New Knees Give Media Man New Hope

No way was Laird Warner ready to give up his active lifestyle at 57. Five years ago, the Media, Pa., man underwent joint replacement surgery on both of his arthritic knees to relieve debilitating pain and improve mobility. Today, he is a national champion in doubles tennis.

Like most knee replacement surgery patients, Warner suffered from osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis develops from years of wear and tear on a person’s joints, damaging the cartilage and causing bone-on-bone pain. In his case, Warner said decades of playing tennis, skiing and running took its toll on his knees and when the pain became unbearable in 2001, he sought treatment from Dr. Peter Sharkey of the Rothman Institute.

“Five years ago I was still active, but my knees hurt so badly all of the time,” Warner says. “I wasn’t performing athletically anywhere near my capabilities because of the pain.”

Warner had both knees replaced at the same time in July 2001, which is called bilateral total knee replacement. Warner had a more challenging recovery, but he chose bilateral replacement surgery to avoid having to undergo two separate surgeries on each knee.

Today, equipped with two new knees, Warner has few limitations to what he can do. He stopped running but has resumed exercising, weight training, playing golf, snow and water skiing, and playing tennis. Last year, he won a national tournament in doubles.

Says Warner: “The competitors who I tell are very surprised. They would never have known that I had the surgery done.”

“I couldn’t be happier. I’m back to a very active lifestyle.”