6 Bringing health care news to your home For years, Jim Cremers was a fixture in the meat department at Super Saver grocery store in Columbus. He was as well-known for his friendly smile as he was for his severe knee problems that made it difficult for him to walk. In fact, one day a concerned customer asked if she could pray over him. “People in the store were wondering why I was still working,” said Cremers. “The thing was, I didn’t want to take six months off from working so I could have two knee replacement surgeries.” A sign to take action Things came to a head in November 2023, when Cremers lost his balance at home and fell, breaking his hip. He had planned to retire the next month anyway, so he figured that was a sign he should stop working and undergo hip surgery. He went to Columbus Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Clinic for the surgery. Cremers figured that as long as he was fixing his hip, he’d also look into repairing his knees. The clinic connected him with Kaare Kolstad Jr., MD, an orthopedic surgeon there. Cremers was wary, because other orthopedic surgeons had told him they wouldn’t be able to operate on his knees. But Kolstad was a different story. An expert up for the challenge “I have 30 years of experience, and I’m comfortable taking care of these kinds of deformities,” Kolstad said. “When someone has that severe of a deformity, you have to take other things into consideration as you fix it. One of those things is paying special attention to the ligaments, which are completely out of balance. There’s also an important nerve on the outside of the knee, and you can’t stretch it out too much during the surgery.” Kolstad scheduled Cremers’ right knee replacement for March 2024 at Columbus Community Hospital. From worn-out knees WALKING WITH EASE to “I’ve been really amazed and satisfied with how fast I can walk. All the people at CCH were tremendous to work with.” — Jim Cremers
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