Krystina Keller

I used to hike on weekends and walk to work every day, and in 2007 I had a meniscus tear that was treated with arthroscopy. I had no pain again until late 2011: trotting across the street to make a light, suddenly I felt my knee grind painfully. I thought, no problem, but it turned out to be a big problem. The pain got worse and worse. By July, I was unable to walk more than a few feet. I went from one knee specialist to the next from 2012 to 2014. They tried repeat courses of hyaluronic acid injections to the knee joint, and cortisone shots along with physical therapy, but nothing worked for very long. I had a pronounced limp and it threw my alignment off so much that several discs in my back began herniating.

By the time I came to HSS I was almost unable to walk. I had to use an offloading brace to keep the bones of my knee from grinding into each other. Physical therapy was limited by the pain in my back. The herniated discs and arthritis in my spine meant I had to work from bed because it was too painful to travel to work or sit in a chair.

Dr. Pearle performed a partial knee replacement in February of 2014. It took a couple of months to recover, but by May I was able to walk around in the French Alps with my husband. By summer I was climbing my favorite trail, Breakneck Ridge, a couple of times a month. Right after my 1 year anniversary, we climbed around Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of Peru together. Dr Kramskiy is helping me address my spine pain, and I'm still doing physical therapy to build back my strength and help keep my spine functional, but the pain is gone, and I've got my life back.