Sharon, Orthopaedics

For 65-year-old retiree and former college athlete, Sharon Sweeney, getting a total right knee replacement was nothing to bat an eye at. That's because between 2011 and 2019, she had both hips and knees replaced in four separate surgeries!

"I had been athletic my whole life and played college sports," Sharon says. "Around nine years ago, I thought I was having back problems and went to see my doctor. After several tests and x-rays, someone finally diagnosed me with osteoarthritis and told me that I needed a hip replacement."

"We always try to use conservative treatments before pursuing surgery," Saint Agnes Care Orthopaedic Surgeon, Matthew Knedel, MD, says. "It's when the patient can no longer do normal things like going to the grocery store, driving or walking that we really start considering joint replacement."

At first, Sharon was hesitant of pursuing surgery because she was younger than most total joint replacement patients and was worried about needing frequent repairs or another replacement of the same joint down the road. After receiving assurance from both surgeons and doctors that the surgery would alleviate her pain, she went ahead with the surgery.

"I was able to get back to work within six weeks of the surgery, but I soon found that the replaced joint had become so strong that my other hip and knees became weaker and more painful in response," Sharon says.

One last visit to the shop

One by one, Sharon had her other joints replaced, until only her right knee was left. Having had her previous three surgeries performed by three different surgeons, Sharon continued the trend and called Dr. Knedel to discuss her final surgery.

"From the beginning, he was just so personable, and I could tell that he really cared and wanted to help me," Sharon says. "His wife was actually pregnant at the time of my surgery, and each time I came in for a new appointment, he would keep me informed on his family. That was a really important connection for me."

"Sharon is a great example of a patient suffering with severe arthritis," Dr. Knedel says. "She wasn't able to do the things she loved anymore, and, in her case, surgery was the best option to get her back to living life again."

In January of 2019, Dr. Knedel performed Sharon's knee surgery, and within one day, she was back home recovering. Thanks to minimally-invasive surgery methods and a special medicated strip placed over the incision site, Sharon's healing process was much smoother during her fourth surgery than the previous knee almost four years earlier.

"My recovery was much easier than in the past," Sharon says. "There was significantly less pain and swelling in the joint, and the pain management practices were better at controlling my pain."

The minimally invasive methods used for Sharon's surgery offered a smaller incision site and did significantly less injury to the muscles, tendons and ligaments that surrounded the joint, thus making recovery faster and less painful than traditional joint replacement surgery.

Back on the bike

Within three months of her knee surgery, she was back to doing the things she loved and exercising three or four times a week – including taking her new recumbent bike out for weekly rides.

"I'm back on the bike, which is a big passion of mine," Sharon says. "Dr. Knedel saw a photo of me with my recumbent bike after my recovery and said, 'I want that for my wall! That's why we do what we do.'"

"I love being able to give a patient their freedom of mobility back," Dr. Knedel says. "It makes all the years of training worth it to see the improvements we make in our patients' lives."

After nearly a decade of living with debilitating osteoarthritis, Sharon's arthritic pain is almost entirely gone.

"Even a year after the surgery, I still find new activities that I can do now that shock me because they just weren't possible before," Sharon says. "I've even gone hiking a few times, and I honestly can't remember the last time I was able to do that."

Sharing the lane

A veteran of four joint replacements, Sharon is happy to share about her success with others considering joint replacement as she believes it really is the right choice for those who experience extreme pain from osteoarthritis and other similar conditions.

"Yes, surgery is scary, but it comes down to weighing fear against such an awful quality of life," Sharon says. "I've sort of become the poster child for 'Hey, surgery is no big deal,' and I hope my story will help more people be ready to pursue joint replacement."