Physical Therapy

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Jenniferne

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I am having my surgery done in another town. I asked my surgeon about therapy and he said since you will be having your therapy in your home town talk with your general doctor and have him help you. I have talked with my doctor and he recommended the swing bed. So after I would leave the hospital where I am having my surgery I would go straight to the hospital in my home town and stay there for 10 days, where they have a unit that helps hip and tkp patients . (I would rather be at home.)I called and found out that my insurance will cover this. Here is the problem. When I talked with the woman who is in charge of the unit she did not understand why my doc recommended it. She said that it is usually the surgeon that recommends what kind of therapy I should have. As he makes the call after my surgery and will know how I am getting along. She also mentioned that I am very young to be going into the Swing bed unit. I am 50 yrs old. She recommended that if all goes well I should do the outpatient therapy as long as I have someone who will take me. There is no one here that will come into your home and help you with the therapy for the first two weeks. So I am more confused than ever. I guess I will mention this to my surgeon the week before my surgery and hopefully he can help. As of now I have no clue what to do about therapy and my tkp is fast approaching April 17th.
 
Re: Phyiscal Therapy

Do you have anyone at home? If so, you probably will not need a rehab facility if you are having one knee replaced. It is wonderful to have someone around all the time for awhile, but not really necessary for many of us. I came home on a Friday and my husband was home with me through the next Monday. Then he went to work but would come home early as he gets anxious about me. Really though, I had a basket for my walker and could get my own food and drink and carry it with me. I have a high toilet and I had some handles to help me stand. Once I could get my own leg up, I was really ok. It was nice to have someone around when I showered, but I never really needed him. Another thing I did to reassure myself was put a towel down in the shower. It really makes it non-slip.

I just did my own exercises at home for the first week after I came home and then I went to out-patient PT. You do need someone to take you at first until you can drive again. I would search for good PT establishment not too far from home.

If the surgeon/hospital staff thinks you need to go to rehab after surgery, you have done your part. You have researched where you want to go, and found out insurance will cover it. Good job.
 
Re: Phyiscal Therapy

Jenniferne.....your plan to talk to your surgeon is a good one. But don't be worried or confused. Any of the options you mentioned will work and get you on your way in recovery. The benefits of the in-patient therapy can be that you are "treated" to more one-on-one time with a therapist. Many times they will come work with you twice a day. All your effort those first few days after surgery is directed toward recovery since you don't have to travel to the therapist and someone other than you is taking care of your meals and other needs.

However, if you prefer to be home and have someone to drive you to therapy, that works too. Usually you will have some exercises to do at home in between the sessions. And the exercise you get from walking around the house is always good.

I am guessing that if your surgeon thinks it's a good idea for you to be in the in-patient rehab facility, he can easily fax or email an order for therapy to them. Maybe this was just a little out of the ordinary for the unit and they were unsure how it would work. And frankly it shouldn't make ANY difference how old the other people are in the unit! You are there for YOU! Some of those older folks can be pretty feisty too and fun to get to know. It's not like you are there for an extended period of time anyway.

But in the end, the decision on therapy is one you need to make in conjunction with your surgeon. I'm sure once you talk with him, things will all fall into place very quickly.
 
I think it depends if you have someone to be with the first few weeks. I live alone, no family close by and I had a BTKR so I went from the surgical floor up to inpatient rehab for 11 days. My stay was longer than most as I had a slight tibial fracture and surgery was more complicated. With the 3 hours of therapy, lots of CPM and a very good staff by the time I got home I was fine.

The usually time frame for rehab for BTKR is 4 or 5 days. My insurance original only approved 7 days and we really had to fight to get them to pay for the extra days.

I would really make sure you have something in writing from the insurance on what they will cover as they are always changing their mind.

You might also want to check to see if your town has home health services as that is another option.

As other suggested talk with the surgeon and get a clear plan from him. You might also want to check out outpatient PT as a good PT is as important as a good surgeon.

Simon
 
I had surgery in another county but my OS arranged for me to go to the hospital in pt rehab after working with the insurance for preauthorization. So, I stayed 4 on surgical floor and 4 on rehab.


On my discharge from hospital inpt rehab, the OS gave me the option of two weeks home health PT or right on to PT so on the advice of the inpatient PT, I went directly into out patient PT rather than home health PT for two weeks because she felt I needed more agressive PT using bike, water, etc and the OS agreed.

I agree with Jamie and others, talk with OS and get a plan before this happens!!!
 
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