A Valentine's Day date with Dr. Eggert has Waupun man back living his life

Waupun resident Doug Katsma is back to riding his old tractor a few months after getting total knee replacement on his left knee by Dr. David Eggert of OSI of the Fox Valley.

Very few people spent Valentine's Day 2023 the way Waupun resident Doug Katsma did.

While couples were exchanging gifts or going out to dinner, Katsma was spending the day getting a total knee replacement on his left knee at Orthopedic & Sports Institute of the Fox Valley (OSI).

It just so happened that his "date" with Dr. David Eggert of OSI was on Valentine's Day, but the surgery was years in the making following a career of hard work.

Katsma, 55, said he grew up in the small Columbia County community of Friesland. He did some farming as a young adult before switching careers to be a welder in a factory for 20-plus years.

Those jobs didn't really affect his legs—until about two years ago. He said his knees got progressively worse and really started hurting last summer, even though his employer had switched his job to inspection/assembly to try to go a little easier on his legs.

By last November, Katsma said he’d had enough. Years of squatting to milk cows and weld parts had taken their toll. He said the pain was unbearable and he would limp all the time. It got to the point that he would question if he really needed to get up from sitting to do a task because he knew how much it would hurt.

Katsma and his wife decided to start researching what could be done for Doug's ailing knees. A neighbor had gone through similar challenges, having had procedures done on both knees. When the men's respective wives were comparing notes they settled on the same name—Dr. David Eggert.

"We knew right away his team was the best choice," Doug said. "He took all the time we needed and answered all our questions."

Katsma had the surgery on Feb. 14 and spent that night at home! He said both he and the experienced professionals at OSI were comfortable with that decision as he was walking under his own power by that evening.

But even as he recovered at home he remained in the thoughts of Dr. Eggert and his team. Katsma said he was very impressed that he would receive phone calls from Dr. Eggert at various times of the day just to check in on his progress.

And it was not just the left knee that Dr. Eggert was checking on as Katsma also had a little work done on the right knee. He had that knee scoped and the meniscus trimmed to clean up some damage, alleviate Katsma's discomfort and get him back on the road to a better lifestyle.

Contacted a little over three months after the surgery, Katsma said he currently graded his knees at about 85% and rising. While he said the muscles around his knees can get sore at times, he said any pain he had is now "totally gone." He is back to work with no restrictions.

He also is back to doing other things he enjoys — exploring state parks, doing yard work, spending time at their cottage, biking and tinkering with an old tractor that used to be his father's.

The fact that he can climb up on the tractor and push in the clutch just months after the surgeries has him ecstatic, Katsma said. The timing could not be better, either, as he is pain-free just in time for summer fun.

Jokingly told that he should tell their neighbors on the other side about Dr. Eggert, Katsma said, "I’ve talked to several people already. I told them, ‘You’ve got to go and see Dr. Eggert. He and his staff, they have this perfected as far as educating you. They have every base covered.’"

Dr. Eggert began practicing in 1986 and joined the Orthopedic Clinic of Appleton—which eventually joined forces with OSI—in 2007. An orthopedic surgeon certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, he is an Active Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and a member of the Wisconsin Medical Society.

For more information about Dr. Eggert and OSI, call 920-560-1000 or check out www.osifv.com.

Katsma said he knows he made the perfect choice in selecting Dr. Eggert and OSI to do his surgeries. He also delivered the perfect husband answer when asked how he handled being a little preoccupied on Valentine's Day 2023.

"Every day is Valentine's Day," Katsma said.

Dr. David Eggert is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and performs joint replacement surgery at Orthopedic & Sports Institute of the Fox Valley (OSI).

OSI has a team of highly-trained physicians ready to diagnose and treat an array of orthopedic issues, with locations in Ripon, Appleton, New London, Oshkosh, Shawano and Waupaca.

Orthopedic & Sports Institute of the Fox Valley is part of the Ripon Area Preferred Business program.

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