A walk through knee replacement
Published: 2010-07-25 23:15:23By: Jennifer Vazquez | The Leader | April 22, 2010
Carlstadt resident Janet Higgins, who owns a local real estate agency, has always been a rather athletic and mobile person throughout her entire life. That is, until the day she started having trouble walking.
Higgins, 70, said she understands the hesitation people may feel when they are told a knee replacement is necessary.
“I was very apprehensive,” she said. “It is an important surgery because it’s on a very important part of your body. They are putting a new knee in there.”
This apprehension was somewhat tempered when she convinced her cousin, who was advised to undergo a second knee replacement, to join her and go through the surgery at the same time. And that’s exactly what they did.
A couple of weeks ago, Higgins and her cousin each went under the knife on the same day and were hospital roommates throughout the whole ordeal.
Higgins said she truly believes that having her cousin there going through the same experience calmed her nerves. Having a trustworthy doctor is also a major benefit in Higgins’ eyes.
“My doctor is just fabulous,” Higgins said of her Hackensack-based doctor. “Dr. Rajan really knew what he was doing and was such a delight.”
Within a week of the surgery, Higgins was walking. In less than a month, there was almost no pain.
Despite the progress, the journey is not over just yet. Higgins needs to finish her two month physical therapy. She has been attending her sessions regularly and reminds those who have had the same surgery that they should keep up with their scheduled physical rehabilitation visits as well.
Judy Thomsen, director of Sportscare Physical Therapy in Carlstadt, a local physical therapy clinic, knows first hand how crucial it is for those who undergo a knee replacement to continue with physical therapy.
“The surgery is the first step in terms of repairing the joint,” Thomsen said. “The muscle and tendons are still there, but let’s say that after injuring yourself and limping for a while, you now have to teach yourself to walk around normal once again.”