Thirteen years ago, when I was 48, I unknowingly dislocated my "good" knee. Pictured to the left is my knee after having 180 CC's of blood drained during my not-so-nice visit to the ER. After a second trip to the ER, an MRI, and surgery, my orthopedic surgeon advised that at 48 years old, my knees were almost bone on bone and arthritis was clearly evident. She advised that my loose kneecaps had tracked incorrectly throughout my life, causing extensive damage. It sucked being told that, at 48 years old, it was only a matter of time before I would need knee replacement surgery. I could only imagine what my "bad" knee might look like if she had gone in with a scope, as it had caused major problems since high school.

8 years ago, in August, I was ready to proceed with the knee replacement. I lived on Advil to get me through a normal day. If I wanted to do something as simple as take a walk around my neighborhood, I had to take 3 additional Advils prior to the walk, just so I could complete it. I knew long-term use of Advil was very dangerous and damaging to my liver, but I hadn't been ready to go under the knife.

Thinking back to how long I had endured the knee pain, it was difficult to remember when my knees didn't hurt. I had hyperextended my left knee while jumping over a ditch in Jr. High. Little did I know that injury led to chronic chondromalacia (fissuring of the underneath part of the patella) throughout my high school athletic career, where I was a three-sport high school athlete all four years, competing in softball, Volleyball and track in my freshman year, and then when girls' basketball was added, I competed in volleyball, Basketball and track for the remainder of my high school career. I continued my athletic career by playing basketball for Southern Illinois University's Carbondale Salukis for two years, in addition to returning to high jump for the track team, before retiring from competitive sports. My left knee was shot and in constant pain, so it was easy to step away. I went on to become an Illinois State Trooper, which required me to maintain my fitness, which meant running... I am not a runner, but you do what you have to do. Up until I was around 35, I only had knee pain in my left knee; then it crept into my "good" knee, where over time, it gradually worsened I thought I'd probably always have some type of knee pain but I had no idea how damaged my knees were until that fateful knee dislocation.

I happened to see a friend's Facebook post about Visi's AC2 Technology featuring Hydrolyzed Collagen Protein. The post mentioned the product provided support for joints, so I was very interested in finding out more. I contacted her for more information and after reading everything I could, I wanted to give it a try before I proceeded with knee replacement.

I began a daily regimen of the two AC2-hydrolyzed collagen protein products. I drank one protein shake made with one serving of Nufinna (the vanilla powdered smoothie mix) and ate 2–3 Probita (the protein chew). This gave me between 20 and 24 grams of HCP daily. I had no idea if and/or when I might feel any pain relief, but I was willing to try it for 90 days to see if it would.

Since I had so much knee pain in both knees, averaging between 7 and 8 on a scale of 10 when I was not being active and a high of 9 with minimal activity, such as taking a walk around the neighborhood, it didn't take me long to realize Visi was making a huge difference. Within 2 weeks of beginning the Visi HCP products, though I still had knee pain, I did not need to take Advil to get through my day—this was a huge victory!!! At a month, my pain was significantly reduced to 1-2 dull, no sharp pain, with reduced popping and crunching of my kneecaps. At 6 weeks, my knees no longer hurt—I was completely pain-free!

I was able to start working out and became a member of Gold's Gym, where I participated in Body Pump three days a week, which required a lot of squatting, which places stress on my knees, as well as attended Boot Camp the other two days a week. I was ecstatic to be able to work out and remain pain-free. Since I had so many friends/co-workers with crappy knees, I decided to partner with Visi so I could share the products to help them.

8 years later, I'm still working out and have transitioned to weightlifting 5 days/week, which includes strenuous leg workouts up to 2 times/week. My knees have handled the additional stress and continue to remain pain-free and healthy. Visi has changed my health in so many ways beyond my knees, and it has been such a rewarding way to continue serving and helping others regain their health.