When Pam Campana was born, it was soon clear that something was unusual with her knees: 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.
The surgery was successful, enabling Campana, now 68, to stay active for decades. However, when knee pain resurfaced in her forties, she turned to White Plains Hospital orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist Dr. Rick Weinstein, who provided gel injections that eased her discomfort. Thanks to this ongoing care, she was able to continue teaching Pilates, water aerobics and other fitness classes well into her sixties.
But a series of complex medical challenges over the past few years have made the Stamford, CT resident a repeat patient at White Plains Hospital, having completed multiple procedures under the Hospital’s expert care. From hand surgery to a knee replacement — and others in between — she relies on the Hospital and its physicians’ expertise to help her feel her best.
Finding answers — and Relief
“In 2023, I had been doing a bicep curl, and all of a sudden I got burning pain going down my arm and my pointer finger stopped working,” she remembered. Seeking answers, she turned to White Plains Hospital orthopedic surgeon Dr. Nathan Douglass, who specializes in conditions of the hand and wrist. After tests revealed bone chips in Campana’s wrist, Dr. Douglass performed a minimally invasive surgery to remove them, while also transferring a tendon from her middle finger to the injured one. “I have full use of my hand now,” Campana said. “Dr. Douglass did a marvelous job.”
Impressed with the care she received, Campana turned to White Plains Hospital again that same year, this time to correct a spinal issue. “I would drag my left leg if I stood for more than 60 seconds. I also felt a lot of pain and burning in my glutes,” she recalls.
Interventional pain management physician Dr. Syed Rahman gave her injections in her back to ease the symptoms, but the discomfort persisted. Dr. Rahman then referred Campana to White Plains Hospital’s chief of orthopedic surgery and spine surgery, Dr. Andrew Casden, who pinpointed the source of her discomfort: a compressed nerve. Dr. Casden performed spinal fusion surgery, which successfully relieved the pressure.
A Knee Surgery Delayed by a Heart Problem
During her hospital stay after spinal surgery, doctors discovered Campana had an irregular heartbeat and that the top and bottom chambers of her heart were not communicating, which needed to be addressed. She met with Cardiologist and Director of Echocardiography Dr. Douglas Hart and Cardiac Electrophysiologist and Director of Cardiogenetics Dr. Marc Waase, and soon after received a dual-chamber leadless pacemaker in an outpatient procedure, allowing her full range of shoulder motion without restrictions. With her heart issue resolved, Campana was finally cleared for the next surgery, finally getting her knee replacement.
“I had been living with the pain, getting cortisone shots and also gel shots to lubricate the knees and reduce inflammation. 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,” she recalled.
Fortunately, White Plains Hospital once again had the right physician for Campana: Dr. Weinstein referred her to Dr. Isaac Livshetz, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in hip and knee surgery. “I was impressed that he was an engineer before he was a surgeon, because that can only help,” Campana said.
Dr. Livshetz remembers how fit Campana was when they met in April 2024, but also how much her mobility had been impaired. “There was no cartilage left in her knee because it was worn away from arthritis — it was completely bone on bone, and the bones 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,” he explained.
Her knee replacement would be slightly more complicated as a result. “Any time someone has a knee surgery before a knee replacement, it always makes it somewhat more complicated because there’s typically more scar tissue in the knee,” Dr. Livshetz said.
“The operation was a resurfacing of the knee joint,” Dr. Livshetz explained. 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. She was able to return home shortly after the surgery.
“We have come a long way with managing the pain while minimizing narcotic medications and getting patients moving as quickly as possible,” Dr. Livshetz said. “As long as the patient’s vital signs are stable and our physical therapists feel the patient is safe, they can go home the same day.”
Lasting Loyalty
Although Campana moved from Westchester to Stamford years ago, she’s completely convinced that White Plains Hospital is the place to go for high-quality care.
As she looks to the future, Campana expects to maintain her close ties to the Hospital. 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. “I have been the grandmother that has been 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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