Janice's Story

Janice's Knee Replacement

Janice Reed, patient of Dr. Daryl Dykes

“I just wanted to get back to the beach.”

Janice Reed knew what she needed to do. The woman who had been so involved, so social and so active in her life was now struggling to do daily activities in her home.

Reed, 71, had tried it all to reduce her knee pain – from multiple steroid injections to a diet and exercise plan that helped her shed 30 pounds.

None of that worked and Reed watched as her pain worsened and her quality of life declined.

“I couldn’t clean house, I couldn’t garden or even walk on the beach because of my knee,” Reed recalls.

The Shelby County woman found her knee pain had slowly began taking away the things in her life she enjoyed.

“I started declining invitations to go places with friends,” she remembers. Reed couldn’t keep up with her more able-bodied friends on long walks and stairs.

She also had to give up ministries through her church and group travel because of her condition. “Not being able to travel hurt the most,” Reed said. She recalled having to utilize a wheelchair during one of her last trips prior to surgery because of the unbearable pain.

Finally, done watching her quality of life slowly deteriorate, Reed made the decision in August 2017 to have knee replacement surgery with Dr. Daryl Dykes at Shelby Baptist Medical Center.

Almost one year later, Reed believes it is one of the best decisions she has ever made.

“I am delighted,” she said. “I can do anything I want to now.”

Reed followed a strict outpatient rehabilitation program to get the best possible mobility back in her left knee. She even started physical therapy the day after she returned home from the hospital.

“You have to put in hard work after surgery,” Reed said. “You will get your motion back, but it doesn’t happen by accident.”

When asked about the pain of physical therapy after her operation, she drew an interesting comparison.

“It hurt, but before surgery I was already in pain all the time,” she said. “The pain I experienced after my operation, well, I knew there was an end in sight.”

Not only has Reed regained her mobility, but she has also regained her life.

She is back to working in her church, planted her own garden this summer and even has a trip planned this fall – a cruise.

Reed has also been back to her beloved beach since her surgery.

This time, she was able to walk, pain-free, on the sand.