The Come Alive Project

Tag: fitness

  • Energy Bite 364 – Joint Replacement Recovery Made Easy

    How 2 Days a Week in a Fitness Class
     made Recovery from Knee Replacement
    Surgery a Snap

    My wife had knee replacement surgery two weeks ago. After a day or two of feeling miserable, she is recovering like a 14 year old. She feels good, is on her feet, has nearly tossed out her walker and is almost off her cane. She is climbing stairs, and also doing the hard part, coming back down.

    Her post operative Physical Therapist said that she is in better condition than when she had her other knee replaced seven years ago. When my wife mentioned that she is going to a fitness class at her gym two times a week, the Therapist said “that’s why”. When your body is fit, you are generally able to recover from any surgery much faster. While there are exceptions, mostly depending on how extensive the surgery, you will recover much more quickly from a normal surgical condition when you are fit.

    That said, it will still be a while before she is able to return to her fitness classes.

    The point is that when you are in good physical condition, you are likely to recover from the trauma of surgery much more comfortably than if you are out of condition. Good physical condition implies good bodily function both internally and externally for the most part, and can be a predictor of a more rapid recovery.

    In 2014, I had open heart surgery to replace a defective aortic valve with a cow part. I had to spend extra days in the hospital because the surgeon, or one of the members of his team, managed to accidentally puncture one of my lungs during the process. I was in pretty good physical condition going in to the surgery. After 9 days in the hospital, because of the punctured lung, my arm and leg muscles had atrophied down to the size of my wrists. I left the hospital weak and unstable.

    But recovery came fast. I was walking around the neighborhood soon after I got home (with the blessing and encouragement of a Physical Therapist), as well as using resistance bands and light weights to rebuild and strengthen my deteriorated muscles.

    My recovery was quick and easy. By the time I was able to get into the hospital’s Heart Rehabilitation Program, I was already well ahead of where most patients are when they come into that program. Why? Because I was already doing most of the exercises they were doing at the rehabilitation facility and because I had been in good physical condition going in.

    As you get older, body parts, particularly knee and hip joints, become damaged, worn out, or arthritic. In many cases, they need to be replaced. The better physical condition you are in when you go in for the surgery, the better your recovery will normally be.

    Too many times I have seen others, including close family members who don’t exercise, have long term challenges after a hip or knee replacement. That makes a pretty strong case for having some sort of simple, basic and ongoing exercise program.

    Is it true always? Not necessarily, but it is in most cases. So advanced warning: Get fit now. Stay fit. And you are far more likely to recover quickly from body part replacement surgery, without the long term disability that often comes with it.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy bite 305 – Random Thoughts

    Seniors today are aging better and are more vibrant and aware than Seniors of previous generations. Thanks to modern medicine, you are living longer and better lives than before. Many of you have stayed active longer and are in better physical condition than those seniors of earlier generations. 60 is the new 50. Some say 70 is the new 50. And some feel and act like they are 80 when they are only turning 50.

    I know there are a lot of Seniors like you, who want to focus their lives in a healthy direction and get away from the stagnation and boredom that often pops up after the initial excitement of retirement. You are entering a new stage in life where health, fitness and personal energy becomes a priority. You begin to recognize that health and fitness leads to a better and longer senior life.

    As Seniors, you and I face a lot of challenges — some real and some perceived as real. These challenges include lack of mobility, weakening bodies, increased incidents of illness, falling, increasing isolation, boredom and depression, all leading to that lack of independent living that we fear most of all.

    Of course, you can prevent the premature aging that saps the energy from our lives. I’ve been promoting physical movement (exercise), intelligent eating, deep breathing and a Positive Attitude toward life, in the 304 previous “Energy Bite” blog articles over the last decade.

    When I started the Come Alive Project nearly a decade ago, I intended it to be an awareness campaign for active Seniors about how to discover the Fountain of Youth within each of us through Health, Fitness and Personal Energy. I continue to do talks and workshops on the subject and intend to continue both the blog and the workshops for as long as I am physically able. Heck, it’s fun! Plus, I have enjoyed the many positive comments I have received over the years.

    Oh, and by the way, I practice what I preach. That’s why at age 79, coming up on 80 in five months, I feel like “80 going on 45”. I feel better now than at almost any time in my adult life because of the change in lifestyle I made ten years ago. I added physical movement, intelligent eating and better habits back into my life. I am still following the message that I created The Come Alive Project to spread.

    I hope you are doing the same. Thank you for reading. 

  • Energy Bite 22, Blog Post No. 1

    This is a new blog.  It replaces the old Energy Bites™ publication that I published, usually twice a month, as a .pdf attachment to an ever growing group of subscribers.  I decided to change the format to a blog for several reasons. (more…)