Surgery Saves Leg and
Active Lifestyle
Kathy Kneifel
Member

When Kathy Kneifel's leg was severely injured in a bus accident in 1980, an emergency room doctor recommended amputation. Kneifel and her parents said "No way!" A second opinion from Group Health orthopedic surgeon Gerry Seligman, MD, resulted in surgery that saved her leg — and her active lifestyle. Today, she walks four miles twice a week, works out at the gym three times a week, and even plays tennis.

The accident left the bones in Kneifel's leg broken, and totally crushed her knee. "Dr. Seligman put metal pins and plates in my leg and pieced together my knee. He told me I'd probably never be able to walk on my leg. At best, I might be able to use a walker. But I refused to believe it. I was getting married in 10 months and using a walker that day wasn't part of my plan."

Supported by physical therapy and monthly check-in appointments with Dr. Seligman, Kneifel pushed toward rapid recovery. Within a few months she was putting a little weight on her leg. A few months later she was walking. Ten months later, she walked down the aisle on her wedding day without assistance.

But she didn't stop there. Although her doctor recommended that she wait to have children until her leg got stronger, she and her husband, Juergen, were "in a family way" right away. She gave birth to a healthy baby a year after their wedding, and had two more children in the next few years.

Kneifel advises: "Don't pamper yourself, and don't let an injury limit you. I force myself to use my leg, even when it hurts. I feel better when my leg is strong and I'm physically fit. I can do things now that I didn't think were possible."

This story taken from Northwest Health, Winter 2007.

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