The Valley Hospital is now open at 4 Valley Health Plaza in Paramus. (You may need to use 650 Winters Avenue for GPS.) All emergency care is now being provided at this location. Emergency care is no longer available at our Ridgewood campus.
Nine years ago, Karl Semkow tore his quadriceps tendon in his left knee, which required surgery. A few years later, the 70-year-old tore his meniscus in the same knee and was diagnosed with osteoarthritis, a type of arthritis that occurs when the tissue at the ends of bones wears down. This condition gradually worsens over time.
To manage his osteoarthritis, the Secaucus native received cortisone injections about every three months to manage the swollen and painful joints. After holding off on a shot when his daughter got married in
May 2023, Karl injured his meniscus again while hitting golf balls. This injury left him unable to walk.
After magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was completed to confirm repeat injury to his meniscus, he was given the names of area surgeons who could perform a knee replacement. Mark Pizzurro, MD, an orthopedic surgeon, was on the list.
“I met with Dr. Pizzurro in June, and he said he could do the surgery in September. For me, getting surgery is all about the confidence of the person who is doing it. I had a good feeling about Dr. Pizzurro, and I had great confidence in him,” said Karl.
“I’ve always found Valley to be a very warm, cozy place. That is how I’ve always viewed it when I walked into the hospital, even though that is not what people normally think of when they think of a hospital setting. I was happy to hear that Dr. Pizzurro would be performing the surgery out of The Valley Hospital,” he said.
Before his surgery, Karl had a computed tomography (CT) scan of his knee completed. The images gained from this scan were used by Dr. Pizzurro and the clinical team to create a personalized surgical plan – a “road map” of sorts – that would guide the procedure and the Mako Robotic-Arm Assisted Surgery System. The Mako system is a robotic surgical system that helps orthopedic surgeons plan and perform joint replacements with more precision so there are better results. It often results in less pain after surgery and a faster recovery period.
On September 25, 2023, Dr. Pizzurro performed a two-hour total joint knee replacement using the Mako system. Karl went home the afternoon of his surgery at The Valley Hospital, where he walked himself to his wife Eileen’s car waiting out front.
“It was a pleasurable experience from the moment I walked into The Valley Hospital. Everyone I dealt with was kind, welcoming, and helpful. It made the experience so much more palatable rather than worrying about having a total knee replacement,” said Karl. “The nurses and other staff turned what could be a frightful experience into something that I easily handled.”
Karl was given a prescription for 10 to 12 weeks of physical therapy, two to three times a week. The Valley Hospital provided a physical therapist who visited Karl at his home for a few weeks and then Karl continued to receive physical therapy in the outpatient setting.
“I am doing better than I ever would have thought. I have been walking around normally and I don’t even think about how I had a knee replacement. Recovery is a group effort in the surgery, how well you do after surgery, how seriously you take the physical therapy, and the support you have at home. I am thankful for Dr. Pizzurro and the team at Valley and the support I have had to ensure my recovery has gone smoothly,” said Karl.
To learn more about joint replacement or other orthopedic procedures offered at The Valley Hospital, please visit ValleyHealth.com/JointReplacement.