Michele Budd
When Michele Budd had her right knee replaced with an off-the-shelf knee replacement, she found recovery very difficult, and she didn’t get back the flexion or range of motion she had prior to surgery. When she learned she needed her other knee replaced, she was expecting the same knee pain after knee replacement and scheduled to have friends and family visit her when she thought she would be stuck in bed. To her surprise, with the Conformis knee she was up and walking the day after surgery!
Q: When did you have your surgery?
A: I got my Conformis knee replacement in September 2014, so over 2 years ago.
Q: What were your knees like before surgery?
A: I was in chronic pain for a lot of years. I had an original injury from gymnastics back when I was 12, and arthritis and knee issues plagued me all through my early adulthood. I slipped and fell in 2010 and had an off-the-shelf knee replacement. At that point it didn’t work as well as I thought it should. It was a rough, rough recovery with the off-the-shelf knee, so when I found out I needed a second knee replacement I started looking for alternatives, and I found a surgeon in Colorado Springs. He took a lot of x-rays and said to me, “We can get you back to normal.” He said, “We’re gonna make you a knee that’s customized.”
Q: What made you decide to choose Conformis?
A: It’s funny. I used to tell people all the time, “I miss scuba diving.” They would say, “Well scuba diving is low impact. How does that hurt your knees?” But you gotta stop and think. You’re wearing fins, a wet suit. You’re wearing a heavy tank. So when it got to the point when I couldn’t scuba dive any more, I knew I needed something different than an off-the-shelf implant.
Q: What was recovery like?
A: Recovery was awesome, after surgery with the Conformis knee I got up that night and was walking. I had planned to take so many weeks being at home pretty much just in bed not doing anything other than recovering and healing from the surgery… It was kinda’ wasted having all these people scheduled to be with me because I didn’t need it. I didn’t need it this go around.
More Advocates
Darvina was always active, as a downhill skier, cheerleader and hiker. She had her total knee done as an outpatient procedure and was home the same day.
MEET Darvina »As an avid tennis player and former flight attendant, Janet says she's walked "about a million miles". After struggling through injections for years, she finally let her surgeon know she was ready for a bilateral knee replacement.
MEET Janet »Pam is an avid hiker whose knee pain prevented her from doing so. Just 6 weeks after surgery she was able to walk 9 miles per day while on vacation in Florida.
MEET Pam »Custom-Made Knee Implants
If it's not Conformis, it's not truly patient-specific
Custom-Made Knee Implants
Patient Experiences
Real patients talk about why they received their Conformis knee
Patient Experiences