Oh, where to begin? I have received wonderful care from various providers at Twin Cities Orthopedics but the one who stands out the most is
Dr. Allan Hunt. He has been my surgeon/doctor for the past 16 years. Playing sports always came natural for me, especially softball. However, playing ball ended up taking a toll on my body even up to my 40’s. But to find out playing ball actually saved my life down the road. I’ve had over 25 orthopedic surgeries from shoulders and hips to ankles and knees. Of course over the years, when you have all these surgeries, your body and your mental state sometimes and you become depressed, which I ended up being. I, of course, started to pack on the weight and started to get depressed. Many personal things had happened in my life after losing both my parents, a divorce, and I was later diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which is a connective tissue disorder (diagnosed at 41). Even in my appointments with Dr. Hunt, my weight was never brought up even though I knew I needed to take charge of my life. Pushing close to 310, I knew I needed to take charge, so I started to work out and watch what I was eating. I was already having my 3rd knee surgery and of course it was progressively getting worse. As the weight was coming off, the knee just didn’t want to budge. After losing 170 pounds and 160 inches, even after all that I did my knee just gave out on me. I remember calling Kendra and telling her, "It’s time to schedule surgery for my TKA", and she said "Okay, let’s schedule that appointment with Dr. Hunt."
I saw him in July of 2018, the plan was to wait until I was 50, I was 45. I remember, he came in after looking at the X-rays and he looked at me and I looked at him and we both knew it was time. I scheduled my surgery for December. I wanted to get strong for this surgery, so I became diligent with the exercises and was working out more and getting my muscles strong. December 17th came and I was ready for this bionic knee. Surgery was done and Dr. Hunt said everything was great. I was working with the physical therapist at Aurora and I was doing such a great job that I graduated to using a cane when I went home the next day. When I started physical therapy at TCO, my physical therapist, was a little confused when he saw me he was like where is your walker and I told him, I graduated to a cane and I was told I didn’t need a walker. He smiled. Then we did my Hx & Px and then we went over to the bike and gave me a little pep talk and told me don’t get discouraged if you can’t do a full rotation on the bike. I get on the bike and I started to peddle away on the bike. He asked me when I had surgery and I told him Monday and it was Wednesday. He told me that he has been a physical therapist for almost 10 years and he has never had a patient be able to do a full rotation on the bike, where it can sometimes take 2 weeks to a month for some patients. Man that felt good to hear this. I had been working so hard to accomplish to get strong and get my quads even stronger. I had a total of 15 PT sessions, and was discharged before having my second post-op appointment with Dr. Hunt. In all of my surgeries, this has never happened. My ROM was near perfect, I got it to 141/0. I kept working at it and never gave up. I still workout and I still do my exercises, and I have to be that example for others especially dealing with having Ehlers Danlos. I may have a mild condition, but I don’t let it define me, I keep a positive attitude. In all these years, Dr. Hunt has played a huge impact, he has always been a huge advocate for me, he has been my support system, an encourager, and most importantly, a friend, and I am forever grateful for him.
