Friday, April 11, 2008

My New Knee

After suffering years of pain and increasingly limited activities, I made the decision to undergo a total knee arthroplasty in December.

The staff at the University of Arkansas decided to document this experience with a sequential video and I thought that some of you might enjoy it.

So, here is the link:

http://www.uams.edu/orthopaedic.asp

8 comments:

e-Patient Dave said...

Thanks for posting this! For one thing, it's great to see & hear you as something other than a static photo.

Pink Floyd, huh?? Gee, they didn't let me stay up during my nephrectomy. :)

I'll show this to my wife.

Thanks very much, too, to whoever decided to post a story like this in two-minute segments. That's SUCH a convenience.

Charles Smith, MD said...

Thanks E-p Dave! Yeah, the idea of staying up to keep an eye on those guys was too tempting to pass up. And the song I requested was "Comfortably numb". It was a blast until the anesthesia wore off.

Been following your e mails and am amazed by your passion and energy!

e-Patient Dave said...

> my passion and energy

I look at this way (I came up with this wording at Cooks Branch): In the mini-golf game of life, at the 18th hole I got a hole in one, so I get a free replay! And I'm choosing to do EXACTLY what I want with it. (Which I could have done all along, but there's something about facing death that makes it more real.)

All I'm doing is vigorously repaying the e-community for the work you'd done for years, which helped create the environment in which I got sick.

At my last CT scan results meeting (a few weeks ago), my wife broke out laughing and said "What's wrong with this picture??" The way things had unfolded in the meeting, I was sitting at the desk, pointing out some things I'd found on a web site, while my world-leading oncologist sat on the examining table and the two NP's took notes. (I am not making this up.)

Now THAT is participatory medicine! And thank you for your role in creating that world.

Charles Smith, MD said...

Dave,

Thanks. I just watched "The Last Lecture" prime time series of Professor Pausch at Carnegie Mellon. I suspect you've heard of it. This reminds me of him, and it fills one with awe.

I am thrilled to see what happens when patients communicate collaboratively with providers online (and patients with patients, too of course).

My vision is that this will be an absolutely routine way for everyone to "get care" within 5 years. Office care will be reserved for instances in which it is the only choice.

Thank YOU for your contributions and your fearless advocacy.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the new knee! I look forward to being outpaced in a walk with you some day soon - DC is a wonderful walking town if you are ever have a reason to visit.

Charles Smith, MD said...

Thanks, Susannah. I would certainly enjoy that!

Anne said...

Thank you for sharing your knee replacement experience. I hope you continue to heal well. It is wonderful to see you walking without the cane.

Do you take any supplements to help with healing process?

Charles Smith, MD said...

Dear Anne,

Thanks for your comment. No, I'm not taking any supplements and seem to be healing fine without them.