"I started to get pain on the medial side, right below the knee replacement, and a lot of swelling around my knee," says Darlene, who was only 58 when she had her first knee surgery. "My doctor tried all kinds of things to ease the pain—by 2008 it was so bad that I could hardly walk. X-rays showed that the lower component in the tibia was slightly askew and my orthopedic surgeon could feel that it was loose. He tried to adjust my gait with a foot fusion but that just made things worse. Next up, I wore a full leg brace, from my ankle to my hip, for a year. I am only 5 feet tall and these braces are made for taller people. Every day I put that damn thing on and that didn't help either. Although it did help a bit with the pain in my knee, I suffered from hip and back pain—what a mess."I have no idea why my doctor didn't know that the Zimmer NexGen knee was defective. Why did I have to endure the foot fusion and the brace? Finally my orthopedic surgeon advised revision surgery—to have the femoral component replaced. So I looked for the best surgeon in the area, a surgeon who had experience with revision surgery. And I made sure he wasn't going to replace it with a Zimmer NexGen. My second knee is a completely different design: It has much longer rods in both components so I'm hoping it will have a longer life than the NexGen.
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"I still don't understand why my surgeon didn't know there was a problem with this device; wouldn't Zimmer notify all surgeons? I want my revision surgery to be reported and information gathered so that it is taken off the market. I want my story to get out to Zimmer; I don't know whether or not they are still making this component, but if they are, they shouldn't be!"
Zimmer recalled more than 65,000 NexGen MIS tibial knee replacement components after reports of pain and discomfort due to the knee loosening. Many people like Darlene ultimately required revision surgery to replace the defective NexGen knee.
READER COMMENTS
Cheryl V Walker
on
IMMEDIATELY, call and get your ENTIRE Health Insurance Records and Specifically Require it INCLUDE, all Doctors and Surgeons Letters and Application Request Forms for the Permission of Payment for those Procedures, Injections, etc, everything. Absolutely what was billed to your Insurance and then Paid.
The Records from your surgeon can Include the very same, do not let them fool You. Buy copy of the X-rays you took laying Knee on its side on table on as many of your past appoints. before the revision.
Last maked sure you do have the copied transcript of your surgeries. Both surgeries documented in writing may be at the Hospitals records.
Darlene - hold yourself together but with NO doubt I will bet all my reputation and even FACE your Surgeon to tell him to GET HONEST. YES....HE KNEW.
I want you to know that this "articles publisher" needs to give you my email so I can visit more with you. I can help you and give you some advice on what to do, what to ask and not take steps that could make it hard to go back and get another chance.
Author of Article. I am asking and praying you can see allowing these stories to be heard will sve many lives. PLEASE, if you will, can you make it possible for the patients to get the others email. I can help them and make sure they do not have all the losses and complete abandonment I continue to have today. I am fine for you to allow Darlene to contact me through my email. Thank you both.
Good luck to you. It is long and hard but this is something we can ignore - we have no choice but tp follow through.
Cheryl Walker
405-706-2530