Chicago, ILCompared to the pain that Joseph has endured since getting a knee replacement in 2008, setting off metal detectors at airports is only a minor irritant.
“I have arthritis and ligament damage, quite a bit I was told, so I was (apparently) a prime candidate for a replacement,” say Joseph. “I wasn’t crazy about the idea of knee surgery but the pain was pretty bad and I thought it would help me. Back then I was pretty active; I was manager of a shoe store and running around all day so it was really affecting my lifestyle and career.”
Joseph decided to get his right knee replaced in February 2008, but from day one it has bothered him. “It is one of the worst surgeries I have ever had,” he explains. “I would never think that knee replacement surgery would be this painful and cause so much pain and aggravation for so many years.
“Right after the surgery I had problems. I had so much scar tissue that I had another surgery only a few months later. My surgeon had no idea why there was so much scar tissue. For three or four months I did all this therapy and it still didn’t make a difference.”
Joseph recently saw his orthopedic surgeon, but doctor visits for him are pretty much a waste of time. “In the beginning, right after knee surgery, I complained to him on a regular basis. Now there are less visits but the pain hasn’t lessened. He still says everything looks good, to this day! During the first few years I thought it was me, but then I started talking to people and found out I’m not alone with these problems. For instance, I still have pain and swelling around the knee joint and sometimes it gets so bad I can hardly walk.”
Now that Joseph realizes it “isn’t him,” he is thinking about getting a second opinion; perhaps knee revision surgery is an option. “Just for the heck of it I went online (I probably saw something on TV first) and searched ‘DePuy knee replacement recall’. Wow! I was surprised to see so much information. And I was shocked at how many people this has affected. All the problems these other people are having are the same problems as I am suffering with. I read a lot of knee replacement reviews, which were mostly negative. After reading about 20 or so, I considered filing a knee replacement lawsuit. I found LawyersandSettlements.
“I know that I have a DePuy knee because I have to carry a card every time I fly that says as much. Every time I go through security, I set off the metal detector and they put me in a little room. I show them the card; it is already out of my wallet. It says DePuy knee replacement patient ID card, Feb 18 2008, right knee, and shows where I had surgery.”
But it takes Joseph some time to get through airport security and that little room because he has trouble walking. He also used to play golf but that ended with his knee replacement. “It has changed my lifestyle,” he adds. “For instance, last year my son got married in Tuscany and I could hardly keep up with my family walking and sightseeing, but I still had a wonderful time. I have to stop occasionally and my family understands.
“As for the future, I don’t know what to do. You just learn to live with it but that is not how it is supposed to be - surgery is supposed to help, not make you worse.”
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