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DIYSteve
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DIYSteve
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PostWed Dec 27, 2017 3:34 pm 
Good luck. TKA or partial?

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JonnyQuest
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PostWed Dec 27, 2017 3:41 pm 
DIYSteve wrote:
TKA or partial?
Total.

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DIYSteve
seeking hygge



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DIYSteve
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PostWed Dec 27, 2017 5:06 pm 
Please keep us (or, alternatively, me) posted after your surgery

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cascadetraverser
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PostFri Dec 29, 2017 10:30 am 
I have seen a whole range of skiers with TKR in my practice (and on the slopes). The movement of your knee is not the same as a natural knee, but all of the rest of your joints will be the same. Everyone is unique. Don`t be surprised if you will do better than you think.... As for the gall bladder issues, most people (with stones in their gallbladder) eventually end up in the ER or Urgent Care (probably my most frequent after midnight visitor) after the one meal they couldn't resist, and it makes sense to remove it sooner rather than later. Nordique, you have a great attitude! Your keep moving mantra is absolutely dead on. I suppose it is not new news, but fit 80-90 year olds who come in for the rare visit (often blessed with good genetics) have managed to find a way to be continuously active. Most are walkers, but a good number are swimmers (a great way to beat gravity and change up activity especially with injuries that keep you away from running or walking). MDs, PAs and the whole medical profession is notoriously conservative and often slows rehab and healthy activities that are beneficial (in my humble opinion) lumping all people into one group. People are all different and their rehabilitation capabilities vary. I suspect many on this site with their backpacking skills are faster healers than most. Everyone is different, but it never hurts to question things....

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boot up
Old Not Bold Hiker



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
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Old Not Bold Hiker
PostFri Dec 29, 2017 11:06 am 
Hiker Mama wrote:
I'm seeing a new PT now, after not being able to walk even a mile or two without extreme pain. He's prohibited hiking and walking for exercise while we get to the bottom of my issues.
A bit late reading this thread..... i was wondering if you are just using a PT for advice or in conjunction with a foot and ankle orthopedic specialist? You really need to see a specialist if are are down to no/little hiking and not happy with that option. I have a lifetime of ankle issues, especially my right ankle. I was trying all the braces and exercises and therapy work-arounds until my hiking mileage started to drop drastically and it felt like I was balancing on the knife edge of disaster on every hike with my ankle blowing out on its own. I finally escalated through the medical ranks until a specialist showed and explained that there was nothing left to repair or work with on the structure of my ankle. One of his statements was telling me that I was probably surprised by how fast I seemed to recover from my regular "sprained ankle". He said that was because there was no ligament or muscle left to heal in that area, and bone grinding on bone now had me in end stage arthritis. No amount of PT or yoga was going to fix that. Nordique went the ankle replacement route, I went the fused ankle route. Major tradeoffs with either. Check out the ankle fusion and TAR forums on Facebook for pros and cons on both sides if you are looking at this option. I am still not sure choosing "one-time" fusion with limited mobility over the "temporary" TAR was the best choice but my die has been cast. Big thing to consider is putting off dealing with it is not necessarily a good thing. Big issue in recovery speed is what condition you are going into it with. Many of the problem recoveries I see on the Facebook pages are people that are very out of shape and gained a lot of weight as a result of immobility as the situation got worse. (and smoking really destroys recovery odds) Before ankle fusion I was usually hiking 10-15 miles with 3k+ elevation gain every weekend. But towards the end I was down to about 6 mile hikes with pain. I am glad I did not let it get worse. Two years post fusion, I am road and mtn biking, snowshoeing up to around 4 miles, hiking regularly in the 4-10 mile range multiple times a week with limited 1k-2k elevation gain, which is only a shadow of my former self. But I am still pushing out those limits. I am even attempting to get back to XC skiing after being out of it for about 15 years, and starting back at age 65 is definitely a challenge. Fused ankle is mainly a problem on xc ski downhills and getting up after a fall. Hiking and snowshoeing, I hit a hard stop in ankle lack of movement with really steep downhill issues. But sure beats where I would be if I ignored it. Growing old is a series of compromises, with a heavy dose of not giving up, and just remembering to keep moving.

friluftsliv
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Hiker Mama
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PostFri Dec 29, 2017 11:15 pm 
Boot up, I've already gone the foot and ankle specialist route, had surgery on both ankles to tighten the ligaments, and have been dealing with the same pain and less mobility for the last 10 years. It's only gotten worse, when the surgeries were supposed to deal with the ligaments being so trashed they were collapsing on me all the time. My Doc was stumped as to why I was still in pain, and no abnormalities could be seen on x-ray, no arthritis could be detected in tests. He just wanted to put me on painkillers. No good for a mom with little kids. Other PTs just wanted to scrape away at scar tissue and left me in debilitating pain. I've gone the conservative route and the non-conservative route, even changing diet. I think this new guy might know what he's doing, and my flexibility is getting back to the normal range, but I have years of pain to try to solve, and my body's reaction to that pain, so it's complicated.

My hiking w/ kids site: www.thehikermama.com
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Old Not Bold Hiker



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
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Location: Bend Oregon
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Old Not Bold Hiker
PostFri Dec 29, 2017 11:40 pm 
Hiker Mama wrote:
've already gone the foot and ankle specialist route, had surgery on both ankles to tighten the ligaments,.....
Well that sucks! It sounds like you really have tried everything. All I can do is wish you speedy healing from whatever it is. Life can really throw us some challenges.

friluftsliv
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AlpineRose
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PostSun Dec 31, 2017 4:47 pm 
Hiker Mama wrote:
I have years of pain to try to solve, and my body's reaction to that pain, so it's complicated.
I've been to a few seminars on joint replacements. One of the things discussed was how complicated and mysterious pain can be. This was in relation to knees, not ankles, but one doc described how a total knee replacement might go perfectly, look great on xrays, and yet the patient was still in as much pain as before. As well, the opposite situation was described. Where a person's knees were deformed and looked like s**t, and yet there was no pain. So yes, pain can be complicated and not at all obvious. If your current doc doesn't work out, and you want the name of a wonderful foot and ankle specialist (Kirkland office), PM me.

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Hiker Mama
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PostWed Jan 03, 2018 6:18 pm 
Thanks for your kind thoughts, Alpine Rose and Boot Up. I appreciate them a lot! I learned something new today - did you know there is a fat pad underneath the knee cap? And that it can get out of place and cause mild pain? And that you can push it back into place? So there's one small issue that I have something I can do while I wait for the other stuff to heal. Also thinking of working on meditation of some sort to counteract chronic tension in many of my muscles, from general life stress and reaction to constant pain. He was puzzled about why my big toe joint hurts, though.... I did get out for our Third Annual Magical Twilight New Year's Eve Snowshoeing Adventure up at Gold Creek. It was about a mile more than I was comfortable, and that evening and the next day I was really tired and sore, but I seem to be bouncing back OK. So that's good.

My hiking w/ kids site: www.thehikermama.com
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Old Not Bold Hiker



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
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Location: Bend Oregon
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Old Not Bold Hiker
PostWed Jan 03, 2018 6:37 pm 
Hiker Mama wrote:
did you know there is a fat pad underneath the knee cap? And that it can get out of place and cause mild pain? And that you can push it back into place?
yes, oddly enough I do know. We have a genetic trait in the family line, especially on my wife's side, that has that sliding out all the time. My oldest daughter has a major problem with that. Her physical therapist gave her some exercises that help pull it back into place. It really helps when she actually does those exercises. My wife responds well also if she keeps up on it. Definitely talk to a PT about what you can do to get the muscles strengthened that pull it back into place.

friluftsliv
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