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My grandmother is 89 years old next week. She has no cartilage left in her shoulders and has received cortizone shots (I believe?) every three or four months for more than 1 1/2 years. Now the cartilage in one of her knees is gone. Knee replacement is easier than shoulder replacement (which they did not recommend at all), but knee replacement surgery is still iffy because of her age and health. Overall, her health is very good, but declining due to her body just slowly giving out. Her appetite is down and she has lost some weight, but she is aware of that and is working on eating enough including drinking Ensure. (are there other drinks you would recommend over Ensure?)
She will be selling her house of 60+ years soon and making a decision on where to move into. (retirement condos, assisted living, etc.) so I am praying that once the move is over she'll no longer be worrying about these things and will be able to move forward and heal more. It may, realistically, be a matter of being as comfortable as possible and living with progressive pain. She was still gardening until recently this summer, but she also realized that this was her last year to be able to do so.
Any experiences, thoughts, links, articles would be helpful. I found reference to a synthetic cartilage, not available yet in the US and I couldn't find info on how well it worked (or if it was even used much) in Europe or Canada. I'm very interested in finding more information about surgery in the eldery and the risks. All the surgeries she's every had (hip replacements, pacemaker, etc) she's always bounced back from very well. Her body isn't as strong now and possibly not her spirit either (mostly due to the constant pain). I'd just like to be more informed about all this.
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I found this on knee surgery: http://www.bonutticlinic.com/MinTKA.htm
Very informative and I'm going to write to their office for more information. It helps me to understand why surgery is possibly not recommended with her age and current strength. I realize that sometimes the decline starts and there is nothing to do except accept, love and treasure the moments. I just don't want to assume that is the case if there is possible medical help. She is a very sharp lady and has always been very active.
~ Linda
She will be selling her house of 60+ years soon and making a decision on where to move into. (retirement condos, assisted living, etc.) so I am praying that once the move is over she'll no longer be worrying about these things and will be able to move forward and heal more. It may, realistically, be a matter of being as comfortable as possible and living with progressive pain. She was still gardening until recently this summer, but she also realized that this was her last year to be able to do so.
Any experiences, thoughts, links, articles would be helpful. I found reference to a synthetic cartilage, not available yet in the US and I couldn't find info on how well it worked (or if it was even used much) in Europe or Canada. I'm very interested in finding more information about surgery in the eldery and the risks. All the surgeries she's every had (hip replacements, pacemaker, etc) she's always bounced back from very well. Her body isn't as strong now and possibly not her spirit either (mostly due to the constant pain). I'd just like to be more informed about all this.
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I found this on knee surgery: http://www.bonutticlinic.com/MinTKA.htm
Very informative and I'm going to write to their office for more information. It helps me to understand why surgery is possibly not recommended with her age and current strength. I realize that sometimes the decline starts and there is nothing to do except accept, love and treasure the moments. I just don't want to assume that is the case if there is possible medical help. She is a very sharp lady and has always been very active.
~ Linda
have had knee replacement surgery and done extremely well. No problems with recovery and they feel fantastic.
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