“I Need New Knees”

To operate or not to operate? For many women, that is the question. Here's the story of one local woman who finally chose to go under the knife.

Davis first saw Lonner in May 2011. “I felt horrible because I had a list of questions a mile long for him, but he addressed every single one,” she says. “He explained that he would not know how much work he would have to do until I was on the table. I am still not sure why, but something in my gut said this was the time to do it.”

What Lonner discovered was somewhat of a shock: the root of the problem was a birth defect. Davis had been born without trochlear grooves, the little notch in the end of the femur where the patella is supposed to fit, like a puzzle piece. So every time she bent her knee, the caps had no grooves to hold them in place; they would slide out to the sides of the legs.

While age 36 may seem young to get partial knee replacements, and Davis’s case is a rarity caused by a birth defect, Lonner says studies are showing that the fastest growing group of patients coming in for knee-replacement surgery are those younger than 55 years old. (In fact, my own mother had a total double knee replacement at age 54.)

“Patients are typically choosing knee-replacement surgeries when their pain limits their ability to perform activities, despite attempts at some nonoperative treatments, such as medications, injections, physical therapy and weight loss,” says Lonner. That time comes earlier today than before, he adds, because patients don’t want to endure pain just for the sake of being “old enough” to have surgery, an arbitrary age when physicians used to deem patients ready for surgery.

Even still, it doesn’t explain why more women than men are getting knee surgery. High school preseason athletes, listen up: The numbers of athletic related injuries in women continues to grow at a tremendous rate. Lonner says this is because women are more susceptible than men to ACL injuries for a variety of reasons, with millions of dollars being spent to better understand why.

“There are anatomic, structural and physiologic explanations. Even in well reconstructed knees, ACL injury predisposes both women and men to progressive knee arthritis,” he says. But because of the way we women are built—more specifically, thee way our quads pull on our patellas—we’re more likely to be predisposed to knee conditions, like the softening and wear of the cartilage under the knee cap, which ups our chances for arthritis.

During Davis’s procedure, Lonner shaved off the arthritis, then placed a metal cap over the femur with a groove in it and a plastic button on the back of the patella. Davis woke up with brand new kneecaps.

The morning after surgery, Davis surprised nurses by being able to step into her shorts and put her shoes on and tie them, all on her own—with 21 staples in each knee. “This is the power of yoga!” she says.

Next was two months of pain, sweat, and tears, as Davis worked hard in therapy to get back her pre-operation activity level.”I learned very quickly that if I wanted this to be successful I had to put my humility aside,” she says.

At her two-month post-op visit, Davis laid back, legs up for a range of motion and knee joint flexibility test. She passed with flying colors, something not everyone is able to do just eight weeks after surgery. Lonner cleared her to drive, swim, use the elliptical, and, most important, snowboard.

When asked about Davis’s impressive rate of recovery, Lonner said it’s the motivation to get back into action that allows many of his patients to recover at a faster-than-usual pace. “Melissa had a remarkably quick recovery,” he says. “Many of my patients are off their canes or crutches and have discontinued their pain medications within two or three weeks.”

Davis completed her first post-op 5K just eight months after surgery and a mud run not long after. A year later, Lonner cleared Davis to do a half-marathon. Her routine now includes power yoga, running, hiking and swimming. She’s also a teacher, swim coach and lifeguard.

So what’s next? Davis has a world of options—and, thankfully, her knees won’t hold her back.