NAME: Ben Lynch

AGE: 47 years old

PRODUCT: Conformis iUni

SURGERY PERFORMED BY: David Cogley

LOCATION: Hermitage Medical Clinic

YEAR: 2017

I have always had an issue with my knees and as a child had one leg shorter than the other. I was very active as a child and was the Irish Pole Vault champion as a teenager.

In 1991 I had a motorbike accident and tore my ACL which, after 3 operations was repaired but left me out of work for a year. Following this I remained active but unfortunately in 2016 tripped over a steel plate and ruptured my ACL again as well as tearing my meniscus.

In September 2016 I climbed Mt Kilimanjaro which was the final straw so in February 2017 I decided to have the Conformis knee replacement under David Cogley and whilst nervous was very excited! The pain had started to take over and control my life and I was taking a lot of nerve blocking drugs and painkillers.

I went away and studied Conformis and one of the interesting things to me was that the tooling was less invasive. Conformis was explained by Dr Cogley to me to be a custom fit knee and anything that’s a custom fit has to be better than off the shelf. Now, when I look at the profile of the x-ray, they are made exactly for me, I can really see the logic behind it.

The recovery was tough and there was a lot of pain following the procedure but two weeks in I was walking freely and as a month passed I improved and began taking hiking trips. After 3 months I was off the pain medication and I am going to begin training for Everest Base Camp in 2018.

The main difference for me is that I can now live my life without pain. I still do the same activities but I now do them without tablets or drugs of any kind. If someone asked me about my Conformis knee I would say it is remarkable. It is a great invention and I great idea that I can’t fault. My mother has two new knees and they are nowhere near as good as mine. I expect to be ready to hike to Everest Base Camp in September of 2018. Getting a new knee is the beginning of the process, not the end and while you should be prepared for the recovery it is definitely worth it!