OK. Let's start at the beginning... My name is Pat and I have been a patient of Southwest Orthopaedic Physical Therapy (SWOPT) since they started their business in 2002. I have rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes, so to say my health challenges have been many would be an understatement. 

As a result of ongoing rheumatoid arthritis, my knee joints have deteriorated to the point where I need knee replacement surgery. The orthopedic doctors tell me that I should just replace both of them at one time….”Uh?…come again? Did you say replace both knees at once?  YIKES!“ I had never heard of this and I thought "if I have both knees done - I won't have a leg to stand on" (pardon the pun). 

After investigating all of the alternatives, I decided bi-lateral knee replacement surgery was the way to go. I didn't want to go into this very invasive surgery lightly, so I set up an appointment to meet with Kale Isaacson, PT, the owner of SWOPT. He suggested that I do a "pre-hab" program with Karen Browning, PT. Karen has many years experience with out-patient Physical therapy and specifically knee joint replacement.

Karen set me up with a 45 minute routine that concentrated on improving my upper body strength, range of motion, stretching, and strengthening of my knees, hamstrings quadriceps, etc.  She also included cardiovascular exercise to improve my stamina. The next few months I will share my experience with you—the good, the bad and the ugly. Stay tuned for the next episode of Pat's Amazing "Jour-knee"