In Their Own Words

As a young man and a glazier for his family’s glass business, Jim Maggiore spent hours with knees on concrete. He carried framed panes of glass up stairs and ladders, climbing, twisting and turning. Fast forward a few decades and Jim’s hips and knees had paid the price.

Now in his mid-50s and vice president of Royal Glass Company, Jim was spending more time in the office, but excruciating pain had become his constant companion. Getting out of a chair was never easy, and he climbed the stairs at home one at a time. He tried pain medication and arthroscopic surgery, but they didn’t give him lasting relief.

Jim quit golf, stopped going to the gym and—worst of all—gave up riding his Harley motorcycle. He and his wife Jeanne loved hitting the open road on trips to the ocean and mountains.

“Basically, I was hobbling,” remembers Jim. “So, I decided I had to do something.”

That’s when he turned to Silicon Valley Joint Replacement Center for a partial knee replacement of his right knee. Two years later, he was back for a left total hip replacement.

According to Jim, both procedures were very successful. After each surgery, with Jeanne as his coach, he was up and walking the next day. On both occasions, he was home by day 2. Not long after his knee surgery, at his first post-operative check-up, Jim amazed his surgeon by walking into the office without any assistance—not even a cane.

Of course, exercises and physical therapy were required, especially for the knee replacement. Jim followed the regimen, with Jeanne’s strong support and encouragement. As his recovery progressed, the constant pain became a thing of the past. Jim was back playing golf and riding his Harley.

Besides his surgeon, Jim gives credit to the expert staff of nurses and therapists at the Silicon Valley Joint Replacement Center, and to his coach Jeanne, for helping with his recovery. He also believes the entire process would not have been so successful without the support of the Center’s dedicated Joint Care Coordinator. The Coordinator is a valuable resource, preparing and educating patients and their coaches before surgery and making sure each patient’s hospitalization and recovery goes as smoothly as possible.

Now, whenever Jim spends time with his energetic 6-year-old granddaughter, he is especially grateful for his return to an active life.

“Jim really bounced back after his replacements,” adds Jeanne. “He never has been one to sit around.”