Colin is no longer in pain and is back to work as a lorry driver after two knee replacements with Mr Raghbir Khakha

Colin was referred to Mr Khakha by a fellow knee surgeon who had diagnosed bilateral knee osteoarthritis.  Colin says: “I just could not go on anymore with the amount of pain I was enduring on a daily basis, with very little relief at night. Mr Khakha was recommended as the best man for the job, and I think that was totally justified.”  

At their first consultation, Mr Khakha confirmed Colin’s diagnosis and that knee replacements would be the best solution for his condition. They discussed the operation, recovery and rehabilitation. They agreed that, in Colin’s case, the knee replacements would be done in two operations, 3 months apart, to allow time for Colin to recover after the first knee replacement before the second.

Colin underwent his first total knee replacement to his left knee at the end of March. He made a fantastic recovery. He only spent a day or so in hospital and he almost had to be slowed down by the clinical team. Colin was keen to progress to his other knee. In June, his right total knee replacement took place and once again he made a really good recovery. He had quite a bit of deformity, reduced range of movement and significant stiffness on both knees which Mr Khakha was able to correct during surgery.

Colin explains: “I did not expect the improvement I had after my first operation to be so great, I was back to work with six weeks, and back to work within seven weeks with my second operation.” He says: “From my first consultation with Mr Khakha, I was put at ease, he made me feel as though I was talking to an old friend.”

His advice to anyone in a similar position facing the prospect of knee replacements is: “Don’t hesitate if Mr Khakha offers to perform your operations, thanks to his skill as a surgeon, he has given me a pain free life again. He explained exactly what was going to happen, before and after surgery.   He was always attentive and ready to answer any questions and put my mind at rest, before and after surgery. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him. My overall experience having my knees replaced on a scale of 1 -1 0 was a 10 all the way, my care was first class.”

Colin does stress the need to focus on rehabilitation: “You must do the exercises without fail. Yes, it does come with pain, but the more you exercise the less pain you feel. I cannot stress enough the importance of doing the exercises, within 3 days of being out of hospital I was doing squats with very little pain.”

In conclusion Colin says: “Having my knees replaced has impacted to my life in so many ways, it is unbelievable. Put yourself in the hands of Mr Khakha, in my opinion a truly brilliant surgeon.”

Mr Khakha summarises: “Colin has been an ideal patient for this procedure.  He is very motivated, he is very keen to do the physiotherapy exercises and he still remains extremely active despite his age and working quite significant hours with a very manual job.  Despite his motivation and willingness to carry on, he has required quite significant amounts of pain relief to try and keep on top of this and this was also affecting him. His motivation has meant that he has done really well from surgery.”

He continues: “At a stress test for his lorry driving license 4 months after his second knee replacement,  he managed an 11-minute stress ECG on a treadmill, running uphill for the last 3 minutes, testament to his hard work in getting himself back to fitness after his operations.”