Double Duty Knee Surgery

I wrote a couple of days ago about my memories of Hillcrest Hospital. Not only have I had memories of living by the hospital, but I also have had my own experiences with the care from Hillcrest.

You see, when I was going to Baylor University I had to have arthroscopic knee surgery. The surgery was at Hillcrest Hospital in 1978. I hurt my right knee playing football when I was in junior high. When I was in the 7th grade I played each play of each game on the offensive and defensive line until the last game of the season. In the last quarter of the game I was illegally blocked and tore the cartilage in my right knee. I sat out the rest of the game and didn't get to play much in the 8th grade due to knee problems. By the 9th grade I acted as football manager. For whatever reasons I lived with the knee problems and it eventually seemed to get better.

Actually, what happened is I began to favor my right leg and place more pressure on the left leg. Also, whenever I stood I was place most of my weight on the left leg. This eventually led to even more problems.

When I finally visited my orthopaedic surgeon he told me that I had torn cartilage in the right knee and an extremely bad left knee. You see, all the years of pressure on the left knee caused it the cartilage to wear thin and in some spots the bone began to rub against bone. Ouch!

I went to Hillcrest during the summer and had the surgery on both knees at the same time. OUCH!

I was special. I had one surgeon on the right knee and another surgeon doing the left knee. That was on a Monday morning. By Tuesday morning they were getting me into rehab. Unfortunately, my knees and stomach had different plans. They did get me up there that afternoon. By then I was better. I then got to enjoy the run of the hospital in my wheelchair. By Thursday, I had to learn to get around on crutches. Fun, fun, fun. On Friday I was on my way home and had to learn how to cope with stairs and other obstacles. By the time summer was over I was ready for Baylor and getting around campus on better knees.

Was the surgery worth it? Sure. But now that it has been 30 years since the surgery the old knees hurt now and again and are a little creaky, but are still much better than that summer Monday morning at Hillcrest Hospital before the surgery began.© 2008 Barry T Horst


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