{"id":147209,"date":"2026-01-21T21:21:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T02:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=147209"},"modified":"2026-01-21T21:21:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T02:21:05","slug":"new-knee-is-a-home-run-for-local-softball-champ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=147209","title":{"rendered":"New Knee Is a Home Run for Local\u00a0Softball\u00a0Champ\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Knee Is a Home Run for Local\u00a0Softball\u00a0Champ<\/strong><\/p>\n

Winning a\u00a0gold\u00a0medal in a national championship for softball is a thrill at any age, but for Dianne Orr, the victory is especially meaningful considering the honor came a few months shy of her 81st birthday.<\/p>\n

Last\u00a0year\u2019s championship at the National Senior Games in Iowa was\u00a0actually the\u00a0Perkasie resident\u2019s second gold medal for softball, but she quickly adds \u201cIt\u2019s my first gold with my new (right) knee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dianne\u2019s knee replacement surgery last August was performed by Peter Wang, Jr., MD, with St. Luke\u2019s Orthopedic Care (formerly Upper Bucks Orthopedics at Grand View). \u201cWhen I walked in and shook Dr. Wang\u2019s hand, I knew I was going to like this doctor. He got straight to the point,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

This was not Dianne\u2019s first knee replacement nor her first experience with the Sellersville orthopedic team. \u201cIn 2020, I had shoulder surgery on my rotator cuff with Dr.\u00a0Hurley\u00a0and my original knee replacement was with Dr. Weidner more than 15 years ago,” she says adding with a laugh, \u201cI wore it out, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Wang agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnee replacements typically last 15-20 years. Age at the time of implantation, weight, activity\u00a0level\u00a0and overall health are all factors that\u00a0impact\u00a0how long a replacement joint will last,\u201d says Dr. Wang.<\/p>\n

Knee replacement surgery has undergone significant advancements since the introduction of robotic-assisted technology. \u201cToday we have tools that are less invasive and offer greater precision and personalization than 15 years ago,\u201d says Dr. Wang, \u201cOur surgical techniques promote faster, less painful recovery and the components of the artificial replacement joints also continue to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knee replacement patients at St. Luke\u2019s Grand View Campus\u00a0participate\u00a0in a
\ncomprehensive \u201cpre-hab\u201d program which includes physical and educational preparation prior to surgery. As a result, patients typically leave the hospital the same day they receive their joint replacement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest part was the first week of physical therapy with the bending,\u201d says Dianne, \u201cbut after four weeks, I was walking without a walker or any\u00a0assistance. I also went to the gym throughout the winter because\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0important to keep exercising.\u201d<\/p>\n

During softball season, she says she walks 2-3 miles, three times a week to keep her edge on the field. \u201cYes, I run the bases,\u201d she laughs. \u201cI\u2019m not the fastest out there, but I\u2019m not the slowest either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dianne\u2019s experience inspired her younger and equally competitive softball-savvy sister to\u00a0follow in her footsteps. \u201cWe travel to tournaments together and often compete against\u00a0each other,\u00a0so when she said her knee was really bothering her, I, of course, sent her to Dr. Wang.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knee replacement surgery is typically recommended when more conservative treatments\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0offer relief. The recent partnership with St. Luke\u2019s has expanded the number of surgeons, locations and treatment options for patients seeking orthopedic care in Bucks and Montgomery counties and throughout the Lehigh Valley area. The team prides itself on getting\u00a0patients in\u00a0quickly for evaluation and treatment.<\/p>\n

With\u00a0the 2025 season\u00a0over, Dianne is already looking forward to next season\u00a0and perhaps, her\u00a0third gold medal. \u201cI like the camaraderie, and it keeps me moving.\u201d As the website for her softball league says, \u201cIf you had fun,
\nyou won.\u201d<\/p>\n

About St. Luke\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Founded in 1872, St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network with annual net revenue of more than\u00a0$4.5 billion. With 23,000+ employees at 16 hospital campuses and 350+ outpatient sites, it is\u00a0the Lehigh\u00a0Valley\u2019s biggest employer.<\/p>\n

The Network\u2019s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital is based at the Bethlehem Campus.<\/p>\n

Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke\u2019s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network\u00a0established\u00a0the Lehigh\u00a0Valley\u2019s first and only four-year medical school. It also\u00a0operates\u00a0the nation\u2019s oldest continuously operated School of Nursing,\u00a0established\u00a0in 1884, and 60+ fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 530+ residents and fellows.<\/p>\n

In 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recognized St. Luke\u2019s ahead of nationally renowned Mayo Clinic and Houston Methodist as the nation\u2019s three highest performing health systems for quality, safety and patient experience \u2013 affirming St. Luke\u2019s status as a leader among the largest and best-known health care providers in the country.<\/p>\n

St. Luke\u2019s has been named a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World\u2019s Best Hospital. It is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare\u2019s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality,\u00a0efficiency\u00a0and patient satisfaction. In 2025, the Network earned straight\u00a0A\u2019s\u00a0from Leapfrog across\u00a0all of\u00a0its acute care hospitals. It has earned 100 Top Hospital designations from Premier 11 years in a row, including in 2021 when its flagship University Hospital was identified as THE #1 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of SLUHN\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online\u00a0scheduling\u00a0and online pricing information.<\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nGary R. Blockus<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Knee Is a Home Run for Local\u00a0Softball\u00a0Champ Winning a\u00a0gold\u00a0medal in a national championship for softball is a thrill at any age, but for Dianne Orr, the victory is especially … Continue reading New Knee Is a Home Run for Local\u00a0Softball\u00a0Champ\u00a0<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Dianne-Orr.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147209"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=147209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/147210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=147209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=147209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=147209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}