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Bionic Barbara Ciara: ‘My quest for new knees’

Posted at 12:00 AM, Aug 12, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-13 00:00:19-04

Most of the time viewers see me sitting behind a desk delivering information on News 3. What you probably didn’t know, unless you’ve seen me in person recently, is that I’ve been moving a lot slower in recent years. My knees have been in failing health for some time now.

The simple act of using the stairs is slow and painful.

I had been getting shots in my knees to relieve the pain but in the last year they have failed to give me relief.

Dr. Louis Jordan

Dr. Louis Jordan

My recent X-rays, and Dr. Louis Jordan, confirmed what my joints have been telling me.

“You’ve lost all cartilage in both of your knees, you are down to bone rubbing on bone and that’s pretty much as bad as it can get. On a scale of one to ten I’d say based on the X-rays you’re a ten” said Dr. Jordan.

That was tough to hear but not totally unexpected.

My research brought me to Jordan-Young Institute to explore my options. I talked to about a dozen patients who have had surgeries with the doctors at Jordan-Young, and elected to meet with Dr. Jordan and his medical staff to decide on next steps.

After weeks of consultation with Dr. Jordan and his team I’ve elected to have total knee replacement in both knees- in one surgery.

I’m told one knee replacement is hard and two is about three times as hard so I will have to have the motivation and be willing to work really hard.

As a child of the 70’s, I never missed an episode of the Bionic Woman and I am trying imagine her super powers as I prepare for total knee replacement. While I know that I won’t duplicate Lindsay Wagner’s character running 60 miles per hour, I do hope for a better quality of life and greater mobility.

With that, I’ve been given my marching orders, surgery is scheduled and you won’t see me here on News 3 for a few weeks while I tackle this challenge.

I will try to keep you posted on my progress until we meet again, my friends.

Wish me luck!