Orthopaedics

Dennis' Story

Dennis K.

Name: Dennis K.
Age: 67
Occupation: Retired
Home: Washington, NH
Procedure: Bilateral knee replacement

Outdoor lifestyle

I love the outdoors and planned to spend as much time hiking and kayaking as I could, while I still could be active. But I found that last year I was having trouble bending my knees enough to hike any difficult hills or to even get into my kayak. I could still do a lot but to get back to my active lifestyle, I had to make a decision.

Knee replacement

I'd had arthroscopic procedures here before with Dr. Shirreffs and he had said when I was ready I may need knee replacements. Last year, he finally said I was ready. I looked at my situation and saw this was not going to get any better. My left knee was getting really bad at this point, and my right knee was a year behind it.

We decided to do both knees at once because it isn't much harder than doing one and it would take a few weeks to get back to where you want to be each time. It was a pretty simple case: I wanted to be active. The other thing that's interesting is that recovery after a bilateral procedure is better in some ways because you can't favor one leg.

Preparing for the surgery

I feel like I had a good outcome because during the year prior to my surgery I worked out at a health club. The muscle strength I gained made the recovery easier. Also, the doctor spends time in a classroom setting with you before the surgery. You get a really good picture of what you're going to go through, what to expect, and the after effects, as well as a question and answer period. This isn't something that you do everyday—so pre-surgery education was a really big help.

Recovery

After surgery your legs are put in a device that maintains a constant motion to keep things limber [continuous passive motion (CPM) machine]. Because I was only at the hospital for a couple of days after the surgery, they were helping to make sure I would be OK when I left for home. They said I was out quicker than normal and were kind of surprised, but again I credit that to working out the year before.

I haven't had many problems, quite honestly. The discomfort was less than I thought it would be. It's funny because in talking to some of the therapists, they'll say that some people have one knee done and then they're hesitant about doing a second one and I don't know why.

I was talking to a lady recently at a dinner and she was saying she needed a knee replaced and she was putting it off and I said to her, "well you're hurting now aren't you?" and she said, "oh yeah." I said, "Well you're only going to hurt for a few weeks after the surgery and it isn't that bad. I know we all have a different tolerance to pain but if you're already in discomfort then there's no reason not to do it."

Care at DHMC

When we relocated several years ago, DHMC was one of our reasons for moving to this part of New Hampshire. We have had extraordinary medical treatment here.

The nursing staff was everything you'd want from them. Everyone was always in a good mood, which makes it easier to deal with things. It was excellent care. The people here have always been great to work with and I say that with the most sincerity. My wife's had a couple of bouts with cancer and has visited other departments and it's the same. It's comforting being near by a facility of this quality because when you listen to some of the problems people go through — well, we just don't experience it here.