Patient Stories
Running with the Dogs Just Three Months After Outpatient Knee Replacement
Date posted: 1/6/2025
Last updated: 1/6/2025
After training and showing horses for many years, Becky Johnson, 63, from the Joliet, IL area, recently shifted her passion and life’s work to preparing and showing Shetland sheepdogs, also known as Shelties.
“I eventually had too many horse-related injuries and working with those large animals became too taxing on my body,” Johnson explains. “At the time, I owned a Sheltie and realized I could enjoy training and showing dogs just as much.”
Johnson, now a professional dog handler, conditions, trains, and shows about a dozen dogs at a time which involves a lot of running on her part.
“You’ve probably seen the dog shows on TV and have watched the trainers run around the ring with the dogs in front of the judges,” she says. “Aside from the pre-show training and preparation, in a typical show I jog or run about five to seven times around the ring.”
When knee pain slowed her down and made running with her dogs difficult, she sought advice from a local orthopedic provider. Over eight years she received injections in her knee but was concerned that a knee replacement would end her ability to run—and her career. So, she kept getting injections, resulting in shorter and shorter periods of effectiveness.
Finding a knee specialist
At her sister's suggestion, Becky visited Dr. Jourdan Cancienne, a sports medicine surgeon, at the Joliet office of Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush. Upon review of her x-ray which showed significant osteoarthritis in her knee, Dr. Cancienne referred her to his partner specializing in joint replacement, Dr. Omar Behery, also in the Joliet clinic.
“Becky had been dealing with chronic progressive, significant right knee pain that was limiting her ability to work as a dog trainer, and even perform simple daily activities pain-free and without crutches or a walker,” Dr. Behery explains. “She had tried a myriad of nonoperative options over a few years including physiotherapy, anti-inflammatory medications, and knee injections, with diminishing returns. She was ready to discuss a more definitive solution, so we discussed total knee replacement, particularly a minimally invasive surgical technique, plus longevity of the implants, recovery timeline, and the outcomes following surgery. We also discussed realistic expectations regarding her return to her usual short-distance running after surgery, which I assured her could be possible with modern implant design and surface-bearing materials. As a young, active, and healthy patient, with robust social support and home environment, she was a good candidate for successful and safe outpatient surgery.”
Becky was interested to learn that she could go home safely on the same day as surgery and that more importantly, she would have the opportunity to potentially get back to running with her dogs. She felt comfortable with the plan and scheduled her outpatient knee replacement right away.
“Dr. Behery was wonderful, but I was also very impressed with his staff who each had a unique role to play in my care,” Becky explains. “They recommended five weeks of physical therapy before surgery to improve my knee range of motion which had been quite limited. They took care of every need and question that came up.”
Surgery and recovery
Becky reported for surgery at 6:30 am and was discharged home five hours later the same day. She was given crutches, which she was able to quickly transition away from, and was instructed to start a prescribed low opioid, multi-modal pain medication regimen which she no longer needed within a few days. She also began using an ice machine to keep the swelling down.
“The day after surgery I walked up to the second floor of my home to check on some puppies,” she says. “I recall no pain, ever, and was back working with dogs in a couple of weeks.”
In fact, just three months following her outpatient knee replacement surgery, Becky attended the prestigious AKC National Championship Presented by Royal Canin with a client’s dog at the Orlando Convention Center and was glad to participate fully, without pain in her knee. The dog won Best in Breed at the event.
“Not only did our dog win but I walked miles and miles all over the convention center with no problem,” she says. “I was so relieved to truly be back in business.”
One year later, when asked how she feels about her outpatient total knee replacement, Becky says, “I’m great! I just wish I had done it so long ago.”
