Paul spent much of his life as a commercial truck driver, hopping down from truck cabs and trailers after hours in the driver’s seat, putting stress on his joints, which often ached.  

In 2016, he took a fall down some stairs at home and tore the quadriceps muscle and connecting tendons in his left leg. That’s when he first met Southcoast Health Chief of Orthopedics, Dr. Michael Langworthy, who repaired the injury using a tendon from a cadaver. But unfortunately, Paul reinjured it within weeks after the surgery.  

During this time, Paul started a new job with a cold storage company in Fall River. The pain, which he lived with for eight years, never went away, and his leg throbbed in the 10 degrees below zero cold of the industrial freezer where he worked. 

“It was excruciating,” said Paul, a New Bedford native who shares a two-family home in the city with his longtime girlfriend, a daughter and grandson who live upstairs, and several dogs. “I was like the walking dead.” 

Late last winter, the pain got so bad he went to the Baldwin Makepeace Emergency Center at Tobey Hospital. He was again referred to Dr. Langworthy, who told Paul that he needed to have his left knee replaced. 

“Dr. Langworthy told me that it wouldn’t be easy but that it would improve my life,” he said. Paul read the provided literature and watched a video about the surgery so he would know what to expect. 

The knee replacement surgery was performed at St. Luke’s Hospital in March 2024, and Paul was able to come home the next day. 

“Dr. Langworthy is a straightforward guy,” said Paul. “Everything was thoroughly explained, and he gives you confidence. The whole staff was very good, and everything went very well. But it was uncomfortable at first.” Initially, Paul had to use a walker to get around. 

Three weeks after the knee replacement, he started his rehabilitation at Southcoast Physical Therapy on Faunce Corner Road in Dartmouth, where he worked with his therapy team twice a week for three months. 

“They worked on my range of motion, seeing how much I could bend it, and I kept getting stronger,” he said. “Southcoast is great. I can’t say enough good things about the people there.” 

By mid-summer he was working out on his own, exercising in the swimming pool, walking his dogs, playing with his grandson, and riding an exercise bicycle he got for his home. And he returned to his job at Ice Cube Cold Storage in Fall River where he does maintenance work — but doesn’t work in the freezer anymore. 

“I feel good,” he said. “I’m very happy to be right where I am. They told me it would change my life, and it has.” 

To learn more about Southcoast Health Orthopedic services visit Orthopedic Treatments MA & RI | Southcoast Health.