Beacon team helps patient rediscover joy of world travel after knee replacement

For Amy Rosen, a world traveler who once skied slalom and navigated airports with ease, the gradual loss of mobility hit hard. She started avoiding trips that involved walking through airports, watching her world shrink as her damaged left knee worsened.

Her athletic past had left her with great memories, and unfortunately, some knee damage. During her waterskiing and slalom days, her meniscus — the cushioning within the knee joint — was damaged several times. The situation only got worse when an unexpected weight gain in the late 90s added to the strain on her knees. Arthritis started to creep into her damaged left knee.

As her pain and mobility worsened, she consulted a couple of joint specialists who suggested she consider knee replacement. But they advised her that to have a good outcome, she should lose weight first.

The turning point came when a relative who went through a successful joint replacement. Amy began to see that feeling OK wasn’t good enough when she could feel better.

“You start making little adjustments to your life, and they add up. They limit your enjoyment. You don’t need to do that. You don’t need to suffer,” she says. “I started thinking about the next chapter of my life, and I wanted to be an active participant.”

The next chapter

This mindset led Amy to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Gregg Ebersole at Beacon Bone & Joint Specialists last year.

During a conversion with Dr. Ebersole, Amy says he asked her not only about her knee pain and concerns, but also what she wanted to achieve. She told him she really wanted to be able to travel and walk around.

Cortisol shots were an option, but after one injection, it became clear they wouldn’t give her the lasting results she was looking for.

“Amy had exhausted her conservative management options,” Dr. Ebersole says. “It was time to consider joint replacement again, but she still had to achieve her weight loss goal. Knowing the risk of complication increases as weight increases, we are dedicated to optimizing the patient prior to surgery.”

Amy had made progress on her weight loss journey but had gotten stuck at about 20 pounds above her goal. Dr. Ebersole, and her primary care physician, Dr. Daniel Abel of Beacon Medical Group Schwartz-Weikamp, offered the support she needed to reach that final milestone.

“Doctors are always telling you to lose weight when you’re heavy,” Amy says. “Dr. Ebersole and Dr. Abel talked to me like a person. I didn’t feel shamed or embarrassed.”

This personalized approach made all the difference in helping Amy reach her goal.

“It takes a global approach to achieve weight loss,” Dr. Ebersole says. “It is just as much a psychological battle as it is a physical battle. We understand how hard it is and want to partner with the patient to achieve obtainable goals.”

With a renewed commitment to her health and the support of her care team, she was able to meet her weight loss goal. She was ready for surgery.

Dr. Ebersole replaced Amy’s left knee last August at Memorial Hospital. The procedure took place in the late afternoon, so she spent the night in the hospital.

“You’re nervous, of course. But everybody was very pleasant,” she said. “They’re professional and serious about their work, but they also make you feel like it’s going to be OK. I appreciated that night in the hospital. I felt very well cared for and ready to go home the next day.”

By her third day after surgery, Amy was walking pretty easily using a walker. She transitioned to using a cane, and about two weeks later she could walk around without assistance.

Back to globe-trotting

A little over a year after her knee replacement, Amy is back to her favorite past-time: traveling the world.

“Before the surgery, I had done on a trip with my father to Ireland and Scotland. He was in his upper 80s, and he was able to do and go more than I was,” she says. “Now, I feel fantastic. I just got back from a trip to Portugal. And Portugal is built on hills!”

Her sister and niece joined her on her recent trips. “My biggest fear was that I’d hold them back. That was not the case.”

The best part? Amy doesn’t have to think about her mobility any more. She can simply enjoy being able to move.

“I can come home from work and walk the trails and get some fresh air. It’s great just feeling like you can live a normal life.”