Painful arthritis began

Compounding her knee problems, arthritis began to develop in both knees, which resulted in limitation of her favorite activities. Schwarz’s six-times-a-week workout routine dwindled down to zero, she no longer walked to work, and she lived with daily pain. She had difficulty standing for periods of time at her beloved music festivals. The effects of her knee pain were even visible. While strolling past a store window, she noticed that she had developed a slightly hunched-over gait.

Frustrated, Schwarz consulted with health care providers who recommended physical therapy and cortisone shots, which had limited results. Feeling much older than her age, she underwent X-rays but was told that she was too young for a knee replacement. Providers suggested she try weight loss, but that was daunting due to her inability to be active.

When arthritis pain affected her ability to work and function, Schwarz’s good friend reached out on her behalf to Dr. Craig Della Valle, a joint replacement specialist who performs outpatient surgery at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush. Dr. Della Valle called Schwarz right away to see if he could help her.

Meeting with Dr. Della Valle

During their appointment, Dr. Della Valla and Schwarz discussed both of her knees. “He told me I needed to have both knees replaced in quick succession so that one didn’t compensate for the other,” Schwarz explains. Dr. Della Valle also explained outpatient knee replacement surgery, meaning that she could go home the same day as surgery, assuming there were no complications.

"We often see patients who have previously been told they are too young and/or too big for hip and knee replacement,” Dr. Della Valle explains. “I think there comes a certain point where a patient's quality of life is so affected by their hip or knee arthritis that replacement needs to be an option. In Ms. Schwarz's case ,she was certainly healthy enough for an outpatient procedure and our research suggests that the complication rate is similar to a traditional inpatient stay (and maybe safer!) with higher patient satisfaction."

She was very relieved. “Once I heard that, I knew that this was my best option,” she says.

Following her left outpatient knee replacement at the Rush Oak Brook Surgery Center, Schwarz returned two weeks later for the right. Both times, she returned home the same day with a cane and mild pain medication. She successfully returned to work within three weeks of her first surgery

Life-changing knee surgery

“This was truly life-changing for me,” Schwarz explains. “I can fully be myself again.”

Today, that means walking to and from her Chicago office and enjoying music festivals on her feet. That’s the really big deal for me,” she says. “I recently went to a concert in California, stood for two days, and got to see my favorite bands up close.”