Latest / The Total Knee Success Podcast: Your Essential Resource for Navigating Total Knee Replacement / Episode 110: Three Surprisingly Useful Products After Knee Replacement (Small Purchases That Solve Annoying Problems)

Transcript

Episode 110: Three Surprisingly Useful Products After Knee Replacement (Small Purchases That Solve Annoying Problems) · The Total Knee Success Podcast: Your Essential Resource for Navigating Total Knee Replacement

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  She tried using her phone for everything. One
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  note held questions for the surgeon. Another
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  held questions for her therapist. An appointment
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  card disappeared into her purse and medication
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  instruction was sitting in the patient portal
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  under a message she could no longer find quickly.
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  Her system worked beautifully as long as she
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  remembered where every part of the system lived.
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  Are you ready to get back to what you love after
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  knee replacement? The Total Knee Success Podcast
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  is your trusted guide with practical tips, evidence
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  -based strategies, and no fluff. It's not personal
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  medical advice, just solid education to help
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  you manage pain, regain mobility, and get back
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  to living the life you love. Let's dive in. Welcome
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  back to the Total Knee Success Podcast. I'm Michelle.
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  You can have your walker and shower chair ready.
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  and still run into little frustrations once you're
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  home after knee replacement. Maybe a question
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  disappears from your mind before an appointment,
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  or the thing you need is in the other room. Those
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  are everyday annoyances I want to help you solve
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  today. This is the second episode in our Smart
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  Spending After Knee Replacement series. In episode
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  109, we looked at five products you might be
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  able to skip. Today, I have three things you
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  may not have thought of. Each one solved a small
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  problem Laura ran into after surgery. And by
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  the end of this episode, you can decide whether
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  any of them would help you. Let's follow Laura
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  through the first part of her knee replacement
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  experience. Laura is fictional and her story
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  reflects situations that many people experience
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  after knee replacement. She was organized before
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  surgery. She had her appointments on her phone,
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  her medication list in the patient portal, printed
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  instructions on the kitchen counter and several
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  questions written on the back of an envelope.
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  Technically, she had all the information. Finding
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  the right piece at the right time, that was another
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  matter. Her first surprisingly useful product
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  was a medical planner. During the first week,
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  Laura wanted to keep track of the names and phone
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  numbers from her surgeon's office, physical therapist,
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  pharmacy, and home health agency. She also wanted
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  one place for upcoming appointments. questions,
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  medication changes made by her health care professionals,
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  and the instructions she received at each visit.
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  She tried using her phone for everything. One
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  note held questions for the surgeon. Another
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  held questions for her therapist. An appointment
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  card disappeared into her purse, and medication
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  instruction was sitting in the patient portal
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  under a message she could no longer find quickly.
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  Her system worked beautifully. as long as she
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  remembered where every part of the system lived.
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  A medical planner gave her one place to gather
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  those details. She could write down the question
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  when she thought of it, bring the planner to
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  the appointment, and add the answer beside the
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  question. When one of her health care professionals
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  changed a medication instruction, she recorded
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  who gave the instruction and when. The planner
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  helped her carry accurate information from one
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  appointment to the next. At her next physical
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  therapy visit, Laura opened the planner to the
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  questions she had asked her surgeon and the answers
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  she had written beside them. She could talk through
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  those answers with her physical therapist without
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  searching the patient portal while someone waited.
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  She was pleased with how organized she felt.
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  For once, she wasn't trying to remember whether
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  an important detail was in her phone, her purse,
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  or on the kitchen counter. Her planner had room
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  for each question and answer along with sections
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  for appointments and phone numbers. Before she
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  left for a visit, she could put it in her bag
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  and know that her notes were coming with her.
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  She felt less concerned about forgetting a question
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  or leaving an instruction behind. That was a
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  relief. Her second surprisingly useful product
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  was a walker tray. One afternoon Laura walked
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  into the kitchen with both hands on her walker,
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  as she should. Lunch was ready, but her plate
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  and drink were still on the counter. She needed
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  both hands to use the walker. So how is she going
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  to get lunch to the table? That's when she started
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  looking at trays and baskets that fit her walker.
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  In this situation, you have a few choices. A
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  pouch or basket can hold small items like your
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  phone, glasses, a tablet, and some baskets have
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  an insert or a cup holder. A flat tray gives
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  you a surface for a light meal or a drink. Laura
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  chose a tray because bringing lunch from the
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  kitchen to the table was the job she wanted it
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  to do. She found a removable tray that fit her
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  walker. Some trays clip onto the frame, some
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  fold down when you're done using them, and some
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  lift off when you need to fold the walker to
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  go someplace in the car. Walker frames vary,
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  so check how an accessory attaches and whether
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  your walker can still open and close. Laura could
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  take hers off before leaving home, which worked
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  for the way she used her walker. Her third surprisingly
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  useful product was a self -standing cane. Later,
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  Laura moved from a walker to a cane. She was
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  pleased to be done with the walker and wanted
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  to walk like herself again. She still felt self
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  -conscious carrying the cane into the store or
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  restaurant. She was tempted to leave it in the
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  car. When she used it, she walked more evenly
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  and felt steadier on her feet. Her cane also
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  kept falling over. At home, it slid off the kitchen
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  counter, toppled beside the sofa, and landed
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  on the floor just as she sat down for lunch.
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  She could ask someone to pick it up or get back
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  out of the chair to reach for it. That little
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  nuisance made her less eager to carry it on top
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  of feeling self -conscious. The hurricane is
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  probably something that you've seen a commercial
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  for or seen commercials for ones like it. It's
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  just one example of a self -standing cane with
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  a compact three -point base designed to stand
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  on flat ground beside a chair or near the kitchen
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  sink. Some versions fold for storage. That compact
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  base is different from a quad cane, which has
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  a broader footprint and can provide more stability
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  when someone needs that kind of support. Laura
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  liked having a cane she could set beside the
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  restaurant table and reach again when she stood
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  up. She didn't need a wider four -point cane,
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  and many people do not. Laura brought the new
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  cane to her physical therapist who checked its
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  height and watched Laura take a few steps with
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  it. Using the cane helped her keep the smoother
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  walking pattern she had been practicing. The
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  cane that was easier to manage helped her continue
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  using the support she still needed. What I like
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  about Laura's three purchases is that each solved
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  a problem she'd actually encountered. When you
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  notice the same small frustration over and over,
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  you can decide whether a product would help.
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  You may find that what you already own does the
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  job. I hope Laura's story gave you a few useful
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  ideas for making your own day a little easier.
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  Check the show notes for the episode article
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  where I'll put more information about these three
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  little items and some product links if you're
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  interested. If the cane part sounded familiar,
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  my book Walking Like Yourself Again After Knee
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  Replacement explains why you're walking can still
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  feel unfamiliar and what may be changing. You'll
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  find that link in the show notes as well. In
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  episodes 111 and 112, we'll look at the knee
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  replacement costs nobody warns you about, including
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  expenses that can start before surgery and continue
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  after you get home. Thanks for joining me. I'm
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  Michelle, and this has been the Total Knee Success
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  Podcast. This podcast is for educational purposes
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  only. Discover more at TotalMeSuccess .com and
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  be sure to subscribe and share because every
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  step forward takes you closer to living the life
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  you love.