Dr. Jeanne Fredericks
Age 70 from Pendleton, Indiana
Enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, golfing, biking and water and snow activities
Injury/Condition: Knee pain/osteoarthritis
CIO Provider/Treatment: Dr. Nimu Surtani, total knee replacement
Jeanne’s Story
Jeanne has always lived a very active lifestyle. As an avid runner, she enjoyed running half marathons and completed a full marathon in 2004. After completing that full marathon, Jeanne started experiencing knee pain, joint swelling, popping in her knee and difficulty sleeping because of the pain. She was no longer able to run and had trouble walking.
Jeanne had investigated the possibility of injections to replace cartilage in her knees but learned that her osteoarthritis was too advanced for that procedure. After learning injections were not an option, Dr. Surtani at Central Indiana Orthopedics came highly recommended to Jeanne by her friends.
“Since completing that marathon, Dr. Surtani and the CIO staff have taken great care of me over the years,” Jeanne said. “Their care has always been centered on first educating me in order to help me make an informed decision about my care. My end-goal has always been to continue to be active.”
Dr. Surtani took a conservative, progressive approach with Jeanne’s treatment over a span of fifteen years. Treatment began with cortisone injections and draining the excessive fluid from her knee. She later had two different arthroscopic surgeries on her knees for meniscus tears. In October 2019, Dr. Surtani performed a total knee replacement on Jeanne’s right knee.
Just eight months after Jeanne’s total knee replacement, she was able to slalom water ski, ride her bike, row and hike. She’s back to enjoying an active lifestyle and recently finished a three week ski vacation in Colorado.
“I can’t praise Dr. Surtani and his team enough,” Jeanne said. “They educated me about my knees and provided treatment options, plus the support to reach my goals. Most importantly, they saw me as a person, an individual.”
Jeanne believes physical therapy also played an important role in her recovery. “I would like to give a shout-out to Laurie in Physical Therapy who helped me achieve my goal of being as active after surgery as I was prior to my knee replacement,” Jeanne said. “She pushed me to get there!”
In addition to the care she received at CIO, Jeanne had a team of people supporting her at home – her husband and children. They kept Jeanne motivated and their emotional support throughout her knee replacement surgery and recovery pushed her to be the wife and mother she wanted to be.