Submitted by Mississippi Valley Surgery Center
It all started in junior high. Martie Boston was playing with her friends and fell on her right knee. Her parents thought it was a minor sprain, and with a few days of rest, Martie was back to running and playing.
But her knee was never the same, it was sore and it hurt when she walked. Even worse, in what seemed like cruel twists of fate, she continued to injure the knee over the course of her life. There were more falls and even a couple of minor car accidents that left her right knee even more injured.
“I never broke it; it was just really damaged,” said Martie, a 65-year old receptionist. “Over the years, it got really bad.”
Like many people who live with this type of chronic pain, Martie eventually became used to the stiffness and the throbbing in her joint. She adjusted her movements to lessen the discomfort — a tactic that became habitual and even resulted in her own unique way of walking.
“I was literally dragging my leg in order to move around. I couldn’t go up steps the normal way,” Martie said.
She also tried many other ways to lessen her pain. From arthritis medication to cortisone shots and physical therapy, nothing provided long-term results.
Finally, when Martie and her husband moved to the Quad Cities in 2012, she connected with Dr. John Hoffman, a fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon with Orthopaedic Specialists in Davenport, Iowa, who helped her understand that she didn’t have to live with this type of chronic pain.
“It’s very fulfilling to help patients like Martie who have struggled with pain for such a long time,” said Dr. Hoffman. “We are able to offer the latest surgical techniques to get people of all ages and walks of life on their feet more quickly and with as little disruption as possible.”
During Martie’s first visit with Dr. Hoffman, he performed an x-ray that revealed her adjusted walking style had essentially left her “knock kneed,” a condition in which the knees angle in and touch one another when the legs are straightened. Together, they determined they would try cortisone shots into the right knee to see if that would help with her pain. While this provided Martie with some relief, it only lasted about two weeks.
“After that, it was pretty clear that a knee replacement was the best solution,” said Martie. She booked her knee replacement at the Mississippi Valley Surgery Center, the Quad Cities’ largest multi-specialty outpatient surgery center. In May of this year she had her procedure.
Using advanced technology for better precision, Dr. Hoffman used cutting guides custom-made to Martie’s knee to perform the procedure.
“This allows the precise placement of the implant and results in a much more efficient and accurate procedure compared to more traditional approaches,” he said.
For Martie, the whole process, from checking in at the Surgery Center to prepping for the procedure to post-op recovery, was one she felt good about.
“I’ve always had a fear of doctors and medical environments, but for me, this was truly a lovely experience,” she said. “You don’t have time to be nervous at all… they put you right at ease. Since I’m a receptionist, I’m very cognizant of customer service. But throughout the whole procedure, everyone was so friendly and helpful — they even sent me a thank-you note for being such a good patient.”
Martie noticed the effects of the knee replacement immediately. Despite the post-op discomfort, the pain was already less than what she had been enduring previously. And as a result of rest and some physical therapy, she is back to walking normally again.
“I basically had to re-teach my body how to walk because of how I was compensating for the pain in my knee,” she said.
Martie’s knee has healed and her perpetual knee pain is all but gone.
“The x-ray at my follow-up appointment showed that my knee was straight again, and I feel so much better,” Martie said. “I definitely recommend Dr. Hoffman and the fine folks at the Mississippi Valley Surgery Center. I am really, really happy I did the surgery.”
To learn more about Dr. Hoffman and the other surgeons at Orthpaedic Specialists, visit www.OSQuadCities.com. To learn more about the Mississippi Valley Surgery Center, go to www.mvhealth.net, and visit Facebook at facebook.com/MississippiValleySurgeryCenter.
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