I feel your pain. I had a knee replaced in 2008, and wasn't able to go down into my basement to work on my layout. The key is motivation. I had to work hard to get the flexion (and strength) back into my knee. It took a good couple of weeks to be able to ditch the walker and use a cane. When you get to that point, you can go up and down stairs, but you have to do it one step at a time (kinda like how a little kid does it). Kneeling is still an issue, but with a good set of padded knee pads I can do it. Look for ones that have padding on the inside, and a hard plastic outside.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
My mrr friend had both his done. Had gotten so he could hardly walk between tables at a show before he needed to sit. After his rehab and keeping up the exercises he got around very well. Now he has some other issues and has one of those roll around walkers with a seat so he can stop and look at things if need be.
Our church had one of the chair lifts for a while, it worked well for those who could stand, then sit on it (a varity of ages and sizes). It was replaced with an elevator as there were a growing number of folks with wheel chairs, that were unable to transfer. If you can walk, even with the walker, you should be able to get on it alright.
The desire to get to your trains gives you a good reason to keep up the theropy. Keep up the progress.
Best of luck,
Richard
I went through 'whole knee replacement' as well a few years ago(summer of 2007). It was about 3 weeks of just hanging around the bedroom, and making 'trips' to the bathroom or kitchen. Another 3 weeks of 'therapy' to get flexing back in my knee(almost have full range of motion). Work on the exercising/therapy - it pays dividends. I still have some issues getting down on one knee, but construction knee pads resolved that issue. the layout basically languished for about 6-8 months. Today, i am doing yard work and other shop type activities. The only thing holding me back is the realization that I am almost 62 and I do run out of energy faster!
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
My wife had a new knee 10 monthes ago. She is a gardener. She was in a whell chair for a while and I pushed her arround the garden. Lots of rehab, LOTS OF REHAB and in 4 months she was walking in the AZ mountains like when she was 65. Now she is in the garden and up and down stairs. It took some time and LOTS OF REHAB.
Did I make my point?
Some time ago, I tore my rotator cuff skiing. A few years later, my wife tore her ACL, also skiing. Here are two more votes for getting the surgery and doing the physical therapy. We're both back on the slopes. When I came back to my accustomed position in the hockey net 6 months after the operation, one of the surgeons came out that night to "test his work." He couldn't beat me over that shoulder.
My father-in-law had a hip replaced at 85. He did it so he could get back on the tennis court, and he returned to action a few months later.
Believe in yourself.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
ARTHILL Did I make my point?
In case you didn't: Two friends with knee surgery. One did the REHAB. One "did" the rehab. Guess which one eventually had a spring-in-his-step. And which one still doesn't.
REHAB.
Ed
Haven't had any surgery or accidents that needed rehab myself, but I do have some arthritis that has settled in my knee, so I can understand to some degree your pain. For me it is exercise (controlled and in moderation) which keeps me going.
Bob
Bob: I hear you on the problems with stairs. I can get up them with a little difficulty but getting back down can be tricky. I have to take each step very carefully and give it my full undivided attention. It also causes me a lot of pain going up or coming down. That alone caused me to stop using the Leesville Post Office for mailing out packages. They have no handicap access whatsoever, not even proper parking. Instead I go to the Post Office in New Llano wherte there are no steps to contend with and they have proper handicap parking. Here at home there are only two steps to contend with, those outside my door.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
HHPATH56I had my right knee replaced and am still walking with a walker. I cannot go upstairs to my garage loft model railroad. Today, they are going to install a "chair lift". Have any of you guys used a chair lift? I still won't be able to get down on my knees, but with a crawler, I will manage. Bob Hahn
I believe the OP was asking a question.
My MIL had a stroke and they have had 2 chair lifts installed in their multi-level house. You will get used to it, but at first it can be a bit awkward I guess. Especially at the top of the stairs sitting on the seat don't look down the steps it may make you off balance apparently.
I have a bad back and use a cane, but right now we live in a trailer and are looking for a one-level house. If we get to a point where we can't use stairs to a basement or attic for MMRing, we will either give up on MRRing or build a small table layout in the LR like the under-ther xmas-tree-layout we now have.
Good luck with your chair lift! and hope it keeps you in the MRRing game longer!
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
My youngest son has Muscular Dystrophy so we had one installed on our stairs so that he could have the option of using it when his leg muscles were sore or tired. He can still use the stairs at times when he is in good shape but for when he needs it we are so glad we had it done.
You will get used to it, hopefully rather quickly, the seat swivels at the top so you face away from the stairs on ours.
If you cannot fix it with a hammer;
You have an electrical problem!
A knee also and ditto on the REHAB
Happy Railroading
Don't Ever Give Up
Coquihala and Rock Creek You will get used to it, hopefully rather quickly, the seat swivels at the top so you face away from the stairs on ours.
THAT would have been a nifty feature but alas, not all are equal.
Yet another voice in the chorus of keeping up with the rehab. It makes all the difference in the world.
And if you're going to be going in for this type of surgery, be sure to do all the pre-surgery therapy and exercises as well. Basically, the more you use it (but not abuse it), the better it'll work. Just like your layout.
Just a thought for those who are thinking about surgery for knee replacements. Check out this web site. I found this group nine years ago. They did my right knee and I was walking that afternoon. Played golf four weeks later and the knee looks now just the same as after the surgery. Just had a MAKO plasty done on my left medial joint and 7 days later with no pain pills and walking the dog several blocks with no pain or muscle problems. REHAB is important!!! Do the exercises they give you daily.
Good luck to anyone who has to have this operation. Not as bad as it was.
The website:
http://www.napavalleyjointcare.org/
Dick Foster
Sonoma CA
Gate 5
Here's another vote for rehab -- actually doing it and sticking with it, even when it hurts.
My mother-in-law had surgery on her lower back because she could barely walk. Now, a year later, she can barely walk. So I asked her what exercises they gave her, and she said, "None. This surgery was supposed to fix everything." Thinking I was gonna score big on a malpractice lawsuit, I called her doctor. He faxed me a copy of the agreement that she signed, which included 5 pages of instructions for stretching and rotating exercises to restore the range of motion in her spine.
Modern medicine is great, but there's no substitute for hard work.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
Although I have never had a major operation that required rehab, I have seen what happens when it is completed diligently and successfully.
My neighbor hurt her back a couple years ago. She needed surgery and rehab afterwards. The operation was successful, but she still needed rehab. She got most of it at the rehab center, but she had to complete some of it at home. The problem was that her husband wasn't able to help her so I stepped in helped her a couple of hours each day. At first, it involved her walking with a walker from one of the house to the other (about 75 feet). Then it required her to walk the length of the house and to the mailbox (about 200 feet). A few weeks after that, she needed to walk around the block. She did this all with a walker and me helping her. After about six weeks she was walking with a cane and eventually unassisted. She had another back surgery last spring, but is much better and does a different rehab where she only requires rehab at a rehab center.
My dad needed some sort of "unofficial rehab" last summer. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer and decided to have his prostate removed. The surgery was rough because he almost didn't pull through, but he survived. He had trouble controlling his bladder, but eventually got better. He is now cancer free. So men, get your PSA test.
To the OP, I have never used a stair chair, but I have had experience with them in certain buildings. My church has one. It is located in a narrow staircase. The problem I have with it is that it is in the way when people are trying to carry large objects up and down the stairs.
Will
I suffer from weak leg muscles because of a reaction some years back to ZOCOR®; when I get down I find it very difficult to get back up without some sort of arm support.
I'm rootin' for ya' Podna!
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
R. T. POTEET I suffer from weak leg muscles because of a reaction some years back to ZOCOR®; when I get down I find it very difficult to get back up without some sort of arm support. I'm rootin' for ya' Podna!
R T
As we speak the Dr took me off of simvistatin due to muscel cramps. At times my hamstrings are so sore that I can't sit on them. He wants to try this for two weeks and if it doesn't work he says I am a candidate for ploymialgia rhuemartica.
After a week I have noticed an improvement bur tthe jury is still out. The good news is that the treatment for ploymialgia rhuemartica (prednizone) works in a few days so if you don't have that you know either way right a way.
Good luck and happy railroading
Coquihala and Rock Creek My youngest son has Muscular Dystrophy
My youngest son has Muscular Dystrophy
Dan
My dad had M.D. I think that is why we did MRR together. He couldn't do all the sports stuff with me so that is how we spent time together. That and fishing. I made up for it later in life pursuing many rather extreme pastimes. That is why I am worn out at 54. Too many broken bones. The time we spent working on the railroad are cherished memories that I wouldn't change for anything.
My son is an Achondroplastic dwarf. A tenacious little guy. Into the health care system for seven figures by now I'm sure. He had his third spinal laminectomy and insisted the doctors give him a pass out of the hospital so he wouldn't miss the Canucks. He is certain he will own the team when he grows up. He had his own stock portfolio at nine.
Broke out of hospital for the game and back before they missed him. Neck and back brace and all. On the phone to his buds.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
HHPATH5619 replies and counting. I hesitated writing about my stair climbing problems, but I appreciate the numerous responses of your own ailments with your legs. REHAB for the knee works fine, but I also have a right groin nerve pain that dates back many years and is very painful,yet never seems to heal. Oh well, Prostate cancer would be much worse. Bob Hahn
You weren't off-topic with this post; the ability to access our layout is an intricate part of model railroading and there are those who have had to face physical limitations and can give us all some insight in how we might solve them. I don't know how old you are -- I'm 71 three weeks into my 72nd year -- but I am becoming conscious of physical limitations associated with age. I could never survive a house with a basement -- unless it happened to be a walk-in design -- or even a second story because I have a real problem with staircases. I have to recognize that I am, essentially, become a ground level modeler...