Some folks undergo a knee replacement and roll almost effortlessly through their rehabs, quickly regaining much of the strength and range of motion they enjoyed before their operations.
They’re riding bikes only a month after leaving the hospital. They’re hitting golf balls six weeks after surgery. They’re playing tennis with their new knees within a couple of months.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them.
“Everyone responds differently,” said Dr. Chris Talley, the local orthopedist who performed the total arthoplasty on my right knee on May 30 at Indian River Medical Center. “Some people progress faster than others. Some people take a little longer.
“You’re a little behind some people. You’re ahead of some others. I wouldn’t be worried about it.”
That was 2 1/2 weeks ago.
So I went back to my physical therapy sessions. Three times per week, for at least an hour each visit, I kept working, kept pushing, kept getting more flexibility in the knee and more strength in the muscles around it.
And just so you know: There were plenty of days when I showed up with my knee feeling stiff and my mind wondering whether I could survive the next 60 minutes.
But I did.
The folks at Pro Therapy – not only my outstanding therapists, Michele Land and Jessica Harper, but the entire crew – kept getting me through, offering just the right combination of encouragement, discipline and even camaraderie.
They made me feel as if we all were in this thing together, working as a team to accomplish our mission. They wanted me to progress, and I didn’t want to let them down.
I hope I didn’t.
I hope I don’t.
I’ve worked hard the past nine weeks, the first two at home and especially the past seven at Pro Therapy. And though I’m still a little shy of my desired goal of being able to bend my new knee 120 degrees, I know what needs to be done and I’m determined to get there in the not-too-distant future.
Despite some occasional swelling and stiffness, both of which are not uncommon in the months following this kind of surgery, my right knee feels pretty good.
I’m hoping to be able to say the same about my left knee.
After postponing the same surgery on my left knee for two weeks — my right knee benefited greatly from the extra rehab time – I was back at IRMC Friday morning to finish the job.
Some of you who read my May 29 column might recall: I’m doing this because the arthritic condition in my knees had made it difficult to play tennis and golf, and the pain was affecting my quality of life.
If I sat too long, my knees hurt. If I stood too long, my knees hurt. And going up and down stairs had become a nightmare. So although I’m only 55, which puts me on the young side of those undergoing total knee-replacement surgery, I needed this.
That’s what I kept telling myself Thursday night, hours before departing for the hospital.
Because it wasn’t easy.
More than a few people said it should be easier the second time around – “because you know what to expect” – but, trust me, that knowledge also made it tougher.
I knew how unsettled I felt those first few days in the hospital, despite the wonderful, round-the-clock work done by the nurses assigned to IRMC’s orthopedic wing.
I knew how miserable I felt those first couple of weeks at home, spending countless hours lying in bed, sitting in my family room and watching too much TV, my body still feeling the combined and system-altering effects of the surgery and pain medication.
I knew how challenging it was to attempt those first, basic exercises at home with the visiting physical therapist, who also required me to devote six hours each day to having my knee bent and straightened by a CPM (continuous passive motion) machine.
Mostly, I knew I was embarking on another long, arduous, sometimes-painful rehab process – after having just completed one.
“See you in a couple of weeks,” Michele said as I left the therapy center last week.
“Count on it,” I replied.
Yes, in some ways, it was harder this time, because, unlike a couple of months back, I now understand the full magnitude of this particular procedure. It’s not to be taken lightly. It’s major surgery.
And because it’s major surgery, there’s going to be pain and swelling, In fact, I experienced some prolonged swelling, which impaired my initial therapy. It was a setback and, at times, I got discouraged. It was tough.
But that’s the deal.
Unless you’re among the fortunate few I mentioned above, there are going to be bad days. There are going to be days when your knee feels stiff and weak and doesn’t want to bend as much as you’d like it to. There are going to be days when you feel as if you’re not making progress or, even worse, going the wrong way.
You’ve got to fight through it.
“It’s not always a straight line,” Michele told me a few weeks back. “Sometimes, you take two steps forward, then one step back. But you’re still making progress.”
I know that now.
I know what to expect.
I knew that, when I woke up from surgery Friday, I was more than halfway there. I knew once I got out of the hospital and past those first couple of weeks at home, I’d start feeling like me again. I knew exactly what I needed to do when I finally returned to physical therapy.
I knew I was getting closer to getting back the tennis court.
That’s what I kept telling myself Thursday night, and it really did make it easier.
