“I found that by reading the book provided by Dr. Berger’s staff, following the pain medication table and exercising, the recovery progressed quickly”

I am the Chief of Police for the Village of South Chicago Heights am 60 years old. I had left knee pain for at least five years but was always under the impression that knee replacement should not be done before the age of 60. I was also concerned about being away from work long enough to recover from the surgery.

While recovering from the arthroscopic surgery, I spoke with a friend who was scheduled to have a total knee replacement with Dr. Berger. I watched his recovery and compared his progress with mine. I was impressed. It took just over a year before I worked up the will to make an appointment with Dr. Berger. Once I had an evaluation appointment I was surprised to find out that other friends and their family members had been treated by Dr. Berger for knees and hips. I read the pre-op book and did the exercises as much as I could. I watched every video on the web site and I was ready. The pre-op day was run well. The medication distribution, physical and blood donation for self-use were well organized and moved along efficiently and methodically. I was impressed.

From the time I arrived at the hospital the morning of the surgery through my release later that afternoon, I was treated extremely well. The process moved along like clockwork. After surgery, I stood up alongside the bed. Once I was stable, I walked up and down the hallway and up and down 12 stairs. The personal attention and care exceeded my expectations. Dr. Berger and his staff provided close personal attention right up to the moment I was released to go home.

The day after surgery, a home care nurse and physical therapist came to my home. I started the therapy that day. Both were professional and treated me very well. I immediately made progress, walked without a cane and walked up and down the 14 stairs in my home foot over foot by the third day after surgery. By the end of Week One, I started to feel pretty close to normal. On Day 6 after surgery, a fellow worker came by and picked me up and brought me to my weekly staff meeting. I spent time in my office and left for home after about four hours.

On Friday, Day 8 after surgery, I drove to work, spent 6 hours in and out of my office and drove home. After the weekend, I started outpatient physical therapy three days that week and went to work each day as well. When my knee swelled, I used ice-packs and rested. In summary, I found that by reading the book provided by Dr. Berger’s staff, following the pain medication table and exercising, the recovery progressed quickly. There were days that had some discomfort, but I believe that the pain level never exceeded 4 on a scale of 1 to 10.

I attended my fourth outpatient physical therapy yesterday and had a range of motion measurement of 120 degrees. On Saturday, Day 17 after surgery, I attended a police training session. My biggest regret is that I waited almost five years, in pain to have the surgery.