Fred Huffman
Hometown: Hinton, West Virginia
Education: Concord University BA, Virginia Tech/Radford University MFA
Hobbies: Reading, Photography, Kayaking/Canoeing, Learning to play a 5-string banjo, Playing with my two dogs.
How Total Knee Replacement Changed My Life
I had suffered with progressive knee pain and severe arthritis for the past 15 years. My condition caused me have a pronounced limp and extreme bow leggedness.
To improve my quality of life, I decided to have bi-lateral knee replacement surgery. After quizzing several folks locally, who had undergone knee, hip, or shoulder replacements, I wanted the surgery done by Dr. Philip Branson.
He would not do the surgery in 2014, but I was scheduled for May,2020. That date was postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions. Finally, in the first week of June, 2021, Dr.Branson and Dr. Fred Morgan did the procedure. In six weeks’ time, I was out kayaking(as shown in the photos).
The agonizing arthritic pain has all but disappeared and to be able to walk pain-free again is a joy. It feels like when you put four new tires on your car!
Digital Images:
Sometime around 2015 I started experimenting with creating images on a computer use an iPad with an Apple pencil to create most of the final images. Now I don’t have to be concerned about maintaining a traditional art studio. I can work anywhere I have the iPad. I have created dozens of images since 2020, with the goal of having a few images minted as NFTs.
Until that happens, you can see my digital images on Instagram at: artkatcreates One of the images will be of a print that I gave Dr. Branson. The piece is entitled Standing #1, and the main component of the piece is an image of an x-ray taken of my newly replaced knees.
Enclosed is a simple video I made by a waterfall followed by 4 videos shot by my Icelandic guide on lava terrain that led to Catla, a volcano with a glacier in its caldera. I at first thought I could not handle the terrain to get to Catla but was thrilled I could do it with minimal help and my trusty hiking poles. Hope some of it will be helpful.
Marsha Platnick
