Life-changing total knee replacement for 40-year-old Change Director
After 14 years of suffering, 40-year-old Change Director, Anita Parbhakar had a total knee replacement which transformed her life.
At the age of 26, Anita had taken a jump off a wall which was almost 12-15ft tall. Although she landed on both feet initially, she landed on her bottom where her right leg was curved out. She got up with no pain and carried on with her day.
Anita’s job took her abroad regularly and after 18 months, Anita started feeling pain. Putting it down to the intense travelling, she didn’t think too much about it. She started getting pain in her hands and feet, shoulders and more so in the knee. It got so severe, Anita couldn’t move her joints as well anymore and the pain was excruciating. Her GP referred her to a Rheumatologist who diagnosed her with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and was initially put on RA drugs.
Anita then endured seven years of being misdiagnosed by various Rheumatologists believing she had RA. In July 2018, during a soft personal training session she somehow must have twisted her knee joint and was in a lot of pain. When she was in the office, she was limping and eventually started to use a stick for support. In November 2018, she had to completely give up work. She could no longer walk; she was in severe pain across the body and was unable to look after herself.
Anita then tried biologic treatment but had such a severe reaction, she was rushed to hospital.
Anita then decided to find out myself what was going on in the knee and went to search for an orthopaedic surgeon. She saw five different orthopaedic consultants and after X-rays and a further MRI – they all had the same opinion - she had completely lost her cartilage and was bone on bone. Anita had severe damage in all four parts of the knee.
After much research combining reviews on online portals and looking at the national joint registry, Anita found Mr Vedi. Anita says “I chose Mr Vedi because of his confidence and his knowledge. All the other surgeons focused on the good news and elaborated on how good I would feel. Mr Vedi was able to recognise I was nervous and was so reassuring. He shared the risks openly and was very honest, clear on the process but also sympathetic.”
Anita had surgery at the end of April and was in hospital for four nights. She was visited by Mr Vedi daily while in hospital providing her with clear guidance on what she was going to experience. She was on crutches for two weeks at home, by the third week she could walk again without the support of crutches. With extra Physio sessions and hard work at home with all the exercises, regularly taking medication by June and only six weeks after her surgery, Anita was able to stand up, go for short dog walks, bath herself with no support, and even sleep better.
After four months post-surgery, Anita is loving life again. She started work in August with full movement in her knee, she has been on holidays and is able to walk long distances with her children.
Anita concludes “I finally feel I have my life back. I had lost my confidence and my independence. I was being looked after at the age of 40. But now I am over the moon and back to being ME again and doing all of my favourite activities such as yoga, long walks, shopping, cooking and painting. I can’t thank Mr Vedi enough – you are a true professional who has passion in what you do. You have the patient’s needs at heart and you truly care.”