Orthopedics This Week—December 19, 2014
After nine months of aching knees, shoulders, arms and legs, Diane Velluci was at her wit’s end. Then she went to Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS).
What began as a double knee replacement at a Philadelphia hospital ended in extreme pain and weakness. Velluci says that her original orthopedic surgeon refused to take her complaints seriously, and that she attempted to see other orthopedic surgeons, but none would see her prior to a year in the future.
"I thought, 'why is this happening to me?’ I’m not a bad person," she said in the December 15, 2014 news release. "I was always respectful; I was never rude. I thought, 'Why won’t they help me?’ I was being turned away by almost everyone; it was so hurtful."
At last she was referred to Geoffrey Westrich, M.D. at HSS.
"He gave me my life back," Velluci said.
"It turned out she was allergic to the metal in the knee implants, and this was causing the severe symptoms throughout her body," said Dr. Westrich, director of research, Adult Reconstruction and Joint Replacement at Hospital for Special Surgery, in the news release.
Read the full story at ryortho.com.
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