Ideas for Prehab, Part I

2. Prehab

1. Make a list of all your reasons for having surgery and keep it close at hand to review for renewal and encouragement. My list included playing with grandchildren, taking photographs, and walking my dog. Your list might consist of getting back to skiing and playing golf or tennis (but not running).

2. Write yourself letters of encouragement to read later on. This is an excellent opportunity to be your most positive self. Remember other times in your life when you’ve had to deal with adversity and what you did to pull through in those situations. Acknowledge that this will be a difficult period but that it will all be memories in a few months. While it is important to have support from family and friends, the most crucial supporter you can have on this journey is yourself!

3. Start a journal. Record daily events and document your feelings about how your knee has set painful limits on your life. These memories will establish the baseline for your recovery if you are ever tempted to look back and question your motives for the surgery. Maintaining this journal after surgery is beneficial since the recovery period is long and stressful.

4. Set Recovery Goals (but be prepared for surprises). My recovery goals included reading books that had been on my “really want to read but don’t have time” list for too long and learning to play the guitar. Unfortunately, mental fatigue settled in shortly after surgery, and reading books became impossible. I couldn’t focus long enough to remember what I had just read. I am still playing the guitar, which was easier for me than reading. I consider it an additional and unexpected benefit of the TKR experience.

5. Plant a garden. This might sound a bit unlikely, especially if your surgeries, like mine, occur in the fall or winter. Then it becomes time to bring your garden indoors. For instance you plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs before you leave for the hospital. You will be walking (at least with crutches) and well on your way to recovery by the time they bloom. I found it heartening to watch the plants grow and used their progress as a marker for my own.

6.  Create a ‘Music for Recovery’ playlist. Listening to music can shift your focus from your physical discomfort to something more pleasurable, lessening the perception of pain and reducing the use of post-operative painkillers. Music has been shown to affect heart rate and hormone levels positively. It also reduces stress and anxiety and changes neural pathways in the brain, triggering the release of endorphins, chemicals that enhance a feeling of well-being. Listening to music before surgery has all the benefits associated with listening to music after surgery. It’s important to acknowledge that music will be most beneficial when it matches the patient’s preferences; its effectiveness decreases when a third party selects it. Given the advantages music can bring to patient recovery, preparing a playlist of favorites seems a worthwhile project for the weeks leading up to surgery.

Next: Prehab Ideas, Part II