Bilateral Knee Replacement: A Grateful Patient’s Story

A cancer survivor, Maria Lopez, 65, can now add bilateral knee replacement to her list of personal triumphs.

In early 2016, while Lopez was at a follow-up doctor’s appointment, she picked up Baptist Health’s Resource magazine and read about joint replacement surgery by Dr. Francisco Borja, an orthopedic surgeon with Miami Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute. After additional research, she met with him to discuss options about the debilitating arthritis she had in both knees.

Video by Steve Pipho

Lopez was determined to return to her previous quality of life and expressed to Dr. Borja that she wanted to have the knee replacement surgery performed on both knees at the same time. Dr. Borja was reluctant because this type of surgery is “not commonly agreed upon in our patients.”

From day one, Lopez worked hard to recover from her surgery. The day of the surgery, she was up and walking around. The next day, while Dr. Borja was visiting her in the hospital, she was able to walk without the help of a walker. She was on a stationary bicycle a few days later.

“Maria surprised me, she was walking around…with both knees replaced… without the help of a walker and that impressed me, I thought, ‘this patient is something special,’ ” said Dr. Borja.

Now, three months after the surgery, Lopez is progressing well and is so grateful to Dr. Borja and the staff at the hospital that she has recommended him to everyone she knows. Lopez expressed her gratitude about Dr. Borja by saying, “he gave me my life back.”

Watch the video to hear Maria Lopez tell her story.