Bilateral Knee Joint Replacement surgeries are rare. Excellent preparation and after-care make all the difference.

If you had seen John Reed earlier this year, you would have seen a man taking one painful step after another, leaning heavily on a cane.

Months later, it’s a different story for the 69-year-old from just across the Potomac River in Waldorf, Md.

“I didn’t take this lightly. I was in increasingly severe pain for almost the last 20 years, mainly my right knee, but in the last few years, my left knee has also bothered me,” explains Reed.

It’s that pain and the desire to have a Bilateral Knee Joint Replacement which led him to Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center.

“When I was a teenager, I had been through knee surgery and rehab on one knee, so I knew I wanted to get both my knees done at once,” says Reed.

Replacing knees at once is an uncommon procedure, one in which Reed was uniquely qualified.

For most patients, over time, a condition known as severe osteoarthritis develops where the cartilage in the knee joint that creates a natural cushion between your bones breaks down.

“It’s bone on bone,” said Sentara Orthopedics Manager Julie Billingsley. “It’s excruciating.”

As part of the procedure, the old joints are replaced by new, durable synthetic materials. It can take up to six weeks of recovery time for the average patient.

It’s people like Julie and the Sentara Patient Care Services staff members and the time they dedicate to patients like Reed is what makes all the difference.

Julie says in most cases like this, people are not only blinded by their pain, but they have a lot of fears about proper recovery.

The Sentara OrthoJoint® Nurse Navigator, Ada Vega-Diamantis, RN, begins meeting with her patients two to three weeks before the operation to give them a bright outlook on what to expect before they’re admitted to surgery, and then what to know and prepare for during recovery.

While Reed mentally prepared himself for surgery, the experience at the Sentara OrthoJoint® Center was beyond his expectation.

“If it weren’t for the staff at Sentara, I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am,” exclaims Reed. “From the moment I walked in to register, to the moment I left, each and every member of the team had a positive attitude and treated my family and me with respect and grace.”

It’s that dedication to caring which is the hallmark of the Sentara OrthoJoint® Center.

“Our focus is to provide extraordinary, individualized care and provide constant communication for patients and their families to ensure seamless coordination and excellent outcomes,” explains Vega-Diamantis.

In the seven months since his surgery, Reed’s range of motion has returned, he’s walking more than three miles a day, and he’s stronger than ever before. He says it’s all due to his care team, “They’re angels from God!”

To learn more about the Sentara OrthoJoint® Center and find a specialist, call 1-800-2ORTHOJT.