Pam Campana faced something unusual when she was born: her kneecaps kept slipping out of place because of a condition called patellar instability. The problem interfered with her mobility, leading to her undergoing reconstructive surgery when she was 15 years old.
Although that surgery was successful, knee pain resurfaced, while a series of other complex medical challenges over the past few years have made the Stamford, CT resident a repeat patient at White Plains Hospital. (Details about her extraordinary journey, involving a handful of White Plains Hospital specialists working to address those challenges, can be found online in the latest edition of the Hospital’s Health Matters magazine.)
The ongoing knee pain was particularly upsetting for Campana, who had been making a living teaching Pilates, water aerobics, and other fitness classes well into her 60s.
“I had been living with the pain, getting cortisone shots and also gel shots to lubricate the knees and reduce inflammation,” she recalls. “But my right knee swelled up, and it would not go down. It got so bad I couldn’t even step down from a curb.”
Fortunately, White Plains Hospital once again had the answer: Dr. Isaac Livshetz, an Orthopedic Surgeon who specializes in hip and knee surgery.
“There was no cartilage left in her knee because it was worn away from arthritis,” he says. “It was completely bone on bone, and they would rub together whenever she moved her knee. She also had a metal staple left in her knee from the procedure she’d had as a child.
“The operation was basically a resurfacing of the knee joint,” Dr. Livshetz adds. During the hour-long procedure, he shaved away the arthritic portion of Campana’s knee and then capped off the ends of the two bones—the femur in the upper leg and the tibia, located in the lower leg—with metal implants. He also placed a type of plastic called polyethylene between the implants, which creates the knee’s new bearing surface.
Campana was further delighted that, thanks to the medical expertise available at White Plains Hospital, she was able to go home the same day as her knee replacement surgery.
Lasting Loyalty
Although she moved from Westchester to Stamford years ago, Campana (now 68) remains convinced that White Plains Hospital is the place to go for high-quality care. She plans to undergo a second knee replacement with Dr. Livshetz in the coming months. But first, she wants to be active and present when her second grandchild is born later this year.
“I have been the grandmother in the bed, and everyone has had to come to see me,” she says. “This time, I’m not going to be in bed.”
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