After years of unbearable knee pain, a master swimmer with a competitive spirit, Rebecca chose Memorial Orthopedic & Spine Hospital for her knee replacement surgery.
As a Master's Swimmer for the past 23 years, Rebecca expects top performance from her body. "Swimming is a very important part of my life — I used to compete and I wanted to still be able to do the breaststroke since that's my preferred stroke," says Rebecca. When the pain in her right knee became more than she could bear after several years, even with modifications to her activity level, she considered knee replacement surgery with Dr. Ken Mathis, an affiliated orthopedic surgeon with Memorial Hermann Orthopedic & Spine Hospital.
"I chose Dr. Mathis for my knee replacement surgery because he looked me in the eyes, he listened to me and treated me with respect," she recalled.
After scheduling her surgery, Rebecca made the trip to Houston from her home in Alaska. She recalled meeting with the nurse navigator at Memorial Hermann Orthopedic & Spine Hospital and noted that he "was very personable and made me feel comfortable to know what was going to happen throughout the process." During her stay at Memorial Hermann, she felt very well cared for by all members of the staff that she encountered.
"Dr. Mathis explained to me that he wanted me to walk right away after surgery and they want you to get up and walk a certain amount of steps. When I got up and walked, I didn't have any pain." In fact, Rebecca ended up doubling her step goal and as proof of her competitive spirit, she wished there was another patient she could have raced around the nurses' station!
"I'm a pretty good patient so I want to do everything I can to ensure a good outcome and I can get back in the pool," she says. To support that outcome, Rebecca had physical therapy for approximately twelve weeks after her surgery to assist her recovery. Rebecca actually looked forward to her physical therapy appointments where the staff pushed her to do specific activities such as stationary bikes and lots of squats to add strength and mobility.
Dr. Mathis' skill with the knee replacement surgery allowed me to continue to do what I love and what really defines me in an important way.