John Morrison

My second partial knee replacement with Dr. Gonzalez Della Valle went very, very well, with no complications. But that is boring story. Instead, I want to tell you the story of my first partial knee replacement with him. After surgery, my knee was very swollen and locked straight. My physical therapist alerted Dr. Gonzalez Della Valle, who had me come into his office about 10 days after surgery. It was late Friday afternoon. Everyone else had gone home. He had me take an x-ray to make sure that nothing was wrong with the joint, then took the time to sit me down and figure out why I could not bend the joint. I had discontinued the pain medication because of an allergic reaction. The pain was manageable without them, but it hurt too much to bend. He prescribed a different pain medication, and told me in no uncertain terms to get the joint bending or I was not going to like the outcome. I bent the knee. With the help of an HSS physical therapist, I was able to recover full range of motion. Of course I went back to him the next year for the other knee. The picture accompanying this story is me sitting in front of the cathedral of Santiago Spain after walking a bit over 200 miles on the Camino del Norte with two partial knee replacements. All because Dr. Gonzalez Della Valle cared enough to stay late on a Friday and get me back on the path to recovery. Thank you, thank you.