Yes, recovery can take a lot longer in some than others. It all depends on the
individual.
A good friend of mine, who was about 89 or so when she had her knee replacement
done, followed all the directions (because she comes from the age when you did
what the professionals told you) regarding the exercises. She would take a
Tylenol 3 about an hour before she did them since the pain can be quite intense.
When she mentioned to her physical therapist, a young girl, that she took the
T3, the girl said No, no, no.. you don't need to take it! You shouldn't be
taking any medication. You will be fine without it. So my friend didn't take
any. The professional, who knows these things, told her not to.
So when she did the exercises, she didn't quite push herself far enough because
the pain was quite intense. When she finally got her check-up with the surgeon,
he was very upset with the results. She had very limited range of motion, of
course, and she told him why. He was angry, and said this is not good and we
have to re-do it all. So they put her back into surgery, had to break all the
scar tissue, and start over. She was not very happy about this at all! Why
would the therapist, a professional who should know these things, tell her NOT
to take the T3 and now she had to endure another surgery and another long
period of recovery?!?
The second time was much better, but she knew better what to do and didn't
follow the directions of a young "professional". She still complains about her,
and why would the therapist say such a thing to her. Of course, the young girl
hadn't gone through this experience, and she knows nothing of what it is like.
She has had both knees done, and is quite the expert now! She can do much
better than that "professional" therapist!
My mother had a hip replacement about a year and a half ago. She still hasn't
recovered. She can't put any weight on that leg, she has a pronounced limp
(more like a skip), and she says it hurts -- all the time. She can't walk on
it, she can't sit for long, she can't sleep. She never complains much, but she
has said to me several times that if she knew how bad it would be, she would
never have had the surgery. She was doing alright as she was. But we all
encouraged her to have it done because so many others were very happy with it.
Now I feel so very bad for her, because I did tell her to get the surgery. And
she is worse now than she was before.
Of course, her age is a factor. So she is expecting that recovery will take
longer. But this long? She is extremely disappointed. I know this is only a
rare occurrence, but results are not all the same. While they do perform
miracles, sometimes they just don't get it right. And in my mother's case, I
was hoping that her quality of life would be so much better in her later years,
and now they are not. I know that I will need hip replacement eventually as
well, and have joked that I need to make my reservation now (there is a very
long waiting list for these here) and now I am thinking that perhaps I might
not get it done. I'll just have to wait and see how things go.TG
