“My knee pain was keeping me from doing just everyday stuff,” Matt said.
And with two kids, it was especially keeping him from enjoying life with his family fully.
Trying to mitigate his knee pain, Matt began seeing Dr. Donald Hohman, a member of the Joint Replacement Program at Texas Health Center for Diagnostics and Surgery and one of the leading hip and knee surgeons in Dallas.
The recommendation to visit The Joint Replacement Program at Texas Health Center for Diagnostics and Surgery and Dr. Hohman came from the glowing recommendation of his parents (both of whom have had procedures at the hospital themselves)! 
“They said ‘You can’t go see anyone else,’” Matt recalls, smiling. “His communication with you as a patient, and as a person, I really appreciate. He doesn't try to talk over your head, and doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He airs on the side of not doing surgery immediately, which I like, and gives you every possible scenario prior.”
Matt had planned to take a trip to south Texas to see a college friend, and to work with some cattle. He was going to be on the horse all weekend, so he asked Dr. Hohman if there was anything he could do for his knee inflammation beforehand. They settled on draining it and using cortisone, not rushing into anything extreme in case this solution lasted.
But four days into Matt’s trip, the pain returned with new intensity. There was no turning back on the decision Matt faced: he needed a knee replacement.
"Many people are under the impression that knee replacement is a treatment used in our elderly population and the truth is, it’s a good treatment option for most anyone experiencing chronic, life altering knee pain,” Dr. Hohman shares. “The important factor to consider is if the patient has exhausted all appropriate conservative treatment options, without relief. With Matt, it was obvious his pain was affecting his daily life, so we started utilizing conservative treatment options first. Matt is young and many times conservative treatments like injections and physical therapy will help make the pain more manageable. When those options were unable to provide Matt with the relief needed, we decided to consider knee replacement surgery as a solution for his knee pain. It was time for Matt to live a life without knee pain.”
Though he had to wait 60 days before he could get safely it done, and though it’s a procedure that most people Matt’s age would be avoidant to consider, Matt saw the positive outcomes, done just months prior for his parents, who were now traversing stairs with ease and even dancing at weddings with youthful vigor.
So in a way, the choice was already made -- and Matt has never looked back.
“I have a son who’s 12, and has Larsen syndrome, a brittle bone disease. And I try to encourage him to not let his disability hamper him, or cause him to make excuses -- so I didn't want to make excuses,” Matt said of the linchpin in his decision to get surgery. “We've had surgeries for my son, so I had to big-boy up when I had mine. He asked me, ‘Are you scared? I said to him ‘No -- because I want to be the best I can be.’ So that was my opportunity to do it.”
To help ensure Matt’s successful recovery the Joint Replacement Program at THCDS paired him with the joint replacement coordinator who went through specifically tailored education classes and post-surgical follow up. This coupled with excellent surgical expertise and award-winning hospital staff helps get patients like Matt set up for post-operative success after joint replacement surgery.
Matt said that the nurses, the doctors and pretty much everything offered by Texas Health Center for Diagnostics and Surgery (THCDS) was fantastic. The rooms were nice, and the people attending him for surgery even more so.
“Within a few hours of surgery, I had a lady come to my bed and she said we're going to start walking around the hall. I'm like, ‘You're crazy.’ She said, ‘I've gotten bigger men out of that bed, quicker than you, so you're getting out of bed.’ And from there, I was walking within a couple hours and surgery. I was shocked at how quickly they get you up on your feet. Within 22 hours, I was home.”
From Dr. Hohman’s honesty and attentive care to the surgery with THCDS, Matt has become just as much a fan as his parents have been of the truly family-oriented services and experience they were all given by the doctor and the hospital.
Like his parents, Matt’s had no ill effects since the surgery in 2017, and continues to consult with and refer people to and the Joint Replacement Program at THCDS.
“Dr. Hohman gives you such a comfort, because he didn't just talk,” Matt says. “He's so good at what he does -- he's really a true craftsman of his trade. He's done it so many times that he's so good at it, and he makes you feel good about it too.”
Learn more about the award-winning services of THCDS and the physicians on their medical staff.
