Charles Turner's Case Study

Partial Knee Replacement

My Knee Surgery

Charles Turner
Treated by: James Newman
Procedure: Partial knee replacement

“I had my operation seven weeks ago. I played two rounds of golf last week for the first time.”

In late January 2023, Charles Turner made the decision to have a partial knee replacement at Spire Methley Park Hospital. The osteoarthritis in his left knee may have been triggered by a mining injury and the removal of cartilage in 1990. Since then, however, Charles has put his knee through lots more punishment.

“I was a coal miner most of my life,” he explains, “so that wasn’t very good for my knees. Then I launched my own building business. It’s probably ten years ago now that I was on site one day and my knee was really playing up. I went to see a knee specialist hoping it would just need cleaning out but they told me then that I really needed a new knee, because the x-rays showed bone on bone. I was shocked. I sought second opinions and even saw one consultant in the hope of regenerating cartilage, but there really was no other option – I needed a knee replacement. I’ve been putting it off ever since.”

In part, Charles was putting the operation off because, as he says, “I could put up with it. It was never painful at night – I wasn’t being kept awake. I could still play golf even though I couldn’t put my full weight on my lefthand side.”

The other reason for delaying the procedure was that Charles was uncomfortable with the idea of an implant. “I wasn’t scared of surgery; I just didn’t want to replace the knee because I like everything natural. So I thought I could get by. I could do most things. I had several steroid injections which enabled me to put the operation off for several years.”

Reaching a tipping point

Gradually, Charles realised he wouldn’t be able to put his knee replacement off any longer. What’s more, he knew that any further delay risked making the situation worse.

“I’d ended up with quite a bad limp and I’d started to feel pain in my hip, so I was worried that in putting up with the pain I was putting extra stress on other parts of my body,” he explains. “My age was another factor. I was 52 when I was first told I needed a knee replacement, which felt far too young. I was 62 when I had the op and that felt like a good time to get it done.

“I knew I wanted a partial knee replacement and I knew that the longer I waited the greater the risk would be that I’d damage the joint to such an extent that I could only have a total knee replacement. Also, the cold, damp weather was really starting to affect me. I knew enough was enough.

“What I did find out from my research, though, was that if you have a partial knee, the surgeon needs to be very competent. That’s why I chose Mr. Newman at the Yorkshire Knee Clinic.”

DISCOVER MORE ABOUT PARTIAL KNEE REPLACEMENTS

James Newman

Consultant Knee Surgeon at the Yorkshire Knee Clinic

“If I were having another knee operation, I’d want Mr. Newman to do it.”

Keith Mitchell,
YKC patient.

Knee surgery and recovery

“I found [the experience at the hospital] all very professional, very good. It may sound a little silly coming from an ex-coal miner who’s used to extremely confined spaces, but I don’t like the idea of being pinned down, so the idea having the epidural was a little worrying, but they gave me something to calm me and it was absolutely fine.

“The operation went very quickly and my first night was very good. The second day and night weren’t so good – I was in quite a lot of pain. Morphine wasn’t helping but they put me on Tramadol and that helped a great deal. I spoke to people who said the pain would be really bad for two weeks but it wasn’t. It was tough for two or three days, but after that I was able to manage with paracetamol.”

Today, seven weeks after the operation, how would Charles score his pain level?

“Zero.”

Back to the fairways

“One of the reasons I put off the operation for so long was that I could play three or four rounds of golf in four days and, although the knee would be a bit sore afterwards, it would be fine after a few minutes’ rest. Gradually though, as things got worse, I started to struggle. If I lost a ball in the rough I couldn’t go and look for it. I had to ask for help from people older than me!”

Last week, Charles played two rounds of golf for the first time since his operation. So how does he feel now?

“It was fabulous to be pain free after a game, which I haven’t been for a long time. Even though I didn’t think I was in a lot of pain, I have seen a great improvement since the operation – probably because I was in more pain than I realised. I’m so relieved. It feels great. I’m so pleased I’ve had it done, I really am. And I’m thinking it’s only going to get better from now.”

About Jim Newman: “I couldn’t recommend him highly enough”

“I found Mr Newman very good, very approachable, very easy to speak to. I was worried that I may have left things too long and that I wouldn’t be able to have the partial knee but Mr Newman was very reassuring. I felt confident with him. I couldn’t recommend him highly enough.

“I saw him for my six-week review and asked him about returning to gold and he said ‘go for it’. That was so important to me because I’m such a keen golfer and I’d stopped looking forward to it. Now I can look forward to playing golf again.”