Terri Hazard is finally able to walk on her own. For many months, she could either walk with the use of a cane or not at all. She took a bad spill on her knee in the summer of 2009.
"It swelled right up. It was very sore, and I couldn't walk on it very well," Hazard said.
Hazard had damaged the cartilage surface in her left knee.
An initial surgery in December aimed at correcting the problem didn't work. She faced a two-surgery repair: one surgery to remove some healthy cartilage cells -- those harvested cells sent out and grown in vitro in a special lab -- and a second surgery to have them reimplanted four to six weeks later.
But something new came along that used human cells, and it only required one surgery.
"The company, like other medical source companies, takes juvenile donated tissue and propagates that into the cartilage cells," said Dr. Mark Coppes of South County Orthopedics.
The cells are prepackaged and are on the shelf ready to use.
"We had to place the glue in the bed of the wound, and then these cartilage cells look like tiny pieces of garlic. And all we do is take them off and we place them in there to pack it full," Coppes explained. "Once it's dry, we allow the knee to come back and then close the knee up."
And over a period of weeks, it grows new cartilage.
"The cells derive their nutrition from the fluid in the joint and then they fill the defect, so to speak," Coppes said.
Hazard's surgery took place five months ago, and she was told absolutely no weight bearing on that knee for six weeks.
Today, Hazard is walking again.
"It's getting better every day. Definitely, the walking is a plus," Hazard said.
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