Limitless: Overcoming years of knee pain with Dr. Tomas Pevny and the ValleyOrtho Team

For David Petrowski, 59, knee trouble began with an injury that would slowly wear away his mobility, his confidence and his ability to move without pain.

Almost a decade ago, David, the Director of Supply Chain Management at Valley View, ran a ski racing course while coaching his daughter’s ski team. While completing a gate, he got stuck in a rut, did not turn out and heard a loud pop. David was thrown to the ground and tore his MCL.

From there both of his knees continued to deteriorate, and the damage compounded over time. To keep up his active lifestyle of biking, skiing, hunting, fishing and playing tennis, David turned to synthetic and steroid injections. At first, he needed just one per year, then two, then six over the past year.

“It worked until it didn’t,” says David. “Before surgery, I could barely walk, I couldn’t stand. I was immobile. It was horrible. I’ve never felt so incapacitated in my life.” The breaking point came last fall during bow hunting season. “I was struggling,” he says. A descent that once took an hour now stretched beyond three. “I was in a lot of pain, and that’s when I knew.”

Determined to reclaim his mobility, David, who lives in Avon, went to see Dr. Tomas Pevny at ValleyOrtho’s Willits clinic location. The MRI told a grim story: The knee joint had deteriorated due to bone-on-bone friction. Dr. Pevny recommended a replacement for both knees. “I trusted him completely,” says David. “I asked Dr. Pevny to make me 18 again. Dr. Pevny said jokingly, ‘I don’t know about 18 but how about 23?’”

Two months after his first knee replacement on the left knee, David returned to Dr. Pevny to replace his right knee. Both surgeries were a success.

In addition to the skill of Dr. Pevny, David credits Dr. Pevny’s team, including physician assistant Rachael Wymer and athletic trainer Matt Flattery for his outcome. David also credits the Iovera nerve block, which uses cryoneurolysis, a technique that applies extreme cold to peripheral nerves, temporarily blocking them from sending pain signals and aided in a less painful recovery. Thanks to that technology which Dr. Pevny brought to Valley View, David was off opioids in three days.

David also spent several months in physical therapy at the Valley View Eagle HealthCare Center with Melanie Baldwin, MPT and Kelly Ashnault, PT, DPT. David says his therapists knew exactly what was too much or too little in his recovery. “Simply amazing people to work with,” he says.

Three weeks and three days after both surgeries, David was back on the tennis court, hitting balls—his movement powered by two Stryker Triathlon knee systems. He wasn’t allowed to run for another three months, but when he did, he came back stronger than ever. “My serves are more accurate having more pace with improved ground strokes,” says David, “and I’m not playing in pain.”

Looking back, there’s only one thing David regrets – not seeing Dr. Pevny for his double knee replacement sooner.

“This spring, I was out on the river fly fishing for the first time since surgery,” he says. “The birds were singing, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s like I’ve been reborn, and it is all due to the wonderful hands of Dr. Pevny and team, a MAKO robot and some fabulous physical therapists. I’m making a full recovery. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. You gave me my life back!”