Gardening and spending time outdoors are just some of the things Maria Anderson enjoys doing. When she’s not staying busy in the sun, you can find her spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren. Unfortunately, in recent years, rheumatoid arthritis pain took these joys away from her.
Rheumatoid arthritis (R.A.) is an autoimmune disease that can cause joint pain and damage throughout your body. Over time, R.A. inflammation can cause bone erosion and joint deformity. But, for Maria, her pain stood out the most in her knees.
“A lot of the things I wanted to do and needed to do, I got to where I couldn’t do them because I couldn’t move,” she says. “My knees had gotten to be such a problem, and it was like bone on bone. It was excruciating pain – sometimes it would last just a second, but it was enough to make me almost pass out.”
For someone who doesn’t like to sit inside, it was devastating to be restricted due to this knee pain. Life, in general, had come to a halt for her.
Anderson saw Dr. Wallace for knee injections at the onset of the pain. Eventually, these injections weren’t working, so he referred her to Dr. Charles H. Wilson, IV. After a thorough consultation, there was only one solution for the damage – an outpatient knee replacement for both knees.
As with any surgery, Anderson was concerned about the outcome and recovery, especially as it concerned her age. Dr. Wilson went over the surgery details and set her at ease, scheduling knee surgeries in both 2020 and 2021 to complete both knees at separate times.
Dr. Wilson recommended outpatient knee replacement surgery for both knees. As a result, he replaced the left knee in September 2020 and her right knee in February 2021.
“I was totally amazed at how fast everything went. I’ve had surgery before, and this was just amazing that I could walk right after waking up – and I haven’t stopped,” Anderson says. “I was able to do everything on my own right away.”
Her recovery included physical therapy and rehab at The Orthopaedic Group, P.C. She credits her second knee surgery recovery with the work she put in after her first surgery – the therapists helped her prepare for what was coming next.
Now Maria is back to doing everything she loved doing before her R.A. knee joint pain. She’s back in her gardens after three years and spending as much time as possible outdoors. Her quality of life has returned, and she credits the knowledge and experience of the specialists at The Orthopaedic Group, P.C.
If anyone were to ask for her recommendation, she says, “I would tell them there is so much knowledge under one roof at The Orthopaedic Group. It’s great because I can go there for everything I need, and I’ll be using them moving forward.”
For more than 40 years, patients throughout the Gulf Coast have chosen our orthopaedic doctors at The Orthopaedic Group, P.C., for specialized care in the spine, shoulder, elbow, hand and wrist, hip, and knee, and foot and ankle.
Our fellowship-trained doctors have extensive education and experience in evaluating, diagnosing, and treating all orthopaedic injuries and conditions.
Experienced, Expert care for over 40 years.
