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New Story has been published on https://enzaime.com/standing-rock-steady-orthopedic-surgery/

Standing Rock Steady After Orthopedic Surgery

Robin Wilson was told she would never walk again. Robin smiling with her flowers and pink water bucket

After surgery at Cedars-Sinai, Robin Wilson is again able to garden, her favorite pastime.

Her life came to a halt in 2011 after she tripped over a piece of carpet in the garage and fell, shattering her left femur.

Because of severe osteoarthritis, Robin was already in need of a double knee replacement when she fell. An orthopaedic surgeon fixed her femur and replaced the left knee but warned she’d be in a wheelchair if she didn’t have her right knee replaced.

By the summer of 2013, she’d had the right knee replaced too, but she was still unsteady on her feet and in pain because the femur didn’t heal properly.

“I was so unsteady that for a long time, I couldn’t even carry my purse,” says the 63-year-old. “My sweet husband would hold it for me.”

Robin found little relief as she progressed through physical therapy. She graduated from a wheelchair to a walker, then eventually to a cane, but she still remained off-balance. She kept falling, damaging the left femur and the rod that had been inserted to fix it. The Breaking Point

Robin, a nurse for 39 years, had to stop working because she couldn’t walk independently. She also was unable to cook, clean or tend to her garden, her favorite pastime.

“I couldn’t even kneel,” says Robin. “It was beyond frustrating.”

Determined to find a solution, Robin turned to Cedars-Sinai’s Guy Paiement, MD, for one last attempt to get back—and stay—on her feet.

When Paiement saw Robin, she was in excruciating pain. The metal rod that was supposed to be stabilizing her femur was moving and causing severe muscle spasms that traveled to her groin.

“She was in agony,” says Paiement, the residency director of orthopaedic surgery. “The metal that was holding her femur to her knee was coming completely out, and the femur was about to break.”

Paiement knew Robin’s case was complex—part of her femur had already been replaced—but he wanted to give her a chance to walk.

“Robin was in the same predicament as someone who has a bone tumor, where you have to decide if you’re going to do reconstructive surgery or cut off the leg,” he says. Back to Life

In 2016, Paiement replaced Robin’s left knee cap and distal femur with titanium. This allowed the leg and knee to have full range of motion.

The surgery took five hours—the longest procedure Robin had gone through. The next morning, though, Robin was stable, secure and standing. For the first time in five years, she walked with confidence.

“It was amazing! I could tell right away everything was stable,” says Robin. “When I told Dr. Paiement he was my hero, he said ‘I’m just doing my job,’ but I know it was more than that. I am so grateful. He gave me my life back.”

Robin has now returned to nursing part time, enjoys vacations with her husband and can tend to her lavish garden.

“My dahlias are my pride and joy. They are spectacular,” says Robin of the 12-inch flowers. “Every day, I spend hours in that garden, and I couldn’t be happier. I have Dr. Paiement to thank for that.”

Robin is a grateful patient and supporter of the Campaign for Cedars-Sinai. Learn more about the Campaign.

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