Galen Bertram knew that knee replacement surgery was looming, but like many people with increasingly arthritic knees, he put it off as long as he could.
“Nobody wakes up in the morning and thinks, ‘I’d love to have knee surgery today,’” says Galen, a 76-year-old retired marketing manager from Freeport, IL.
Today, thanks to the outstanding experience he had with Dr. Andrew Blint and the UW Health Orthopedic Surgery team in Rockford, Galen almost wishes he could go back for an encore.
“Dr. Blint and George Lester give you an air of confidence,” says Galen. “They’re also really nice guys who make you feel that they really care about you. I told them that I almost wish I had a third leg so I could have one more knee done.”
Not long after turning 70, Galen sensed that his knee pain, which had been gradually worsening, began to intensify.
“I used to run up to eight miles at a time, but then I cut back to fast walking and then normal walking,” he says. “I didn’t want to jump into surgery right away, so Dr. Blint treated my knees with steroid injections for a few years. When we talked about the possibility of surgery, he told me, ‘You’ll know when it’s time.’”
For most patients, says Dr. Blint, the tipping point for surgery comes when the pain starts interfering with sleep or other essential functions. By 2024, Galen could only walk two blocks before having to turn back. That’s when he knew it was time.
Not wanting to sacrifice his standing golf match with three buddies — 18 holes every weekday at a 12:30 tee time — Galen scheduled his first knee replacement for late October as the 2024 season was winding down. His second knee surgery would follow in January 2025.
“My goal was to time my surgeries so I could golf as late as possible in 2024 and be ready to start playing again in the spring of 2025,” he says. “I was happy to reach that goal when I played my first round for 2025 on opening day, March 14.”
‘Pre-habbing’ is essential for best outcome
Essential to achieving the best possible outcome, Galen says, is following doctor’s orders to “pre-hab” each day before surgery by working through a regimen of exercises to strengthen the knee and its surrounding structure.
“Galen became a knee replacement superstar by taking the pre-operative therapy seriously,” says Dr. Blint. “The structures around the knee tend to get weaker when people have arthritis in the joint. The ‘pre-hab’ exercise helps limber up the area above and below the knee and that pays off big time after surgery. It also means less rehabbing than for someone who doesn’t do as much pre-hab work.”
Galen spent one night in the hospital after each surgery, although Dr. Blint says he did well enough that he could have gone home the same day. His recovery outperformed expectations.
“They said I’d be using a walker for about two weeks, but I only needed it for five days after the first surgery and two days after the second,” Galen says.
He also can’t say enough about his wife of 39 years, Carole, who was Galen’s primary caregiver throughout his two recoveries.
“Carole took me to all of my medical and physical therapy appointments, took care of me at home and provided lots of TLC,” Galen says. “I would not have had this kind of a recovery without her.”
George Lester, a UW Health nurse practitioner who works with the orthopedic surgery team, can’t speak highly enough about Galen and his willingness to do the work at home both before and after surgery.
“The effort Galen put forth really set him up for success ten-fold,” Lester says. “He took every bit of information that Dr. Blint and I gave him and carried it out to a ‘T.’ Any patient who works like Galen did is likely to have a similar outcome.”
Today, Galen feels better than he has in years while relishing the prospect of a pain-free summer on the greens.
“I’m probably at 90% right now but I will get to 100% before you know it,” he says.