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Dennis Lovell is an active outdoorsman who enjoys hunting, fishing, mountain biking, and whitewater kayaking. But downhill skiing is his biggest love. He’s traveled all over North America to ski some of the most challenging slopes and even lives near Seven Springs Mountain Resort.

“I always kind of classified that skiing, whitewater kayaking, and mountain biking all have the same thrill factor,” says Dennis, 71, of Seven Springs, Pa. “It’s a bit of adrenaline. You look back over something that you just did and take a deep breath and say, ‘Wow, I didn’t get hurt.’”

However, when injuries and wear and tear began to cause Dennis significant pain in his right knee, he received a referral to Eric Chen, MD, fellowship-trained joint orthopaedic surgeon, Tri Rivers Musculoskeletal Centers.

Dr. Chen performed a right knee replacement surgery on Dennis in November 2023. Nearly two years later, Dennis is feeling stronger and skiing again.

“The knee is great,” he says. “I ski as well or better.”

Increasing Knee Pain

Dennis says he accumulated wear and tear on his knees throughout his life. He competed in soccer and gymnastics in college, where he says he suffered normal injuries but nothing serious.

In his 50s, he twice tore the meniscus in his right knee while skiing. Those injuries, plus arthritis, eventually caused both knees to deteriorate.

“As I got to 60-plus and continued to ski, it was just a deterioration,” Dennis says. “I started to have a lot of pain after aggressive skiing.

“Say if I went out west and skied at (Breckenridge Ski Resort), or Telluride (Ski Resort), or a place like that where you’re doing a lot of vertical and a lot of downhill and putting a lot of pressure on the knees. When I came back, I would be unable to (do things). I couldn’t go up and down stairs.”

The pain also affected him when he skied, especially when he made turns.

Dennis skied a few times with S. Joshua Szabo, MD, fellowship-trained orthopaedic sports medicine surgeon, Tri Rivers Musculoskeletal Centers. Dr. Szabo is an accomplished skier and a U.S. Freestyle Ski Team Physician.

He began visiting Dr. Szabo for care around 2019.

“At the time, his recommendation was the knee was not bad enough to do a replacement, but it was certainly something that was going to be in the future,” Dennis says.

Dr. Szabo treated Dennis with knee injections, first with corticosteroids and eventually with platelet-rich plasma (PRP). But as time went on, Dennis’ knee pain worsened.

In spring 2023, he went on a ski trip with a friend in Vermont. When he returned home, he couldn’t walk.

“I just knew something had to happen,” Dennis says. “I couldn’t ski. Because when you’re on the steeper stuff or at higher speeds, even on non-steep stuff, there’s a lot of pressure on the knees in the turns. It hurts. It affects your ability to ski.”

Seeking Surgery

Dennis saw Dr. Szabo again in the summer of 2023, and Dr. Szabo told him it was time for a right knee replacement. He recommended Dr. Chen because of his youth and because he performed robotic-assisted surgery, and Dennis chose him.

“I wanted the most precise surgery possible,” he says.

“Using robotics with replacement surgery is a very powerful tool,” Dr. Chen says. “By obtaining a preoperative CT scan, we can generate a 3D model that allows for more accurate operative planning and execution during surgery.”

Before meeting with Dr. Chen, Dennis continued his summer activities as usual. His knee continued to bother him on the golf course.

“Walking on the golf course up to elevated tees, that kind of thing really started to bother me, too. I had a couple of times where my knee actually just collapsed. I never fell to the ground, but it just buckled.”

Dennis visited Dr. Chen in late August 2023.

“The first impressions were all good,” Dennis says. “It was exactly what I expected. He told me that I would hate him for the first six weeks (after surgery), but that never actually happened. He gave me a realistic diagnosis.”

Dennis knew he likely couldn’t ski in the 2023-2024 season. But he hoped to ski again in the future after he recovered.

“If somebody had told me that if I had the knee replacement, I would have to stop (skiing), then I probably would have gritted my teeth and kept going and not have had it done,” he says. “But I’ve had several other friends — a few younger, a few older — that have also had problems and had replacements. Most of them have been quite successful, and I watched them go back out and ski again.”

A Successful Procedure and Recovery

In addition to the robotic-assisted surgery, Dennis hoped to get a cementless knee replacement. Instead of using bone cement to secure the replacement joint to the bone, a cementless replacement has a porous surface that allows the bone to grow into it. Their popularity is growing, especially among people who want to remain active.

“Dr. Chen said that would be great, but it all depended on bone health,” Dennis says. “It would depend on a game-day decision when he got into the knee and saw what the bone health was.”

Dr. Chen performed the surgery in November 2023. When he woke up after the procedure, Dennis asked what type of replacement Dr. Chen had performed.

“He said, ‘The one you wanted,’” Dennis recalls.

Dennis spent one night at UPMC Passavant-McCandless after the procedure and then returned home. A nurse visited him at his home for three weeks to help him begin physical therapy.

“I did the exercises multiple times a day,” he says. “You can’t just lie around and feel kind of sorry. You’ve got to get up and make it hurt, and move and bend it, and flex it, and stretch it, and do all that, which I did.”

Afterward, Dennis went to physical therapy at the UPMC Somerset Rehabilitation and Wellness Center. He continued to make rapid progress.

“By the time I went for my follow-up visit with Dr. Chen (in February 2024), I think he was sort of shocked at the report from rehab and how much movement I had,” Dennis says.

Cleared to Ski Again

Dr. Chen gave Dennis the go-ahead to ski again in February 2024 — as long as he took it easy.

“Realistic expectation setting before surgery is important when talking with patients,” Dr. Chen says. “I did tell Dennis that return to high-impact activities is the exception rather than the norm. I encouraged him to use caution and start on the bunny slope to see how it felt. Fortunately, he was in very good shape prior to surgery, and he also worked very hard during his rehabilitation to make a full recovery.”

Dennis says he skied a few times before the end of the season. Following Dr. Chen’s orders to avoid the terrain park, jumps, and if possible, falls, he skied gingerly.

In the 2024-2025 skiing season, Dennis skied more than 60 times, which included a trip to Austria. He’s also back to golfing and biking with no issues.

Though Dennis’ right knee is strong, his left knee is starting to cause him some issues. He plans to visit Dr. Chen in February to discuss a left knee replacement.

“If I didn’t want to ski, if I didn’t want to do what I do, I could probably live without having the other one done,” he says. “But it definitely is way better. My replacement knee is so much better than the original knee right now.”

As for whom he wants to perform the surgery, he says “no question,” Dr. Chen.

“The care has been exceptional,” he says. “I have zero negative that I would say. I’ve already sent several friends in their direction, looking at the same things.”