- December 07, 2018 I first met one of Dr. Cole’s PA’s back in 2013 and I still remember the hope he gave me the first time we talked. After already having 4 knee surgeries (including an ACL and Microfracture on my right knee) I had given up hope that I would ever stand or walk, let alone run without pain again.
After playing collegiate basketball for six years, I thought my future was taken from me. I would never be able to do the simple things without pain like walking up or down stairs, standing through the national anthem, doing the dishes, grocery shopping, standing up from a dinner table or any sort of working out. Being a lifelong athlete this was extremely depressing and extremely difficult to acknowledge. Therefore, I told my family and friends that I would be first in line for a full knee replacement as soon as I could find a doctor that would perform it on a 24-yr old. Having a fake knee would be less painful than mine without a doubt.
This is why meeting with Dr. Cole brought me to tears with the future he claimed he could give me. He was confident that not only could I perform those daily tasks but also live an active life for at least the next 10-15 years. Going to Dr. Cole was such an easy decision with the promises he was able to keep.
The process began on March 10, 2015 when he performed an Osteochondral Allograft Transplant (cartilage transplant) on my right knee. After a long year of rehab and traveling back to Chicago for follow up appointments, I’m EXTREMELY happy to say that I can now do things that I haven’t been able to do in ten years. I could not be more pleased with the results at just one year after surgery. I’ve been able to slowly return to an active lifestyle, including working out every morning and playing on multiple city league sports teams.
The absolute best result I’ve seen thus far comes from a simple conversation with my fiancé about nine months after surgery, asking if we needed to go home during a grocery shopping trip. It wasn’t until that moment that I had realized how much walking we had done in that day and that prior to surgery, I would have needed to ice and elevate for the remainder of the night when in fact I HAD NO PAIN! My quality of life has increased tremendously and I owe it all to Dr. Cole and his staff for giving me back my future.