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Surgery gives Roncone back her mobility
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Neighbors | Submitted.Knee- and hip-replacement surgery has given Linda Roncone back her mobility.
By TIM CLEVELAND
Life couldn’t be any better at this point for Linda Roncone. The 66-year-old Austintown resident was involved in an auto accident that, combined with arthritis, caused her immense pain and made her virtually immobile. After having knee and hip replacement surgery, she is now pain free and can get around with no walking aids.
“It was difficult,” she said. “I had a lot of problems with pain and swelling. I had left knee replacement surgery [in July 2011] and in a follow-up visit to the knee doctor he [Dr. Thomas Joseph] thought I would have the right knee done too, but I was having problems with my hip also. He said I should get the hip looked after.”
Roncone would drive to her job in the copy center at Youngstown State University. A few minutes before arriving, she would call ahead and she would be met in the parking lot with a wheelchair and would be transported to work. The process repeated itself in the evening when she would go home.
“Before if I went shopping I had to ride the scooter in stores,” she said. “I was working when I had knee surgery and had to go to work with crutches and a walker.”
Things regressed to the point that Roncone missed more than 90 days from her job due to the knee surgery and heart problems, causing her to lose her job. She is now retired.
Things changed after total right hip replacement surgery in July 2012, which occurred at Youngstown Orthopaedic Associates, located at 1499 Boardman Canfield Road. Dr. David Weimer performed the surgery and Roncone said he and the staff at YOA could not have been better.
“The doctor did a wonderful job,” she said. “He was very hands on. The morning of the surgery he came into the room and talked to me and my family and really put me at ease. He came to visit me in the hospital every day. He was very down to earth. I could ask any question. He took a lot of time describing the surgery beforehand. He gave me a lot of personalized care. He didn’t rush you through it. He made you feel important. I went to physical therapy at Youngstown Orthopaedic Associates and they were terrific.”
Weimer said Roncone experienced excellent relief of her pre-surgical pain, progressed rapidly through physical therapy and had no post-operative complications.
Roncone said her life is back to normal after the hip replacement.
“I can live life much more normally,” she said. “I don’t walk with a walker or crutches anymore. I can walk and live life normally. I’m totally amazed I was able to walk after hip surgery.”