Bilateral Hip & Bilateral Knee Replacement Patient

“If you were to tell me back in June of 2014 that I would have had both hips and knees replaced in an 18 month period, I would have told you that you had me confused with another one of Dr. Berger’s patients. In June 2014 I had my first visit with Dr. Berger, I was 67-years-old and never had any surgeries up until that point. It was at that initial visit that Dr. Berger told me that both hips were shot, which did not come as any surprise to me. The orthopedic doctors that I had been seeing at Northwestern already had told me that, and they encouraged me to use someone in their system. I told them, “No thank you! If I’m having joint replacement surgery I’m going to see Dr. Berger at Rush.”

When it came to picking surgical dates for the hips, I had decided on August 2014 for the first hip and September 2014 for the second hip. But, I had a dilemma. My difficulty was that I had a trip planned that July to Paris, and I was debating, Am I going to cancel this trip because I can barely walk, or am I going to go ahead and go? Well, I did go, and I spent most of that trip in a wheelchair because I could not walk comfortably, and I was also having some discomfort in my knees. Anyway, I had both hips done, one in August, one in September of 2014, but before I did that I asked Dr. Berger an important question: “I have a trip planned to go to Tuscany in October. If I have this second surgery in September, am I going to be okay for this trip to Tuscany in October?” Dr. Berger told me, “You are going to be fine.” I always trusted him; he knew better than anybody. I went on that Tuscany trip, I had no pain, I was able to walk hills; It was amazing to me.

So, when I realized the knees also were not good, I booked a surgical appointment with Dr. Berger in August of 2015 to have the first knee done, and I just had the second knee done in February. I can tell you honestly, I have no discomfort, I am so mobile. There was never a time when I was worried about or scared about any of these surgeries. Dr. Berger is very reassuring, and his staff is always available to answer questions. The materials they sent home with me were so helpful. The two hour seminar I attended was all-inclusive. Everyone I dealt with in Dr. Berger’s office was always there to help. I was fortunate enough that I did not need the pain medications; Tylenol was fine with me. I’m not a martyr, but I did not have any significant pain after the surgeries. I cannot say enough about Dr. Berger and his team!

There are people in my age range that have watched me over the past 18 months and are beginning to experience either hip or knee problems. I do not go around and brag, but everyone who has seen me come through all these surgeries, and how mobile I am now, that speaks volumes. So far I’ve known two people that have booked surgery with Dr. Berger since my surgery. I cannot say enough about Dr. Berger; he changed my whole life! I thank him, my family thanks him, and especially my grandchildren—I can finally keep up with them. I couldn’t have gone through these surgeries without the support of my family, especially my daughter, Laura. She was my “go-to” person and I am grateful for her. When I talk about all this I do get a little emotional because honestly, I cannot believe what I have accomplished in 18 months. It is remarkable to me. We are so grateful to Dr. Berger.” —Donna