Mike Phillips

I am a 48 year old male. I used to race motorcycles in my early 20's and had an incident that required ligament surgery 5 years later that consists of a few plates and screws. After the OP years have gone by and arthritis is obviously accelerated a bit due to the injury. Since then I have had a series of surgeons that took care of me at different hospitals here in NJ and NYC. My family has been manufacturing implants and instrumentation for over 40 years. Being raised as a machinist, Engineering and president of operations in the medical manufacturing I know quite a bit about Products, hospitals all the way to FDA requirements.

Being very young for a total Knee Replacement (TKR) I new that I would have to ride out the discomfort as long as I could. Knees today have new technology but average there life at 20 - 25 years. After that you receive a Revision Knee that will last 5-10. After this technology is used they have to fuse your leg straight. I was now facing one of the most important decisions of my life. With this I had researched 3 different products (Zimmer, Stryker, Smith and Nephew) 3 hospitals, and 3 different surgeons one of which has been my surgeon for over 12 years. At each surgeon visit I had 15 questions about the product and the hospital they worked at as far as product success and Hospital procedures. After gathering all of this information 3 keys of information is why I made my decision. Smith and Nephew's current knee technology, Dr. Steven Haas's technique's (which I watched on line from an operation he did with explanations of techniques he uses and why) and the Hospital that represents him. After researching the hospitals success in a nearly NO RATE of infections was enough for me to decide. As you can imagine growing up in such a meticulous industry I am extremely tough on protocols and procedures which equals successful results. This hospital is the best I have seen on so many levels. The surgeons, anesthesiologists, nursing staff put me at so much ease I was actually glad I was there that day and had no worries for putting my Life in their hands. Living in NJ in no way makes it convenient to choose HSS as my hospital, but their is no way I or YOU should ever make such a decision out of convenience.

My operation was one year ago and so far so good. Compared to some other people I know with the same operation my recovery time was cut in half compared to others. I went back to work 2 weeks after my operation although only for 4-5 hours. Although poorly I started golfing at month 3 again after departing the sport for 5 years due to pain. You can't imagine the feeling not being able to play soccer with your 8 yr old son. Now we play hockey etc. without a problem. 90% of the time I do not even realize "Simpson" is even in my body. I race quads with my sons and most importantly am back at work continuing to make our business a success for my children some day.

Remember these facts before ever making such an important decision on implants and hospitals.

1. Medical companies market their product the same way any other company would. They need your interest and trust and is why you see lots of smiling faces and claims to their product. Please research what you think is best for you.

2. Choose any Hospital you feel comfortable with, I'm telling you if you research HSS first you will not need to research any further.

3. What do you call a surgeon that graduates at the bottom of their class............ A surgeon! HSS has a class of surgeons that are 2nd to none. I will be receiving my Right Hip and Right knee here no question.

4. Before going into your OP read success stories Only, this will help you put yourself at ease.

Thank you for reading and good luck at your life's decision. You will not regret it at HSS.