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Wednesday Wanderings — 3 Comments

  1. On the civilian side, you should be able to find an orthopedic doctor who wants to do it. They are much quicker to recommend them now than they used to. Good luck with all of it. I’m waiting as long as I can to have them.

  2. Jean–

    When I got hurt, the only knee replacements were cadaver knees. A surgeon took a few swipes at patching my legs together, some of the swipes being rather extreme. I didn’t recover from the last effort. Of course, now I’m way too fat to consider knee replacement. Being crippled is about the most fattening thing you can do, and I recommend against it.

    What I’m saying is that, if the doctors tell you the replacement will help you, you should try your best to get the replacement. Most of the people I’ve known who had that surgery are happy with it, eventually. And do get busy with physical therapy, with a good therapist. People with ranches and Victorian mansions don’t need to be in wheelchairs!

    Best wishes, Jean! I’m pulling for you.

  3. I can understand the argument to some extent; however, if the replacement will allow me more mobility, I think it’s worth considering. I’m trying to think how limited my mobility has become over the last year, and it’s been one of those creeping things you don’t really notice, because it’s a deciding not to do this thing this time, and a little later, well, I won’t do that. And eventually, you can’t move.

    As early as this past year, I used to be able to carry two laundry baskets at once up or down the stairs. Now, I can barely carry one.

    For some time, I’ve been taking the stairs “toddler” style, but even that has become challenging.

    I keep thinking of my paternal grandmother who spent a lot of time during the last twenty years of her life sitting in a chair because it was too painful to move. Sure, she’d had two knee replacements, but I think the last one came too late to do her any good. Perhaps the first one was when they were less effective.

    I have things to do sitting in a chair, but I have so many other things to do not sitting in a chair. There’s the ranch, the yard, the stairs, scaffolding to climb, and walking to do. And I would hope getting up and down to the floor to chase cats out from under beds will be easier. I plan to talk with my dad in March for a realistic assessment of what will be feasible post surgery. I don’t want to run a marathon again, but I might like to be able to walk one.