Robin Belsky

I’m not a professional athlete, but my family regularly gets teased because we act as if we are training and competing in top level events. Obsessed. Snow and Water. Juggling my day job, snow storms and calm smooth lakes has been very rewarding. However, the last few years have been tough. After multiple knee surgeries (over ten years) and bone-on-bone arthritis I found myself sulking on the side of a mogul run or letting go of a waterski rope. The pain and loss of control was interfering with my athletic passion. I felt frustrated and anxious until I met Dr. Andrew Pearle and the HSS team. From the moment I met Dr. Pearle I knew I would be back on the snow and behind the boat with minimal downtime. Dr. Pearle and his staff did many tests and exams. He explained the best option was a MAKOplasty – a partial knee replacement. I did my research including reading the HSS “Back in the Game” stories written by Dr. Pearle’s patients. Deciding what season to give up on and how to focus on rehab was hard. I chose to take the summer off and postpone waterskiing so I could be back on snow by Thanksgiving. I repeatedly watched the videos posted by his patients. My favorite was posted by a 57+ year old professional water skier. This amazing athlete competed in a waterski competition less than twelve weeks after his partial knee surgery. Dr. Pearle and I discussed my rehab. I told Dr. Pearle my goal was to beat the waterski champ by getting back in the water back behind the boat in record time. Dr. Pearle made no promises but believed it could be done. The entire HSS team encouraged me not to push too hard. I had my partial knee replacement on July 27th and waterskied On September 11th. Please see the video. The “Pearle” of wisdom I would like to share: Use Dr. Andrew Pearle for your knee procedures, rehab and do your work to get back in the game, and believe in yourself. Don’t let age or other distractions stop you from always being your best!