It has been a lifesaver for me. It’s just amazing what it can do with a less invasive process. You’re able to get back to your daily life whether that’s biking, running, or swimming, or whatever you do. It’s been an amazing process for me.”
– Abby Goodlaxson
For those who know Milford resident and Okoboji High School Physical Education Instructor Abby Goodlaxson, she is full of energy and always on the go. Whether it’s working with her students, getting together with friends, or going for a bike ride, she is always up to something. However, she’s done so despite having near chronic pain due to an ACL injury as a high school student in 1994.
She said, “I like to bike, do yoga, run, swim. But it’s been difficult ever since my ACL injury. Over the years I’ve had two scope surgeries to basically clean up the mess in my knee, but they didn’t ultimately prevent the popping and clicking in my knees and the feeling of tightness and pain that could linger even throughout the night,” she said. “The last scope was done two years ago and was meant to prepare me for a partial or total knee replacement surgery. It, unfortunately, didn’t help much, and I had to cut activities. I stopped running, and that was the worst thing I had to give up.”
Goodlaxson decided to go ahead with a partial knee replacement surgery after two physical therapists she works out with gave her literature about Lakes Regional Healthcare’s robotic orthopedic surgery system. She met with John Leupold, M.D. and liked that robotic orthopedic surgery is less invasive and has a shorter recovery time.
Goodlaxson said, “After surgery, I had intense pain for the first three to four days, but it was actually less painful than after I had my scope surgeries. Plus, I was up walking around an hour and a half after surgery, which was amazing,” said Goodlaxson. “I stayed overnight in the hospital for one night, and walked the halls a lot that night. I was definitely surprised by having less pain.”
Only eleven weeks after surgery, she said the pain was gone and she only felt soreness, which disappeared a few weeks later. In less than three months after surgery, she was back to swimming, going to exercise classes, and biking. She said, “It has been a lifesaver for me. It’s just amazing what it can do with a less invasive process. You’re able to get back to your daily life whether that’s biking, running, or swimming, or whatever you do. It’s been an amazing process for me.”
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VISIT PROVIDER:
Leupold, John – MD