Jeff Hawley: A New Knee

Jeff Hawley shares about his struggles and triumphs after knee surgery.

Recently, I underwent partial knee replacement surgery.For the past few years, my bone-on-bone right knee made my multi day hiking vacations more difficult, especially descending on those steep downhills.

I know that I could have postponed the surgery and limped along a few more years, getting to the point where walking would be nearly impossible; but I decided to pull the trigger early and just do the surgery.

When I went to see the doctor weeks before the operation, he said that after looking at my MRI I qualified for a partial knee replacement versus a full knee replacement and would be much less invasive. As a result, I would get to keep my kneecap and tendons. Once the surgery was completed, my knee would feel more like my real knee. Cool.

In the meantime, I was intrigued by those commercials featuring folks my age who had their knees done, (I am 69), playing pickleball, running, (yes, some guy running at what looks like a six minute-per-mile clip), hiking, playing tennis…all after major joint surgeries. Imagine.

Then came the surgery and reality sunk its teeth into my knee. Oh, and this is what the commercials do not show you:
Primarily the incredible amount of pain and discomfort you must endure before you are able to once again smash the plastic pickleball at your least favorite opponent.

As one of the medical staff explained it to me: “When you cut into a knee, shave some bones to smooth out the rough edges, insert an implant made of metal encased with plastic, hey, what did you expect?”

It has been a few days since my surgery, and things are definitely on the up and up. My recovery is going fantastic. And after I am fully recovered, the first thing I am going to do is jump on my electric bike, track down that guy in the commercial running at that insane mile pace, and make him show me his scar. With a Perspective, I am Jeff Hawley.

Jeff Hawley is a former Berkeley resident who now lives in San Clemente.