When Rosie Meservy decided to get her knee replaced, it had been bothering her for quite some time.
In fact, both of Meservy’s knees had been bothering her for years. She did everything she could for as long as she could to put off surgery.
“I just didn’t want to have another surgery,” she said.
Meservy is no stranger to joint replacement surgery. Twenty years ago, she had joint fusion surgery on her left ankle—not once, but twice. Then, about 10 years ago she had a full joint replacement on her right ankle.
When the pain and discomfort in her right knee joint reached an all-time high last year, her doctor told her she was eligible for injections to help ease the pain.
“I knew getting injections would only prolong the inevitable,” she said. “It wasn’t going to get any easier.”
Meservy was 84 years old when she decided it was time to go ahead with knee surgery. She met with Lucas Anderson, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at 鶹ѧƷ, to discuss next steps. X-rays confirmed that her knee was in very bad shape.
“Rosie was bone on bone on the outer side of her knee,” Anderson said. “Sometimes patients with this issue have more instability symptoms, like giving out of the knee, but less pain than the average patient.”
Soon after meeting with Anderson, Meservy went in for surgery. Her daughters were there to provide moral support.
“My daughters were so impressed with the entire process,” Meservy said. “The University of Utah has everything so streamlined, and they are very good at what they do.”
“Dr. Anderson gave me a list of exercises to work on at home,” she said. “There are a few things I still can’t do, but there’s so much more that I can do that I couldn’t do before.”
Meservy’s husband passed away in March 2022, but she is surrounded by many friends and family. Four of her five children live close by and are able to visit often. She also spends a lot of time with other widows in her neighborhood.
“We get together at least once a week to play cards,” she said. “It helps.”
Thanks to her new knee, she lives a full and independent life. In addition to spending time with friends, she loves to bake and spend time with her children and grandchildren.
She continues to get stronger so she will be ready for her next joint replacement surgery.
“Dr. Anderson told me to let him know when I’m ready to get my left knee replaced,” she said. “It’s going to be a little while, but in the meantime, I am grateful for the improvement I’ve seen on my right knee.”