[Rhodes22-list] My Left Knee Replacement Got Delayed & Rescheduled

[ROGER PIHLAJA]

Michael,

When I had my right knee replacement last November, they had me up and walking with a walker the next morning.  I had PT for 6 weeks at 3 sessions/week.  The first 3 weeks were pretty awful.  But, then I was able to quit using the walker and the PT got easier.  Near the end, the PT sessions were focusing on style, walking without a limp, getting in and out of a car gracefully, etc.  At the end of my PT sessions, I could ride a bicycle, go up and down stairs, and bend the knee thru 115 deg.  I pretty much know what to expect and agree it’s amazing technology.

Now, if only the same hospital would quit turning patients away because of a test that’s only right 52% of the time for people with no Covid symptoms!

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 27, 2022, at 10:29 PM, Michael McKay <mm.bizlist1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Roger,
> 
> The good news is that you may be back on your feet faster than you thought possible. A 78 year old friend of the family had a knee replacement last Wednesday morning. He walked out of the hospital Wednesday afternoon and is total independent as of today!  He has very little pain.  There’s still PT of course, but the new protocols are amazing. 
> 
> Good luck—I hope you do even better. 
> 
> Mike
> 
> Michael McKay
> (630) 209-2054 (m)
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Mar 27, 2022, at 8:45 PM, Jesse Shumaker <jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Roger, that's too bad about the rescheduling.   Hopefully your new surgery
>> date holds and you're back on the water sooner rather than later.  We all
>> enjoy hearing about your adventures.  I guess you'll be giving some time
>> for the water to warm up for a midsummer adventure up north.
>> 
>> Jesse
>> 
>>>> On Fri, Mar 25, 2022 at 8:31 AM ROGER PIHLAJA <Roger_Pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi All,
>>> 
>>> As many of you know, I have been waiting all winter to get my left knee
>>> replaced.  My surgery was finally going to happen last Monday, March 21st.
>>> But, they gave me a rapid response COVID test at the hospital the morning
>>> of the surgery and I tested positive.  Despite having no symptoms, they
>>> sent me home.  From home, I contacted my family doctor and she thought it
>>> might have been a false positive.  So, she sent me to Gladwin Hospital for
>>> a  Cobas 6800 SARS-CoV-2 test.  This test has to be sent out to a central
>>> lab facility for evaluation, which takes longer; but, it’s much more
>>> accurate vs. the rapid response test.  Sure enough, the test result came
>>> back negative!  So, I contacted my orthopedic surgeon.  COVID created a
>>> huge backlog for surgical procedures in the hospitals.  Because of this
>>> stupid unreliable test, I lost my place in line and the next available
>>> surgical date is May 23rd.  That’s 2 months away!  I was supposed to be
>>> pretty much recovered by then, not just having the surgery.  Despite the
>>> situation, they wouldn’t bump me up in line.  They did tell me they would
>>> call me if there was a cancellation, but not to get my hopes up.
>>> 
>>> Oh well, at least I don’t have COVID!  I’m scheduled to get a cortisone
>>> shot in my left knee next week, which should help a little.
>>> 
>>> This situation throws cold water on a family High Adventure Trip this
>>> summer.  We’ll see how I’m doing by mid July; but, that’s awfully late in
>>> the year to be reserving campsites for that summer.
>>> 
>>> Sigh, I’m bummed.  I hope everybody else’s week is going better than this.
>>> 
>>> Roger Pihlaja
>>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>> 
>>> 
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