Resuming pain-free activity
John Pomfret
Treated by: Nick London
Procedure: Partial knee replacement x 2
“Both [knee replacements] have had nothing but a positive impact on my life”
“I doubt you come across many patients who have tested your surgical handiwork quite as thoroughly as I have,” says John Pomfret, MD of JCP Construction. He’s not kidding.
John has put his knees through a lot in his 63 years. Decades in construction, 20+ years of playing rugby and an ongoing “stubborn obsession with sport, particularly trekking and climbing” took their toll. By 2017, his obsession was under threat from osteoarthritis.
“I’d have a stabbing pain for a day or two before things settled,” John says. “If I’d been using weights in the gym or maybe been out running or on a trek, the left knee would just go (and the right one too, occasionally).
It didn’t stop me, although it was starting to slow me down and the pain was getting worse and worse. I’d seen my GP several times and had three cortisone injections.”
Resuming pain-free activity
Two partial knee replacements (in 2017 and 2019) with YKC’s Nick London resolved the issue.
“It was a painful recovery, certainly,” remembers John, “but within six weeks I was back in the gym and able to get back to sport and fitness without being in constant pain.”
John asked Nick if there were any activities he couldn’t do with his ‘new knees’. Nick advised him to avoid regular jogging to avoid jarring the implants, but otherwise to resume any sport John felt comfortable with.
It’s fair to say that, in the years since, John has applied that advice with gusto.
“My knees have performed unbelievably well”
John had been a regular in the gym since he was 16, so when Covid struck and his regular gym closed, he decided to build his own.
John’s experience has enabled him to be very methodical with his workouts, focusing on form rather than weight, and doing exercises that avoid putting excess force through the knee (especially important as he lost two big toes to frostbite on one of his expeditions).
“I don’t wear any knee supports or strapping because I don’t want that false sense of security they can bring,” he says. “I train almost daily, drawing on many years of experience.
My legs, and especially my knees have performed unbelievably well. It’s fair to say that the outstanding job Nick and his team did continues to allow me to do things that many people twenty years younger would struggle with.”
Putting partial knee implants to the ultimate test
Further evidence of the performance of John’s knee implants comes in the form of his ambitious treks and climbs. He and his wife have recently tackled Everest Base Camp.
“She’s joining me again in April for a month in the Annapurna region,” he says, “and then in September I’ll be heading back alone to attempt Ama Dablam, a mountain that has been on my radar since a failed summit attempt back in 2008.
I’ll be carrying 20 kilos for the duration, but I will have tracking poles,” he adds, as if that’s somehow cheating.
Does John feel that he has to tread more carefully because he’s walking with knee implants, or that he experiences greater joint pain at the end of a day’s walking?
“Not really”, he says.
“Any pain I get, I associate with the normal pain you’re going to get on that kind of terrain.
I don’t think it has been anything untoward, and I always make sure I have the right supplements – protein collagen, electrolytes to maintain hydration, magnesium and everything else that you need that’ll make things a little bit easier.”
“The joints feel as good today as they did when Nick operated”
Almost a decade after his first partial knee replacement, how does John feel about his knees, and about his experience with Nick?
“The joints feel as good today as they did when Nick operated,” he says.
“Be prepared for discomfort in the recovery process, but if you’re considering this procedure, absolutely you should talk to Nick.”
To speak to Nick London about your knee replacement, please
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