Conditions + Treatments
Knee Replacement (Partial)
Mako Technology
I grew up in Sheffield, AL, but years later moved to Las Vegas, NV with my family, living there for 17 years. I have danced all my life and now teach as well as judge competitions. Over time, my active lifestyle as a dancer has made me more prone to different injuries, especially in my knees.
At the young age of 13, I had my first surgery on my left kneecap while I was still living in Sheffield. The surgery lasted me about 25 years until I started to feel swelling again.
The peak of my knee pain happened three years ago when I was dancing in Las Vegas. I went to the doctor to have a procedure and afterwards, I still couldn’t put complete weight on my leg. I couldn’t take ballet classes, teach, or judge competitions like I used to. It was a very discouraging time for me.
My doctor told me that my options were to wear a load-baring brace, have injections, or receive a partial knee replacement. None of the surgeons in Las Vegas would perform the knee replacement surgery I needed, but when they found out I was from Alabama, they recommended I go to Andrews Sports Medicine.
Despite being only 40 years old, Dr. K. David Moore looked at my charts and agreed to meet with me. I knew I needed the best of the best in order for my leg to be restored. My family and I ended up moving from Las Vegas back to Birmingham just so I could have my procedure done by Dr. Moore.
Dr. Moore performed my partial knee replacement on the medial side of my left knee on December 20, 2017. I was very impressed not only with Dr. Moore, but the Mako Robotic-Arm Assisted Surgery technology that was utilized. The robot’s precision made for a quicker recovery time and the results were amazing. I could not be more pleased!
Two weeks after my surgery, I was on the reformer doing Pilates (I have been a certified Pilates instructor for five years). I also started teaching dance again three weeks after my surgery.
It has been four months since my partial knee replacement by Dr. Moore and I feel great. Besides Dr. Moore being a brilliant surgeon, he had an incredible bedside manner. He was very calm, patient, caring, and honest. I went to my follow-up appointment recently and Dr. Moore said I didn’t need to come back for another year. Everything from the facility to the doctors was amazing.
My advice to anyone thinking about getting any procedure done would be to really work hard during recovery. The surgeon can be brilliant, but if the patient doesn’t put in the work post-surgery, then they won’t recover to their full potential. You need to really put in the time and effort.
