March 2008 Archives
For anyone who isn't familiar with this program, Dr. DiGioia
runs a terrific educational series called the Bone and Joint Health Series. It
is FREE and open to the public. You can even download the handouts
that were used at past programs. The last Bone and Joint Health Series
event was held on March 1st and was entitled YOUR JOURNEY TO WELLNESS,
Hip and Knee Arthritis and Joint Replacement Surgery: Fact and Fiction.
To
get more information and to see past handouts visit http://amd3.org/patients/bjhs.htm.
The following is a patient's own account of her activity level since having two total knee replacement surgeries.
When friends ask me how I am doing since my total knee replacements, I proudly tell them about the 14 hour flight for my long-delayed dream trip to China where I climbed The Great Wall, or about my new bicycle and the joy of riding again, or how I am able to walk the long platforms at train stations up and down the East coast.
Before my second knee replacement only a year before going to China, and my first knee replacement five months before that, I couldn't even walk across the street and up a hilly driveway to visit my elderly neighbor. But one recent morning I had an epiphany! After finishing breakfast and climbing up the stairs to my bedroom on the second floor, I suddenly realized I had left some important mail from the previous night on the kitchen counter. Without thinking, I whirled around, trekked back down the stairs and got the mail. When I got up the second time, my eyes filled with tears of gratitude. I realized the true miracle of my knee replacements was in what physical therapists call ADL-- "activities of daily living."
After not being able to cook a simple lunch without sitting on a stool, I was once again able to stand all day preparing our family's favorite dishes for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. When I wanted a particular ingredient that was available at only one store, I parked in the only spot I could find, in the last row of the parking lot, and trudged into the big store and walked to the last shelf in the last row of the store to get the item I needed. In addition, not only have I resumed going to the basement to do laundry, I do several loads in the same day. I can even run the vacuum cleaner without having any pain. I never imagined that I would be so excited about vacuuming!
Ironically, the artificial joints that Dr. DiGioia put in my knees have made me feel like my real self again!
I love being able to ride my bicycle once again.
I was able to climb The Great Wall of China because I had knee replacement surgery.