MILWAUKEE — A friendship spanning nearly half a century was born from a life-changing diagnosis.
On Wednesday, Doctor Paul Treuhaft, a now-retired orthopedic surgeon sat next to Lori Kopchinski, a former patient of his he met for the first time 45 years ago.
“I remember her as my patient, but I think of her as my friend,” said Treuhaft.
The two have kept in contact over the years but haven’t seen each other in decades until this week.
TMJ4’s Mariam Mackar asked them to describe their first encounter.
“He walked in and said, ‘You have cancer and we're going to amputate your leg and we're going to start chemotherapy. It’s going to be really hard,’” Kopchinski recalled.
That was how she met Treuhaft at 11 years old. At that time, he was just a few years into his career as an orthopedic surgeon when her case crossed his desk.
“She had a horrible disease that I have never seen before and have never seen since,” Treuhaft told Mackar.
Kopchinski was diagnosed with Osteogenic Sarcoma, a cancer that at the time gave her only an 8% chance of living for three more years.
Fast forward to Wednesday, Lori is healthy and happy, seeing for the first time in years the doctor she says changed her life.
“You can’t help but love him!” Kopchinski laughed. “He saved my life.”
But her road to normal living wasn't without bumps along the way. Lori was featured on TMJ4 in March for fundraising to get a new prosthetic leg after living two years without one. She reached her goal and says being back on two legs has made her life so much easier. But the benefits of having a new prosthetic go much further than mobility for Kopchinski.
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“I didn't realize that when I'm on crutches and I don't have my leg on, that people look right past me,” she said. “When I'm standing on two legs, people see me again. More importantly, I see myself again, and it feels really good.”
Her prosthetic allows her to stand comfortably with a cherished friend in the hallway of TMJ4’s station on Wednesday. Treuhart says she's made just as much of an impact on his life as he has on hers.
“I feel as if I owe her a debt of gratitude. She taught me much more than you can really imagine,” he shared. “The people are clearly more important than the operation. But when I was young, I didn't know that. So, I learned. This person taught me a lot of that.”
Now, Lori hopes to bring awareness to the financial struggles many amputees face. When it comes to cost, the price of a prosthetic leg can range from $10,000 to $70,000 based on design. Insurance only covers up to 80% of the prosthetic, leaving the rest of the bill up to the amputee.
“There are so many obstacles to getting a prosthetic,” Kopchinski said. “That needs to change. There are others like me that are facing these challenges.”
She says that everyone deserves the right to live their life putting their best foot forward.
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