tergal

what does the PT guy say ? i think we can safely assume he has more experience than all of us ?



But but the drugs are so much fun

Neil_B

He can only recommend. My surgeon authorizes. PT is preparing a report on my progress over the last five weeks. And it was the physical terrorist, err, therapist who suggested I might be discharged soon.

I've been in outpatient five weeks and I have more ROM than I did before surgery. Frankly I have more ROM than I have in years. We've stopped measuring Flexion since I'm hitting 130-135 regularly. My Extension is better than it was before surgery. PT can't correct the nerve damage in the legs and right foot, only time can. Balance only improves with use - and half the time I walk without a cane. And walk pretty normally. Unless there's some miracle they can work with awakening the quads I don't see the point. I'm used to self-training, so again unless there's something they can do with me I can't do on my own....

The only drawbacks at the moment are the sleeping quad muscles, which mean I have problems with low furniture, and some minor balance issues. I'm still climbing stairs like a child, one leg and then bring the other next to it. Not sure I need to pay for physical therapy to overcome those.

vesteroid

I think it's a poor decision (since you asked)

I liken it to training on your own vs with a coach. I don't care how hard you think you are working, or how correctly you think you are doing it, it's always better with a coach.

Bewides what the potential benefit to stopping, saving money?

Neil_B

Saving money. Saving time. Working out on my schedule and not theirs. Not paying someone for rehab that will take place regardless.

I liken it to drugs. Why would I continue to take a drug that doesn't give me a benefit? I stopped taking Lyrica for that reason. Ditto Percoset. (Please, folks, no drug discussions.)

Anyway, as I wrote upthread the PT will send a report to the surgeon, and the surgeon will make the call during our next visit Monday. As I wrote, "discharge" is a possibility. During the discussion I had about it with the PT he said that there's always a reason to have therapy. The question is if there's enough of a reason to justify it. That's a decision I'll make after consultation with my surgeon Monday and the therapist Thursday.

tergal

sorry Neil i have to agree with this, it wouldn't take much for you to fall in to a bad habit on a excise and undo all the good work. I know it sucks to be spending the money... but the alternatives are not worth it at the moment.

by bad habit i mean doing some excise incorrectly or partially .

Least that is my 10 cents, in the end it is your body and we will back you either way

vesteroid

Sounds as though you already had / have your mind made up and don't need / want other input.

Good luck

Neil_B

I wrote:

"That's a decision I'll make after consultation with my surgeon Monday and the therapist Thursday."

And then vesteroid wrote:

And I write now: How do you get I've made up my mind when I said I'm consulting with the surgeon and therapist? It appears someone has made up their mind, and it ain't me.

Neil_B

A lot of the exercises are things I would do anyway, even without knee replacement. I've been stretching hamstrings, for instance, since 2007. As for the rest, there's not a lot to allegedly screw up. The fact the PT brought up discharge with me last week confirms it and note the PT initiated the conversation, not me.

I think some of the discussion in this thread, going back to the odd comments about my allegedly hurting my recovery because I didn't take tons of narcotic drugs, are as much a commentary on an approach to life as anything. Health is supposed to be a personal responsibility. Doctors exist because they have specialized knowledge and skills, but health isn't something they give us. It's something we create. But I've been getting a lot of "don't do this, don't do that", despite the fact I've worked closely with therapists and doctors all through my recovery. Even though my recovery is up to me, some people don't think I should make decisions about my healthcare. "Just be passive. Lay back and let them do things to you" seems to be the subtext. It's very beta-male. And for better or worse I'm not only alpha-male but I'm the silverback.

Neil_B

Someone emailed me the name of just what laxative I should ask for in the hospital. Would you like it?

Peter_C

I'm with the group - if you have muscles that are not firing, one of the ways they try to 'wake' them up is with 'muscle stim' - and unless you have your own unit, if PT ends, you do not gain the benefit of muscle stim - just one possible reason. It's not just up to the Ortho - what you say, the words you chose, will have a great impact on what he decides. Say it one way - So Dr, do you think I can finally get off PT now? Or, say " Hey Dr, unless you think otherwise, I am hoping to continue with my PT as I have some areas that I believe can still use help.

Just a thought...

Neil_B

We aren't using anything called "muscle stim'. I don't know what you are talking about. I've been through PT a number of times and I've never been hooked up to a machine of any kind. Nor do I recall it ever being mentioned, either by my medical advisors or by the posters at at BoneSmart. Your experience as described here and elsewhere implies you had things done that are outside the range of a normal course of PT - being doped to the point of sleep, for instance, during a therapy session.

Neil_B

Just looked this up. Such machines are used for stroke victims and the like to help restore function. Since Peter_C has a host of additional ailments I've been spared his course of PT must have been very different than that of most knee replacement patients.

Neil_B

BTW, 'missing' or 'sleeping' quads are the common cold of knee replacement. The muscle sustains damage during surgery. The damage eventually heals on its own timetable. In the illustration below you can see why damage takes place by noting where the quad is and thinking just how they got that implant in. Anyway quads not firing fully at nine weeks post op isn't a crisis, merely an annoyance.

Neil_B

Something else to keep in mind, and I have to remind myself of this fact often, is that no two recoveries are alike. Peter_C and zirog both had knee replacements, but their recoveries were very different. There might be a typical or average recovery, but next to no one will match it.

Peter_C

Perhaps I simply read your reply wrong. But it seems like every time I say anything, you either use it later to beat me with, or you simply dislike what I say. I have never been, nor suggested "being doped to the point of sleep during a therapy session".

Perhaps it is that you like debate? And that replying as such is some normal debate-type tactic? All I know is that I care, I am concerned for you, and while my history is not the same as yours, I've (sadly) been around this particular block a few times too many. I do hope the best for you Neil, I really do. But I believe I will cheer silently for you in the future.

goldfinch

https://www.nih.gov/researchmatters/j...252011beta.htm

Neil_B

On APRIL 13, 2012, at 5:21 PM, Peter_C wrote:

"But, if you were dosed to the point of wanting a nap while he's working on you, and he tells you to relax as best you can, and this time you really do - the work will be much more productive."

Peter_C, you can offer advice as much as you like. However, what you are forgetting is just how outside the norm your recovery is. You had multiple unrelated health problems, you were in much worse physical shape than I was, you smoked and had a horrible diet ..... You think you are Everyman even though you are atypical for a knee replacement success story. You spent five months on morphine for a single knee ( see your knee replacement thread.) You had some atypical treatment in rehab from the "muscle stim" machine (see your comments above.) I don't fault you or your doctors for the choices you made, but its folly to pretend they are typical. However, your advice to me, and to zirog in his knee replacement thread, is based on the idea your recovery was a model. It wasn't. No one's is.

Neil_B

Hmm... cast Alan Alda in a remake of Planet of the Apes?