A crazy question?
 

My husband has just had both of his knees replaced. Today we got chatting about boats with the physical therapist who comes to our house. Art told her how much we love finding different spots on the lake to simply float, eat lunch, read, jump off the boat, etc. And she said that with his new knees he won't be able to get up the swim ladder and onto the swim platform anymore. :eek: Surely one of you has had knee replacements and could offer a suggestion on how to get back on the boat. There's got to be a way!!!! Thank you so much!

I think you might want to show these to the therapist, and your husband.. tell him "Yes You Can"

God bless and good luck!

http://www.moveforwardpt.com/symptom...8-53e3a5456e3f

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0JJgbTgYvc

Although I've never had knee replacement, I know a a couple of people who have had it. One of the people I know is a firefighter, he's on light duty right now, but, they expect him to have full use. They wouldn't even let him back to work, if there was any question about him doing his job. Another person has had 2 replacements, and does anything she wants! Skiing is her favorite sport, so she's at it all the time, and with just as much vigor, as ever! Good luck. If you want it, you'll find a way to get it! :)

I think a lot depends on the ladder, if you have one like this it may be a problem. But a ladder with 3 or 4 steps might not even be an issue.

http://s3.shipstore.com/ss/images/af...03-400x400.jpg

Double knee replacement
 

My mother had both knees replaced on 4/1/04 and is doing great. The only thing she is not allowed to do is kneel. If you can find a boat ladder which allows you to get back into the boat without kneeling you should be good to go.

I have not had a knee replacement but...

I have three boats, each with different swim ladders. The longest is the easiest to use and allows my body to be lifted vertically with minimal pressure on my knee and hip joints. The shortest makes me think something is going to explode as I take the first step.

West Marine has many swim ladders to chose from. You can buy a longer one. I suspect that a person handy with tools could modify one to have extra steps to shorten the height between the steps as well.

As a future hip replacement candidate, my opinion is that these body repairs should enable one to continue to do what one was doing before but without the pain. Given the choice, I'd rather modify the equipment than modify my habits.

We'll see you out on the water this season!

I suggest you start looking for a new PT. I know many who have had knee replacements, and in almost all (actually all) cases, they are in better shape and more mobile than before the operation.

My sister is also a Dr of PT. I know she would not agree with the advice you were given.

I think it's the kneeling when you get to the top of the ladder that she's referring to will be the problem. Maybe he can come up backwards???? Two more weeks of having the PT/nurse come to our home, and then he will be doing outpatient PT. I think the knees will be great at the end of 3-6 months, like Dr. Fox told us. We're confident of that, but just thinking ahead to the summer! Thanks, everyone!

Tkr
 

As a candidate for TKR, I'm disturbed by this PT's comments and hope the comments were misunderstood as to final prognosis.
On this subject, I was told that LRGH is the only hospital in NH that performs this procedure with a robotic device. Do any forum members have experience or knowledge of having this done at LRGH?
If you have had a TKR, where did you get it done? What was your experience?

Knees and hip replacements
 

Most of my friends have them elsewhere. LRGH at one time had a pretty bad orthopedics staff. I was told it had changed over.

A relative who is in his 80's had both hips and knees replaced successfully and still maintain 200 sheep and collect about 1000 bales of hay every year. In the winter he alpine ski race on the masters circuit. Not bad for a 'bionic' man. I suggest you find another therapist unless the knee weren't replaced properly.

I ran into someone two weeks ago (early 50s) who had a partial knee replacement at LRGH in May and then had to go back in November and have it redone. He said, "I wish I had gone to Dr. Fox in Concord." And I said, "That's who did my husband's knees!!!" We saw Dr. Fox upon discharge from the hospital and I told him what was said, and he replied that partial knees never work for long and they always end up with total. We've spoken to many people around here who have said Dr. Fox is known far and wide for being excellent. He's with Concord Orthopedics and does nothing but knee and hip surgeries.

NH Orthopaedic
 

in Manchester was voted Best of the Best for decades in NH Magazine. LRGH suggested a pin with wires back in 2008. Second opinion in Manchester was a titanium plate with titanium screws. Opt for Manchester and today my left arm is functioning as if nothing had happened! Thank Dr Wang!

Dr. Fox did a knee replacement on my mother in 2001 and her second knee in 2002. She is now the age of 92 and is still growing strong. You certainly picked a good surgeon.

Why not just toss him a rope and pull him with the boat. A PFD or a raft might be fun!

I am an OutPatient Ortho PT. I've been doing this for over 10 years and seen many TKR. I am not going to tell you that he will definitely be able to get up onto the ladder because there are some people that have complications (which I hope this is not your husband's case) but I will agree with the type of ladder. If it's a one step ladder, you might want to look into getting an extension. I say this mainly because it will make it that much easier to continue to do what you two love to do. When you are in Out Patient, let your PT know what the ultimate goals are because kneeling is one of the last things that he will get back. The PT should be able to show you different ways of making kneeling easier and getting you back into the boat with no issues.
Good Luck, and if all goes well, you will be boating and swimming with ease by late spring (I would say earlier, but the lake won't be ready for you!! :D)

still bad
 

My son had a snow boarding accident last year at Gunstock. Was taken to LRGH by ambulance. He shattered his wrist and dislocated his elbow. They did surgery that night, resetting his elbow and putting pins in his wrist. Once surgery was complete and everything wrapped up, they took an xray of his wrist and that looked good but never took anther xray of his elbow. After getting back to Nashua and making an appt with a local Ortho Dr, when they took the wrap off a week later, they discovered the elbow had popped back out. They put him out again that same day and popped it back into place. After months of PT, he could not fully extend his arm. He just recently had surgery again to do releases and is now back in PT and has almost full extension of his arm. The surgeon here said because a week had passed with his elbow still dislocated and in the position the put his arm in was the reason his arm was messed up.

Kneeling?
 

When my mother had double TKR back in 2004 the doctor told her she could never kneel again. Have things changed in 10 years? Mom's surgery was done at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York and her surgeon only does knees. Just wondering if they are using different replacement knees to make kneeling possible now.

Kneeling after TKR
 

I had a TKR 8 months ago and posed the question to my surgeon when I was 6 weeks into recovery. He answered that my chances were 50/50. About half of his patients can kneel again, but usually not on a hard surface. He recommended using a pad and extending the foot back for added suppport. I am now able to kneel for a short period, but not for a great length of time without feeling some pain.

Double TKR are an entirely different game. In my opinion, your body has a harder time recovering from that type of operation and the chances are less likely to get to the point that others will.
Like I said, this is my opinion and there probably isn't any research on that statement. In my experience, double TKR don't get as much ROM as a single does therefor the kneeling is also harder to do. 1 year after do they? Never have had the opportunity to re-measure to see. Would be interesting for me to check out sometime though

Double TKR
 

Thanks for the info. I would be interested in knowing about the ability to kneel for patients who are beyond 1 year post-surgery. My mother had both knees replaced on the same day and spent 4 days in-hospital and then 8 days at Kessler Rehab doing 2 90 minute therapy sessions per day. After 8 days she went home and was walking without a cane (never needed a walker) within a week. After 6 weeks of out-patient physical therapy she was discharged and has been doing great for the past 10 years. No one would know she had her knees done as she walks normally and has no problem with stairs, etc. The only thing I know she doesn't do is kneel which poses a problem only when getting out of the tub. Before the surgery she had lots of pain walking (bone on bone), and now she can walk up a storm. Thank goodness, as she enjoys wandering at craft shows and browsing at the stores.