Patient Story – Carol Marston
At first, Carol Marston accepted minor knee pain as a consequence of aging. However, the pain increased so much over several years that it prevented her from enjoying many of her favorite
parts of life. She could no longer take daily walks with her husband, Gene, or attend her grandchildren’s sporting events, and she found that situation to
be unacceptable.
“It was to the point that I felt I had no quality of life,” Carol remembered.
“I thought about the pain all the time.
I could not get comfortable in bed. It was too painful to walk from the car to the school gymnasium to go to a basketball game. I was taking over-the-counter pain relievers, but they were not helping. I had to do something.”
In 2009, Carol visited Edward Westerheide, M.D., of Orthopaedic Specialists and Sports Medicine, and his X-rays confirmed what she had been feeling. “He showed me that there was no cartilage padding left between the bones. With every step, the bones were rubbing together,” she said. Carol decided to have total knee replacement surgery, starting with the left knee since it was much more painful than the right knee.
Before her surgery date at Licking Memorial Hospital (LMH), Dr. Westerheide referred Carol to LMH Home Care services. Physical Therapist Rob Wells visited her Utica home to identify possible hazards and make suggestions that would ease her recuperation after surgery. Carol recalled, “My kitchen was already spacious enough that I would be able to move around with a walker. In the bathroom, Rob recommended that we place an elevated seat on the toilet, handrails next to the toilet, and a chair in the shower. He explained that my bedroom should be close to the bathroom, so Gene and I moved to one of the guest rooms. Rob also noticed that I would need handrails on the steps that led to the garage out of the kitchen. His assessment of all the special accommodations that I would need allowed us to borrow everything from family members while there was still time before the surgery. The only things we had to buy were two recliners for the living room so that I could elevate my leg while sitting.”
Carol’s rehabilitation began while she was still in the Hospital. An inpatient physical therapist showed her the proper technique to get out of bed and some preliminary exercises. Carol also began using a continuous passive motion machine (CPM) to gently flex and extend her new artificial knee joint.
Just a couple of days after Carol left the Hospital, Rob returned to her home to continue the rehabilitation process there. “It was great to have him come to my house,” Carol said. “I would not have wanted to get out of bed, get dressed and ride to Columbus, or even to Newark, while my leg was still hurting.”
Rob gave Carol an individualized exercise program titled, “Routines for Carol Marston, created by Robert Wells,” with exercises he chose for her. Carol’s daily one-hour rehabilitation sessions began with leg exercises while lying flat on her bed. Next, Rob showed her exercises to perform while sitting in her recliner and standing by the kitchen counter. “They were difficult at first,” Carol said. “But Rob was careful to ensure that I did not overdo it. He gradually increased the number and intensity of each technique as my leg grew stronger. I warmed up with exercises before he arrived, and continued after he left. The Hospital arranged for me to have a CPM machine to use at home. I also used an exercise bike and porch glider frequently. Exercise means everything. I think that I had a speedy recovery because I really worked at it. Dr. Westerheide was amazed by my progress after just six weeks.”
Even though the left knee replacement was very successful, Carol put off having the right knee surgery. “I am not used to being laid up,” she said. “It changes things for a while.” However, the right knee eventually became so painful that Carol once again found that she was missing cherished events. In January 2013, she scheduled a second knee replacement surgery with Dr. Westerheide at LMH.
“This time, I knew what to expect, and I began to prepare,” she said. “Even though my right knee hurt, I started walking and doing the leg exercises, because I wanted to build up my strength.”
When Carol was referred to LMH Home Care services for the second knee replacement surgery, she asked for Rob to be her physical therapist again. She said, “We had become friends.
He was so encouraging and always answered all my questions in terms that I could understand. I felt very comfortable with him.”
In addition to the physical therapist visits, LMH Home Care also provided Carol with twice-a-week visits by Judy Schmitt, R.N., B.S.N., who is a case manager. Carol recalled, “Judy monitored my overall health at each visit in the first weeks after the surgery by taking my temperature and blood pressure. She was interested in how I was feeling, and she looked over the chart we kept in the kitchen to ensure that I was taking my medications properly. She gave me some tips, such as massaging the incision area lightly with two fingers to help the skin heal and reduce scarring.” Judy also monitored Carol’s incision to ensure that it was healing properly and drew blood for lab tests to monitor her medications.
Several months after the second knee replacement, Carol’s knee had healed so well that the 6-inch scar was barely noticeable. “Both knees have a faint white line over the knee cap. The best part is that I have no pain whatsoever in my knees now. The only thing that I notice is that I am not able to squat down low to the ground anymore. When I need to crouch down for gardening or housework, I use a small stool that I keep nearby,” she said.
With two pain-free knees, Carol has been able to resume the activities that define her quality of life. She can drive, take long walks with Gene, and walk up and down stairs. She recently attended a granddaughter’s basketball game at Utica High School, smiling and cheering from the top row of the bleachers where she purposely sat just to prove that she could make the climb.
| Posted On : 3/6/2014 11:20:56 AM
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