Chansky's Notebook: Made For Me

UNC Ortho gave me a brand new customized knee.

The injury happened more than 40 years ago during a tag football game after I finished college. It was a typical torn up knee – ACL, MCL, tendons and cartilage, the works.

The orthopedist I consulted said it was major surgery to fix and my leg would be so atrophied coming out of the cast for three months that the physical therapy regimen was only for scholarship athletes with careers at stake.

So I lived with the knee, had several scope procedures to clean out the loose particles. No more tennis or sharp lateral movements for me on this knee. Ride your bike and lift some weights, said Tim Taft — the former ortho surgeon for Tar Heels athletes — and when the pain gets too great, you’ll be ready for a new knee.

That day came, and I went to see Dr. Dan Del Gaizo, a joint replacement specialist at UNC. We discussed the options, since these surgeries had improved significantly in recent years. I asked him about the new customized implants that were made from a three-dimensional x-ray of a knee. He said the data was limited but what they had was very positive.

I said I wanted one, and Dr. Dan sent me for a CT scan. The company built an implant to replace the upper and lower parts of my knee that were causing bone-on-bone pain. They also sent along instructions on where Dr. Del Gaizo would cut spaces so the new knee would fit exactly into those places.

A custom fit, he called it, like hand in glove. All the people I know who’ve had knee replacements said it was a grueling recovery but they wished they hadn’t waited so long to do it. I wasn’t waiting and scheduled the surgery for June 8.

The first week WAS grueling, the second week still very painful. But once the staples came out of the seven-inch scar where my leg was opened up, and serious PT began, the progress was steady and, frankly, pretty amazing.

The pain gradually went away, but the stiffness and swelling won’t be all gone for months. After nine weeks of PT, though, I am walking without a limp and feeling like I haven’t felt in 40 years.

Thanks, UNC and Dr. Del Gaizo, for giving me a customized knee I can truly say was made for me.