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Seeking a Pain-Free Knee: Knee Replacement Surgery Relieves Long-Term Pain for Freehold Man

Alan Schultz had dealt with pain in his left knee for nearly a decade. More recently, however, his throbbing knee was waking him up like clockwork every night at 3 a.m., and he had trouble walking up stairs. At that point, the 65-year-old retiree knew it was time to consult an orthopedic surgeon.

โ€œI was ready to put the pain behind me,โ€ Alan says. โ€œMy wife, Kathy, and I have lived in Freehold for the past 32 years, and I knew I wanted my care close to home.โ€

His research led him to Gregg Berkowitz, MD, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon on staff at CentraState. Because Alan had bone-on-bone erosion along with arthritis in his knee, Dr. Berkowitz confirmed that he was a good candidate for total knee replacement.

The next step was to attend a Total Joint Education Class, a one-hour session that detailed what to expect from pre-op to recovery. Alan then underwent surgery that replaced his knee with a prosthesis mimicking the jointโ€™s anatomy and shapeโ€”and he was up and moving that same day.

โ€œWith joint replacement, our ultimate goal is pain relief and the return to a better quality of life,โ€ explains Dr. Berkowitz. โ€œBeing mobile as soon as possible after surgery facilitates the recovery process, minimizes any potential complications, and helps reduce the hospital length of stay.โ€

Post-Surgery Progress

Aside from some initial postsurgical pain, Alan recalls sleeping the best he had in ten years the following few nights. After a three-night hospital stay that included inpatient physical therapy, he continued his progress at The Manor Health and Rehabilitation Center, located on the hospital campus.

Alanโ€™s daily physical and occupational therapy sessions included balance training, functional training like walking up and down stairs, and practicing other activities of daily living. In one day, he graduated from a walker to a cane.

โ€œAlan was motivated to get better quickly, so he did really well,โ€ says Cynthia Mark, DPT, his physical therapist. โ€œWe used various strategies to improve his functional mobility so he could return home with maximum independence.โ€

During his stay, Alan also took advantage of nutrition counseling services.

โ€œThe nutritionist spent about an hour with my wife and me reviewing simple ways I could improve my health, which was really a bonus,โ€ Alan says. โ€œI lost 20 pounds after discharge just by following this advice.โ€

Alan spent four nights at The Manor and had subsequent outpatient physical therapy. Heโ€™s now back to enjoying his lifeโ€”including spending summers at a family home in Lake George, New York, and helping care for his three-year-old grandson, Logan.

โ€œBased on my experience, Iโ€™d recommend CentraState to anyone in a heartbeat,โ€ Alan adds. โ€œIโ€™m just so happy that the pain is gone.โ€

To learn more about orthopedic surgery services at CentraState, call 866-CENTRA7. 

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