The Joint Adventure: Hips, Knees, and Everything Nobody Told You

So Jan's basically building a new body one joint at a time, and we figured it was time to talk about it.

As of recording, Jan is eight weeks out from her fourth joint replacement, a knee this time, and we got into all of it. The parts they don't put in the brochure. The stuff your surgeon forgets to mention. The real experience of living in a body that needs a little extra hardware to keep going.

If you have a joint replacement in your future, or your mom does, or you're just trying to figure out how to stay mobile as you age, this one is genuinely useful. We promise.

Here's what we covered:

• How to know when it's actually time for a joint replacement and what the road there typically looks like
• Why the surgeon you choose matters more than you think, and what Jan learned the hard way from her first hip
• How robotic surgery has changed everything, making procedures more precise and often fully outpatient
• Scar tissue, fascia, and why rehab is non-negotiable for some bodies more than others
• Why strength training before surgery is one of the best things you can do for your recovery
• What those first days home actually look like and why having someone there is not optional
• How to protect the joints you've already had replaced so they actually last

If you've been through a joint replacement yourself, or you're heading into one, you already know this conversation was a long time coming. And if you haven't, consider this your heads up that your future self will thank you for listening now.

Find resources mentioned in this episode here.

Learn more about this podcast here.

Submit your 90-second lesson/experience here.

Apply to be a guest here.

Stay updated on new episodes here.

*Information shared on this podcast is not medical advice. If you have a concern about your physical or mental health, please seek support from a proessional.

Transcript

Jan:
Welcome to Things My Mother Forgot to

Patti:
Mention, the podcast where we say everything our mothers didn't.

Jan:
I'm Jan, a trauma therapist and author turned rogue storyteller, here to talk openly about the body, aging, and all the. Wait, what? Moments of womanhood.

Patti:
And I'm Patty, an online business and tech nerd whose purpose is to elevate the voices of women in our world and who doesn't believe in taboo topics. Things My Mother Forgot to Mention is the podcast for every woman who's ever said, wait, why didn't anyone mention this to me?

Jan:
Join Jan and Patty, two outspoken, curious, outrageous women, as they dive headfirst into a messy, magical, and often wtf? Realities of aging, health, and quite simply, being a woman.

Patti:
From rogue chin hairs and vaginal thinning

Jan:
to mental health, perimenopause, and scalp cancer.

Patti:
Yes, really, nothing is off limits. It's funny, it's raw, it's real talk. Your mother definitely skipped.

Jan:
Let's get into it.

Patti:
Hello, Dan.

Jan:
Hey there, Patty. It's good to see you.

Patti:
It's good to see you.

Jan:
Oh, boy.

Patti:
We were just talking about the Zoom updates, and I couldn't find the button,

Jan:
and, you know, we're just always updating and we never know what we're doing. Then it's true. It's always a challenge, isn't it? You know, I'm kind of an old person, and every time I look at a new software package, it's like, what have they done with this button? And where did that go? How does this work? And I'm thinking, I don't have time

Patti:
for this, and I do this for a living, and I still don't have time for it sometimes.

Jan:
So you do it for a living, and you're supposed to know everything.

Patti:
I know, and I get lost in it, too. So there you go. Yeah. Well, how have you been?

Jan:
Well, I'm have been well, actually. I was thinking about how I have been physically well, although I am preparing for eight weeks from now to have my knee replaced, which is so.

Patti:
I think you might have mentioned it to me, but it's very synchronistic because we're talking about joint replacements today.

Jan:
And I'll tell you what I've decided. Last night I was thinking about this episode and I thought, what's the thing I hate the most about joint replacements? Because I've had basically 1, 2, 3. This would be the fourth one I've had is the rehab. The surgery is pretty seamless. The way they're doing things now. They're doing it in one day. You go in outpatient, you don't stay in the hospital and you go home and just the frickin rehab that goes on and on and on. And then when you get quite a few joint replacements, then when one gets, you know, new, newly replaced, then the rest of them all start aching and need attention and it's just, it's this never ending story.

Jan:
Yeah.

Patti:
And when you talk about rehab, so you're talking about like the outpatient, like physical therapy and just strengthening yourself because my mom has had many replacements as well, but because she has so many kind of comorbidities and issues, she actually goes into a rehab facility every single time because she's just not well. Maybe she didn't after her first hip, she might have been out, maybe she stayed overnight for her first hip and then she, I think came home. But all the others, she goes right into a rehab for at least a couple of weeks typically. But most people, yeah, are like, they, as soon as, like you're awake and a little coherent, they're like, let's get up.

Jan:
That's right. Standing.

Patti:
Yeah.

Jan:
They get you walking around the hospital with, on your crutches or you know, with a walker. Yeah, they do. They certainly do.

Patti:
So what, what joints have you had replaced so far?

Jan:
Well, you know, I was just trying to do the math and I think it's about 13 years ago. So I was like 60, maybe 58, and I had my first hip replaced, which was not a great experience. And it was, I remember I didn't know for some people who have never had any joint replacements, how you know your hip needs to be replaced is that you can't walk anymore.

Patti:
I remember walking, I was walking with

Jan:
a cane and the excruciating pain I was having with my hip and I couldn't figure out what it was. And of course my husband would always say to me, well, you know, put some ice on it and maybe it'll go away or take some ibuprofen. But these are kinds of things where I have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis. So it runs in my family. My mother had both of her hips and her back joint fused together. Her sister had two knees, two hips and two shoulders replaced.

Patti:
Oh my. So she was just bionic?

Jan:
She was bionic, yes.

Patti:
Wow.

Jan:
And so the, the rehab. So the surgery itself is, I have to say, in the last, I don't know, maybe four or five years, the surgery has really been more refined. They have machines doing it. These are, these, are these electronic arms or whatever they are that are Doing some of the. The surgical procedures. And so my first hip was not like that. It was done by the doctor.

Patti:
Fully just opened your side and, and open the side.

Jan:
And then in hips, you can either do the front. They cut in. In the front. They also cut in the back through the buttocks, and they also are doing them now in the side so that they don't have to disturb any muscles.

Patti:
Right.

Jan:
But I'm telling you, once you start, for people who have issues with atherosclerosis, but basically it means that when you scar, you have scar tissue, you scar very, very deeply and a lot. It doesn't stop. And so it really makes any joint that you have replaced, like, turn into, like, superglue.

Patti:
Oh, wow.

Jan:
Yes. And. And so it means that you. You keep scarring because of the body. Body being disturbed. So I have a tendency to do that for any surgeries. So for me, doing the PT is just forever. And it really.

Jan:
It really just touches what's going on, because everything's gotten kind of glued down. The fascia has been interrupted. Fascia is what holds the muscles together.

Patti:
Yeah.

Jan:
And the fascia starts to shrink and tighten, even with the scar tissue, and it makes the new joint really immovable.

Patti:
Huh. Wow.

Jan:
Now, not everybody has that, but I special. I'm very special.

Patti:
Of course you do have it.

Jan:
Of course I do.

Patti:
You have, like, all the things. So. So how long were you in pain before your first hip? Like, what kinds of things and treatments did you do before some doctor presumably was like, oh, actually, this is kaput. And for lack of a better term, and needs to be replaced?

Jan:
Yes, they do. And they do this for knees, they do this for hips. And I've had both of them done is use. And even actually in my back when I had my back fused together because of a joint actually got misplaced. Basically they give you steroids. They go in with these under these tables and this arthroscopic kind of X ray thing, and they put in steroids to cortisone and they tried shots to help the joint loosen up and to alleviate the pain. I had that done with both hips, my back and my knee currently.

Patti:
Yeah. My mom has had many a steroid shot. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jan:
And then they stop working. And then. And then you're kind of sol. And so then you're like, okay, what's next?

Patti:
And.

Jan:
And the next is. And they always say this, the doctors, your quality of life. How is your quality of life? And you want to say, it stinks, man. What am I going to say? Michael, in my life, I can't bend over. Is that a problem? That's what I thought was so funny. When it came to my back, I had spondylolisthesis, which is a slipped disc that slipped out of its alignment. And I couldn't bend over because then I get stuck. And it'd be excruciatingly painful.

Jan:
And it's kind of like. So I never realized how many times I bend over. Leaning over into the washing machine, leaning over for something that. Leaning over to get something out of a drawer. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I can't do. Go keep doing this. So it's really a quality of life issue.

Patti:
Yeah.

Jan:
When I had. And really, it's only happened. And I know I've said my age before, so I'm saying it again again. I'll be 73 in April. And ever since I turned 70. 70 is not the new 60. I gotta tell you. 70 is freaking 70.

Patti:
You feel the age at 70.

Jan:
Oh, my gosh, everything aches. My husband, finally, he's the same age as I am, and he's finally catching up to, wow. When I get out of bed, I'm really stiff and I'm getting old. I'm like, finally you're noticing that. Like, you gotta be kidding me. Anyway. Yeah. And.

Jan:
And so it was at 70, and then at 70, I ended up getting my right hip replaced. And then somehow. Oh, this is an interesting story. So when I had my first hip replaced, my leg length changed and my. One of my. My left leg had told me about this.

Patti:
I wanted you to bring this up.

Jan:
Yeah, my left leg was about a quarter to a half an inch and longer than my right leg. And you know what that does to your whole. That's probably why my back did what it did.

Patti:
Yeah, I mean, your whole body compensates for that.

Jan:
Your whole. And so that's the thing about people getting joint replacements. They got to make sure it's a good surgeon that's going to listen to them and listen to everything they're saying. This first guy was not like that. He was just, you know, doing his job. And so I had to live for almost 11 or 12 months, maybe 13 years with a leg length and putting lifts in my shoes. And then, of course, when you're wearing sandals, it's really hard. And.

Jan:
And my back, I think that's where my back learned to kind of. To, you know, really bend in ways that shouldn't be bending because of the fact that my leg length was off. And then, of course, since my Left leg was the one that I always would hit first, and it was the longest. It started my knee to start hurting, and my knee now has no cartilage in it. And so it's just kind of, you know, pissed me off that he was so bad. And really, I think in retrospect, I probably should have done something about it, like sue him, but I didn't. I just live without thinking, this is how it is, right? And so then what happened is I went for 13 years that way, and my back compensated for it, and. And then my right hip needed to be replaced.

Jan:
And I had this great surgeon who came in right before the surgery, and he said, how you doing? Blah, blah, blah. And he. And I said to him, you know, did I ever tell you that my leg length is off with my left leg to my right leg, like about a quarter to a half inch? He goes, no, you never told me that. And he said, let me see. And he looks and he goes, okay, you know, I'll fix that. I'm like, really? He goes, yeah, glad you told me. And sure enough, they're equal now because he fixed it. Don't ask.

Jan:
Of course, this is the surgeon's secret, right? Somehow they position the hip when they're putting it in there. And with robotics, it turned out that they're both the same length now. So that's great.

Patti:
So what was that like then? Like what? Like, basically, you've spent your whole life with two equal length legs, and then all of a sudden you were like, oh, I'm mildly lopsided. And you had to exist like that for 13 years, and then suddenly you're back to normal. Did you feel additional pain at that point? Because now I would think that then all your body, which had now over 13 years, gotten accustomed to compensating. Now it's like, what the heck? And it now has to sort of deal with, okay, now we're back to normal, but then it has to shift. I would imagine that's the whole thing

Jan:
is that's where I think that when I got my back, went out as the spondylolisthesis, which is basically, if you look at an X ray, the curve in your spine. One of the vertebrae is L4, and L5 was. Poke was out about a quarter of an inch. And I couldn't bend over. And when I did, it would be excruciating. And it just. It was slowly happening after my hip surgery. And then sure enough, about a year and a half later, I.

Jan:
That's when it really hit me. And I Couldn't lean over anymore.

Patti:
After the second hip surgery.

Jan:
Yeah, after the second.

Patti:
I see. I see.

Jan:
I don't know if it caused it or if it was just random because it was going to happen. I really don't know. I mean, I was. I was a dancer, and I really abused my body when I was younger. I mean, I just kind of beat it up. So. So then there's the back. And then because.

Jan:
Because of all these new parts in me. Like I said, my knee has always been bad, but it's gotten worse. In fact, I should have done my knee five years ago, but I was like, the quality of life wasn't that bad. And now it is. I have to wear a brace anytime I do long walking. You know, it's. It's constantly. It's constantly hurting, and there's no cartilage, you know, so when you look at a knee I had.

Jan:
I did have, let's see, laparoscopy done, where they go in and they cut like, I had a torn meniscus. I had both knees when I was in my 30s, and those were fixed, but I. You know, there's no cartilage in the left. My left knee at all now.

Patti:
So. So two hips, a spinal fusion, and then you're going for a knee.

Jan:
Yeah, I'm going for.

Patti:
And how is your other knee holding up right now?

Jan:
Not very good. I would imagine it. Depending on it. That. And that's the thing that just got me really bummed as I thought it, you know, if I want to stay active, and that's my thing is I like to stay active. Yeah, that's so important to me. I like to walk. I like to dance.

Jan:
I like to do cardio work. I like to do yoga. And it's kind of hard to do it when, you know, you're. It kind of keeps wearing my body out. So I would imagine it may happen to my other knee. But I tell you, it's the rehab that it takes forever. Like I said, because of my scarring and the fascia tightening up. Every time I go into pt, the PT people say, you know, wow, you're really tight.

Jan:
And where, you know, your scar tissue is, just really doesn't want to bend. I'm like, yeah, I know. And so I'm a little nervous about going in eight weeks, but I. I don't have any choice, really.

Patti:
Yeah. Yeah. So talk a little more about rehab and what that is like. So you. How often do you go to pt, Typically when you have. Is it like three times a week or what does that like in the. Yeah.

Jan:
When I had my hips done, my. My first hip that was pro, maybe could have been my problem because I didn't go. I think I went maybe a couple times. And then I thought, oh, I know how to do this. And actually, hips, believe it or not, are pretty easy compared to knees. Hips. Yeah.

Patti:
Knees are supposed to be the worst.

Jan:
Thank you.

Patti:
You're welcome. I'm sorry. Actually, the shoulders might be worse, but that's what here is. Although I will say my mom has had both a hip, a knee, and a spinal fusion. And the knee we were expecting, especially with all of her challenges, we were expecting the knee to be pretty bad, and it really wasn't. So if that is any consolation. Yeah.

Jan:
Oh, well, I'm really hoping. I mean, so PT looks like. So when. And my right hip, they take you through a bunch of exercises. You go maybe twice a week after about. With hips, I think it was after about three or four weeks. But knees, from what I understand is you go right away because they're trying to get the. Your knee to bend again.

Jan:
And so in my back. My back surgeon really wanted me to do aquatics PT first. So I was in a pool, and we were just doing really gentle things for probably three or four weeks, twice a week. And then I did PT in the office, and that was like twice a week for six weeks. So. So that's. That's kind of what it is. And I would imagine knees actually may be a little more, depending on whether it bends or not.

Patti:
Yeah.

Jan:
Now, a good friend of mine had her knee replaced. The same one about. It'll be a year in July. And, oh, she was on our show, Kathy. Kathy Sachs, who was talking about menopause and her. She has the same thing as the arthrosclerosis. I can't even say that she has the same thing. And her knee stopped bending, and they had to go put her under again and break up all the scar tissue after the surgery.

Patti:
So she had the surgery.

Jan:
Correct. Correct. And now her knee is bending a whole lot more, and she's happy with it. And I'm thinking, oh, brother. So, you know, I don't know. I call me the person with the glass half empty, but I just have. So far, my history has not been great for coming out of surgeries with everything bending and back to normal. So.

Jan:
But, I mean, most people who don't have those issues, they do pretty darn well. And surgery and with, you know, all these robotic arms and everything is really advanced so much. It's pretty remarkable. I mean, we're turning into a society. Just like, you know, a car. To me, it's like going to a body shop. You go in, you have a joint replaced. You know, it's like, you know, new tires or new, you know, axle or something.

Jan:
I don't know, but it's pretty amazing.

Patti:
Yeah, it's true. I was in some class. I was watching for a client or something, and one of the people in the class, it was like an ongoing repeated class, and she had a spinal fusion. And she was young and active or, you know. No, I guess she was older, but she was active is my point. And so. And she would walk miles and miles and miles every day and everything. And her, like, she was out for a short period that we didn't see her, and then she was there and she was like, oh, yeah, I walked a mile today.

Patti:
Like, she was, like, really fast after the spinal fusion, she was up and moving. And so I think that my. I. I don't know her actual age, but I think she was probably in her 60s or 70s.

Jan:
Oh, really?

Patti:
Yeah. And so she was definitely active already, clearly. And so it really, I think, makes a difference. And that's what. I mean, what I was hearing too, like, as we've been through various doctors and consultations, that everything you have to do when you go to these points, because it's true, it gets to a point where you're in excruciating pain by the time you're getting the actual surgery done, because you've done all of the cortisone shots and they just don't work anymore. And it's like, okay, well, now we have to. You have to wait, like, I think, three months or something before you can get the next shot. That's right.

Patti:
Yeah. And so, yeah, my mom has done that stuff, and she has arthritis in both of her shoulders, but she's like. But she's no longer. She's. Her bones are not strong enough.

Jan:
Yes, yes, that's a problem.

Patti:
So she actually can't get a shoulder replacement. So she's just gotta kind of live.

Jan:
Live with it, right?

Patti:
Yeah, yeah.

Jan:
I have osteopenia. And the doctor, when he was using my back, said he was a little worried about it all, kind of. Because what they do is they put a spacer in there and then they put in bone marrow in there. Don't ask me who it was, but they put it in there. I was just like, okay, just don't tell me who that is or what it is. Anyway, so they put it in there. And the bone marrow then, you know, heals and attaches to the existing bone structure. And he was a little worried because I have osteopenia.

Jan:
But he said it really did well, so. But if people have osteoarthritis, it's. And they have. What's it? Osteopenia. And then the other ones. What is the last osteoporosis? Yes, I do not have that. But that's like when things. Maybe that's what your mom has now.

Patti:
You might. Yeah. There she has lots of things. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting, the whole process to get to that point. And I remember both of her. For her.

Patti:
Her back fusion and her hip. By the time we were getting her in for surgery, the pain, like she could barely function. It was so excruciating.

Jan:
It can. That's the thing about hips. It can get so bad and it. Usually there's a wait list trying to get into psych. Any kind of an orthopedic surgeon, you'll be lucky if you. Sometimes you can take. So if someone cancels, you can get in. But it usually is a two or three month wait.

Patti:
Right.

Jan:
How it is in part of the rest of the country.

Patti:
Yeah.

Jan:
Even on knees. Like knees. I could take my knee longer because I wear this brace on it. But I did. I did cortisone shots. I did another thing. I can't remember what it's called. It's some kind of like gel that they put in your knee.

Jan:
And it's supposed to.

Patti:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She tried that too for something. Yeah, right.

Jan:
And it's expensive and your insurance company won't give it to you until you've drive cortisone. There's this whole kind of regiment that they make you go through before you get to it. And the last thing I did is the prp, which is platelets. You know, where they spin them and they put them back. Didn't do a thing.

Patti:
Huh. Interesting.

Jan:
I've done everything you that there is. I was kind of hoping that if I waited long enough, I might get into. They're growing, you know, they're growing all kinds of cartilage. And I thought maybe if they grow, they learn how to replace it and they can inject me, it'll grow and I won't have to worry about not having cartilage. But anyway.

Patti:
Amazing. I guess we're not there yet, huh?

Jan:
I don't think we're there there yet.

Patti:
Yeah.

Jan:
Wow.

Patti:
Yeah. It's such a process. And like I said, I think if you stay active and, and I think what I've learned too is the big. The success of these is to go as like, be as active as possible as you're allowed to be right away. And that was one of the big concerns is that my mom struggled with being active a bit and her. Her spine surgeon even talked about it. He was like, my concern is that you're not going to get up and walk and do things and you'll end up. And he.

Patti:
His, his. I don't think his comedy was welcomed at that moment. But he said you'll end up like a turtle.

Jan:
Oh my gosh.

Patti:
Yeah. Like you'll just not be able to move and

Jan:
you know, and bedside manner maybe needs some improvement.

Patti:
Yeah. And. And I will say for her, actually, we weren't thrilled with him in the end because she seems to have gotten some nerve damage and everything from the spinal surgery. So she has issues with her. She's had issues with her feet since then. And like she ended up with something called drop foot afterwards. That can happen sometimes. So she's had that.

Patti:
She ended up having to have a spinal fusion or an ankle fusion for that. She said all sorts of. Yeah, she's had pins.

Jan:
Is being in shape before the surgery.

Patti:
Correct.

Jan:
So my. I have a coach, a physical ed. She's my stretch coach and building muscles. And so she's actually, I have her at 3:15 today.

Patti:
Great.

Jan:
I'm. I have my. It's over zoom. And we're strengthening the muscles in my left leg so that the surgery goes better and I can rehab better. So that's amazing. But that's what I highly would recommend. So many people have had their knee replaced and make sure not just being active, but that you go get maybe even talk to a PT or someone that knows how to strengthen the muscles in your knee before the surgery because that'll help in the end.

Patti:
Well, and in general. So the two things. Right. So one is, and we've talked about this before is like weight can be issue. Can be an issue if you're getting joint replaced because they will tend to not want. Especially like hips and knees, they'll tend to not want to do that unless you've tried to lose weight because it's just the life of the joints aren't as great because they're likely to go out faster. So that's just sort of the reality of it. The other thing is that strength training throughout your life will also help with rehab and things like that.

Patti:
So if you're on a regular basis, not only that, but like your General health of, like, getting up off the floor when you're older and things like that. You know, like, I work out with a trainer and do strength training. And so even though I'm in a big body, I'm. I'm strong and I can get off the floor. And like, as I get older, while I deal with the weight and stuff, but I'm still. I lift kettlebells in my apartment, you know, like. And so doing that sort of work is also really important because if you have these types of surgeries, you will have the muscles built around the joints that will actually support your joints and support you as you rehab to heal from these things and also ideally help so maybe they don't get as bad in the first place. Although I'm not a doctor, so I can't speak to that.

Patti:
But I do know that afterwards, if you've done strength training for a long period and you've, you know, are active and lifting weights and doing that sort of thing, and not to get all big and bulky, but, like, just to make sure you're lifting weights on a regular basis and working with a trainer that is focused on that longevity and it really makes a huge difference in, like, such small things. I've been working with my trainer for several years now, and just like, so quickly when I started working with her, the things I would notice just about how I lifted things. And you just learn how to use your body in a very different way. And it's. It's really fascinating. Yeah, right.

Jan:
Yeah. Well, so that, you know, for anyone listening, the key is finding a good surgeon. Be preventative when it comes to hips and make sure that you can talk to him. Because I had my first surgeon was not a very good. His bedside manner was horrible. The second, the other ones I chose because I. I heard that their bedside manner and how they manage clients actually talk to you.

Patti:
Right. And then.

Jan:
And then find a good place that's close for PT is to do pt. Because at first, when I. The first hip I had done, I thought, I don't need pt, I'm in great shape. I don't need to do this. But I probably should have done it. And the second, then I did it. Of course, as I got older, I thought, yeah, I definitely want to go and I want to be able to move. But then strength training before, like you said, and getting in shape and let's see.

Jan:
I think if there's any other tips for success I would give anyone about joint replacement is, you know, it's interesting and it's Just kind of matter of fact now, you know, people just kind of go in and have it done. You know, you go in one day and the next day, that evening you come home. And so you really need somebody around your house. So that would be the other thing is you have to have someone around for the first, let's say week, two weeks. Sometimes they have P.T. people come to your house when you're first out of surgery just to make sure everything's okay. And I don't know if they're a nurse or if they're a PT person. No, they're.

Jan:
I think they're a pt.

Patti:
They are both. They have nurses. The. In home health will come depending on what your needs are. And they will. The nurse will check on you and your wounds and things as needed. And there's PT that comes in. Yeah, yeah.

Jan:
Because you, you definitely need someone to help you. I mean, I. It's the loneliest thing when, when you're lying in bed and you're in like a lot of pain afterwards, you're just like, this is totally miserable. I don't want to move. But you're supposed to move. Right?

Patti:
Right.

Jan:
So anyway, so that, that's the other thing I would say. I don't know, how about you for your mom? What have you learned?

Patti:
Yeah, I mean, everything that you said, like we said, getting up and moving right away. I will say one of the things from all of her surgeries and things, those grabbers, those like hand held long grabbers, Lifesavers when you're laying in bed and if there's nobody there. But yeah, I've had to help her. Like, I think maybe it was like blood thin, I don't know. I was giving her shots in her stomach at some point after the hip replacement. So like there's things that it's nice to have somebody there to help with and I would go for walks with her to make sure she walked and you know, and because she was a little unsteady and so I would walk with her so that, you know. But yeah, and usually with PT it's more than just going and doing PT there. You're supposed to do a PT exercise at home as well.

Patti:
Every day.

Jan:
New habits, right?

Patti:
Yeah. So doing your homework for your PT also is really important to help with that.

Jan:
Yeah, for sure. That's. That is for sure. And you know, really it's a lifetime practice because, you know, the joints as you get older. Right. One the doctor said to me said, you know, whatever you do, don't play tennis and you know, of course pickleball, which I did about two weeks ago and fell. But I know, see, I'm a horrible person to talk about because once I start feeling better, I'm like, I'm back. I can do anything I want to, you know, I know Patty laughs at that, but I is.

Jan:
It's the practice. Don't pound on your joints. That's the thing I've learned is he said, if you want to keep that for 18, 20 years, 25, he said, don't treat it well, don't pound on it. So I don't run. I'm not a runner anymore. I used to run. I don't play tennis. I used to play tennis.

Jan:
I don't slam my legs and my hips down. I can't because my knees hurt so much. So. So it's really about self care, of course, which of course we talk to people all about as my clients. And it's about a pra. It's a. It's a way of life of taking care of the joints that you've got them. Like sometimes when I'm moving furniture around, I'm thinking, that's right, Jan, you have to watch your back.

Jan:
You know, it's just being aware, conscious.

Patti:
Yeah. And like I said, I mean doing strength training, even if you do basic level, like the goal isn't to try to be able to lift 200 and something pounds, it's to be able to know how to hold your body. Right. And like when you're doing the dishes, even like because you're engaging your core in a way that you're not used to doing. And like, so anything like that and really making sure. And because for me, right. I've talked about this before. Like my joints, I don't know what my future is going to look like with that.

Patti:
Not just because of the weight on my joints, but because my joints have always been weird. Like I've always. Because I have knock knees. And your mother too, if she's had

Jan:
joint placement and stuff, usually it kind of runs in.

Patti:
Thanks, Dan. I know. It's true.

Jan:
You're a youngster. I mean, I didn't start thinking about it until I was in my 50s, so.

Patti:
Well, I'm 45, so.

Jan:
Whoa, patties. Start thinking now.

Patti:
Yeah, and that's my point though, is that that's one of the things I went to an orthopedic doctor at one point for my joints to kind of figure out because it took a long time for them to get to a point to tell me what was going on with My joints because they. I've had pain with them my whole life. And he was finally like, oh, well, you're double jointed and you're this and you're this. And so because of that, that's one of the reasons that like I could never run and walking long distances, even before all the weight was hard for me and was painful is because I didn't build all the. The muscle around the joints. And so that was for me to be able to exist without pain. It's. That's why I do the strength training is because it helps to build all of the muscles around the joints that help hold my body up.

Patti:
And so I think I really can't stress that enough is find somebody that will help you with that without being like a. Yeah, let's get swole, you know, like, like, because there are people that get weird about that stuff, but like really there are people that. For just longevity and taking care of your body. And so I think that's a really helpful thing as well. But.

Jan:
And then the pt. I was just thinking what I was saying. I didn't like how long it goes, but it's because you have to take it into your own life and practice afterwards.

Patti:
Yeah.

Jan:
Because everything has been cut into. Everything's new. It's, you know, your body has foreign objects in it.

Patti:
Yeah. All the muscles been cut through. Like all that has to heal and move and. Yeah.

Jan:
Yep. So anyway, it's a process.

Patti:
Yeah. Well, I wish you. I mean, I'll be talking to you, but good luck on your. Your do your PT, Jan,

Jan:
and send me energy on May 21st.

Patti:
May 21st. Oh, that'll be. My mom's birthday is on May 22nd, so that'll be easy. May 21st.

Jan:
My husband's.

Patti:
But I guess he gets to take

Jan:
care of me for. Isn't that great? Happy birthday.

Patti:
There's nowhere he would rather be. I'm quite sure.

Jan:
Sure there is. But anyway. Well, as always, Patty, it's great talking to you.

Patti:
Thank you for sharing all of your joint adventures.

Jan:
No pun intended.

Patti:
No pun intended. And we will be thinking about you then.

Jan:
Okay, thanks. Thank you. Thanks for listening to the podcast. If you like what you've heard, please share it with friends. Subscribe and leave a review.

Patti:
And remember, information shared on this podcast is not medical advice. If you have a concern about your physical or mental health, please seek support from a professional.

Jan:
If you have a story you'd like to share about things your mother forgot to mention, you can apply to be a guest.

Patti:
We'd also love to to hear a quick 90 second thing you've learned in your life.

Jan:
You can find links to both of those over at our website at thingsmymotherforgot

Patti:
to mention.com or in the show Notes.

Jan:
Thank you.