23-yr-old gets a shot at life after knee implant

Bhuvaneshwari, of Perungalathur, had been affected severely due to lack of mobility. Suffering from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, she was immobile with a swollen joint and bone erosion, forcing her to crawl. She has been living with her grandmother as the parents abandoned her and her brother. “It started with my inability to bend my left knee and soon suffered the same problem with my right knee. I was unable to return to school owing to the inability to walk or bend my joints. I underwent the surgery in 2017 and have been recovering since then.” 

Stating that no one else in her family suffered from the same problem, she said, “This affected all my joints. I gave my class 10 exams in 2016 for which my brother carried me to the centre.”

With an aim to create awareness on the possibility of changing a crippled person’s life back to normal, Dr S Muthukumar, chairman, Parvathy Hospital, where the girl underwent her surgery, said, “Many feel that knee and joint replacement is not that successful as it is only the side effects that are usually highlighted.” 

The severity of her condition could have been avoided if she approached the doctors within two weeks. “She is much better after the surgery and is mostly independent,” he added.