Handball became my competitive game of choice in the Marine Corps, but by age 60, my body started showing its age. I had both hips replaced in four years, so my handball game started showing its age as well.
When my left ankle started giving me trouble, I went back to TCO and was informed that the arthritis from multiple sprains from various sports had caught up with me and it would have to be fused or replaced.
When Dr. Chris Coetzee said the replacement would take 35 minutes, I asked how an ankle replacement could be done in half the time of a hip. The answer was that no muscles or tendons had to be cut. This convinced me because the gluteus had to be cut in the hip replacements and regaining that muscle memory took some time.
After surgery on the ankle, I asked Dr. Coetzee how long it took and he said 35 minutes, including tightening the outside ligament. As promised, I was back playing handball in three months. It went so well that I did not hesitate to replace my right ankle within 18 months, once it was obvious that it had arthritis as well.
The second replacement took 10 minutes longer because the outside ligament on the right ankle was in worse shape than the left.
I’m now 72 and moving better on the handball court than I have in 10 years. I have even started to run again, a bit slower than before, but there is no pain!
