dr. Litke says. “The
knees fit exactly, and people are recovering
more quickly and experiencing more
natural movement.”
It’s
time
to be pain-free
ARE YOU READY?
Methodist Richardson’s hip knee and shoulder replacement programs are all certified by The Joint
Commission If you’re ready to consider a new joint call
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today
The day after surgery, the team at
Methodist Richardson was already helping
Nancy walk.
“The more quickly patients get moving,
the fewer complications and less pain they
experience and the faster they get out of
the hospital,” Dr. Litke says.
Nancy went home two days after her
procedure, and within weeks, her Great
Pyrenees mix, Belvedere, was enjoying his
nightly walks again — and Nancy was
enjoying being 40 pounds lighter from
the exercise.
“Life is pretty awesome,” she says.
No time like the present
Dr. Litke encourages anyone with
persistent knee pain to seek medical care.
“It doesn’t mean you need a joint
replacement, but we might be able to delay
getting a new joint with other treatments,”
she says.
For people whose pain is truly
unbearable, both she and Nancy share
one piece of advice: Don’t be afraid of a
new knee.
“You’ll be able to take control of your
life and not let pain be the focus,” Nancy
says. “It will change your life for the better.”
KNEE REPLACEMENT
6
Methodist Richardson Medical Center
•
Summer 2015