At 62 years old I found myself in need of a good orthopedic doctor in anticipation of future knee surgery. I have been having pain in my left knee for several years which has been controlled over time with 3 steroid injections. However, my last steroid injection relieved my pain for less than 2 months. I knew the next step would have to be viscous knee injections or surgery.
I put it off as long as I could, but the pain in my left knee became constant and was inhibiting my daily activities. I asked a nurse friend of mine who she would have do surgery on her own knee and she immediately said Dr. Boyd Haynes. I did some research and had my first appointment in October 2017.
Dr. Haynes looked at my x-rays, listened to my history of my knee problems, and then we had a discussion of options. I wanted to do whatever I could do to relieve my knee pain without surgery, to which Dr. Haynes agreed. I started on Voltaren pills to see if that would help. After two weeks my pain was still significant, so we decided on a plan of 5 Supartz injections over a 5 week period.
On November 13 I received my first left knee injection, administered by Chris Schwizer, PA-C.
I was told that midway through my injections my insurance, Anthem, was going to stop covering these injections. That was very disturbing news. It especially made no sense to me as I had pain relief within 4 hours of my 1st injection! The next day I was so happy to actually be walking without the constant pain I had been having for months. When I returned for my 2nd injection on Nov 20, Chris said it’s not typical that a patient experiences pain relief after only 1 injection. The fact that I had was promising. I received my 3rd injection on Nov 27th and immediately went out of state due to a death in the family. This meant an interruption in my injections that could not be helped and the staff were understanding of my situation.
I was away for two weeks in which I did everything related to planning and executing a funeral & luncheon, taking care of a house, and all things associated with being executor of a will. I was in constant motion for two weeks. The ONLY way I was able to do what I needed to do was because I was not having pain in my left knee. I can\’t tell you what a difference that made to my physical and emotional state during that difficult time.
I returned to have my 4th and 5th injections December 12 & 19. It was upsetting to have to pay more because Anthem decided these type of injections ‘don’t work.’ I am here to tell you that they do, in fact, work very well. It is March, 2018 and I still have pain relief. I will be writing to Anthem in protest of their decision & to inform them of my success with injections which allowed me to avoid costly surgery.
I am thankful to Dr. Haynes and his staff for the professional, caring treatment I received. I plan to continue seeing Dr. Haynes when I need further injections. Based on my personal experience and the testimonials of many others, I know if I ever need knee surgery, he is the surgeon for me. I highly recommend Dr. Haynes for anyone looking for an orthopedic doctor who knows what he\’s doing and has his patient’s best interests at heart.