After Six Years of Pain, Montana Woman Finds Relief and Joy Through Expert Knee Surgery

A buzz of children zips around their grandma, their energy is overflowing and infectious. It's clear they love it at her house. They are over there three times a week.

Their grandma, Meg Bristol, gets up and down to help them find snacks, water or the toys they want, then she pulls them onto her lap for a story. The movements it takes to cater to the beelines that circle her, are basic - bending, walking, going up stairs - but they are done with intention and gratitude.

"The last year and a half, I was limited to hardly doing anything. The pain going up to my hip just because of the knee, it was excruciating," said Bristol. "I couldn't take a walk with the kids. I couldn't have any functions outside - playing baseball with them, running around. It was miserable."

She is an active woman who regularly walks over two miles a day. She also enjoys fishing, hiking, and various activities with her grandchildren. However, she was unable to participate in these activities for a year and a half due to pain. Her symptoms came on after a previous knee replacement surgery and she was unsure what she could do to get back to her previous levels of activity.

When a patient has a first-time knee replacement, physicians call it a primary knee replacement. The orthopedic surgeon makes an incision down the front of the knee and trims the ends of the bone. Metal caps are cemented on the end of the thigh bone and on the top of the shin bone. Those caps are similar to cementing a porcelain cap onto your tooth. A plastic liner between the two metal portions works as the patient's new cartilage.

Bristol's knee replacement didn't go as planned, though. After her first replacement, one of the rods fractured her femur. That's when she knew she needed help from someone exceptional.

She made an appointment with Christopher Stenger, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Intermountain Health St. James Hospital in Butte.

"When I saw Meg in the office, I knew that there was a problem because she had pain in a specific area," he explained, talking about the pain she felt shooting up into her hip.

"When I got the X-ray, it was obvious that she had what we call a prosthetic fracture, which is a fracture of the femur, the thigh bone around the prosthesis. It's a devastating type of a problem because it requires some pretty extensive surgery."

The "extensive surgery" involves making a long incision - through layers of skin, fat and muscle - to expose the thigh bone. The procedure then requires pulling the muscle off the bone to place a large plate and screws that span from the knee up into the hip. The recovery time can be double what it is for a primary knee replacement. The patient can't put weight on it for the first 8 to 12 weeks, significantly limiting mobility.

Bristol moved forward with the plan she'd made with Dr. Stenger. First, he took the prosthesis out. Then he put in a bigger prosthesis that has rods go up her thigh bone and down her shinbone. It's more complex than a first-time knee replacement - the surgery takes longer, and the recovery is longer.

Bristol is now done with physical therapy and said she feels like she finally has her life back after six years of pain. It's been six months since her surgery, and she is able to walk two to three miles with no problem. She's especially looking forward to hiking this summer.

Dr. Stenger witnessed Bristol walking without the aid of a walker or cane.

"When I see a patient that I've operated on out in the community, it means the world to me when I see them," said Stenger. "They're able to do the things that they want to do, and that's what I care most about. That's why I do what I do for a living."

Bristol says Butte is lucky to have Stenger.

"He's very, very good," Bristol said. "I feel like he saved my leg to make it where it is today."