Conditions + Treatments
Knee Replacement (Total)
I’m originally from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and played football right down the road at Central High School. After I graduated high school in 1998, I continued my football career at the University of Alabama, playing linebacker. As a redshirt freshman in 1999, I was honored to be named a member of the All-SEC team, being one of the league’s leading tacklers.
On November 6 of that '99 season, we were in a position to represent the SEC West in the SEC Championship game. We just had to get past LSU first. We were winning 23-17, but LSU was able to get the ball down to the two-yard line with just seconds left in the game. On the final play, LSU quarterback Josh Booty rolled out to his right, running toward the end zone. However, I matched him stride for stride and met him at the goal-line, preventing him from scoring. LSU couldn’t get another snap off, and the clock hit 0:00.
I had made the game-saving play, but it wasn’t without cost. When Josh Booty (LSU QB) dove for the end zone, I got caught underneath the pile and came down very awkwardly on my left knee. I knew it wasn’t good. I had damage to my ACL, MCL, patella tendon, medial meniscus, lateral meniscus, and cartilage. The results from my first surgery weren’t what I had expected. It was tough to get back to the level I wanted to play at on the field for Alabama the following season.
Luckily, I was able to find Dr. James Andrews, who met with me in 2000. At the time, Dr. Lyle Cain was doing his fellowship with Dr. Andrews. After receiving treatment from Dr. Cain in 2001, I was able to get back on the field and play for the Louisville Fire in the Arena Football League (AFL). After a couple of seasons, I decided that it would be best to no longer risk injury to my knee again, and I decided to retire from football.
Fast forward to a couple of years ago, I noticed that something didn’t feel quite right with my knee again. I kept putting off treatment and eventually I got hurt. This past Thanksgiving, I fell and ended up re-injuring the same knee. I knew that I needed to make an appointment with Dr. Cain and make the trip to Birmingham to figure out what had happened. At the clinic, I thought that maybe I could get my knee scoped, but things were worse than I imagined. Dr. Cain and his team believed that a total knee replacement was the best option, and that’s just what we did.
On December 23, 2021 I had my total knee replacement surgery performed by Dr. Cain. Week one of recovery was pretty rough, but once I got my staples out, I started to feel good again. From that point, every week of rehab continuously got better than the last. I was even able to get to a point where I could do work outs with both of my legs. Recently, I went back to Birmingham for my 6-week post-op visit with Dr. Cain. He was in awe at how well I was moving around. My recovery has truly been incredible these last couple of weeks.
Overall, my experience with Andrews Sports Medicine has been a 10/10, and I believe that Dr. Cain is the greatest doctor on the planet. Twenty-plus years ago, Dr. Andrews told me that Dr. Cain was going to be "the next big thing" and he was correct!
If you're interested in following Marvin's recovery, be sure to check out his Instagram page for more updates (@Constant45)
