Woman Returns to Farm Work After Hip and Knee Replacement

I have two daughters and a wonderful husband, four grandchildren, two boys and two girls, and we live out in the country. We are raising miniature beef for our personal needs, and we always plant a big garden and do lots of canning.

I have been dealing with a lot of pain, progressively getting worse. My hip was getting difficult to walk. My husband would have to help me up and down off the tractor. I’d either have to have a bucket or steps or something to progressively get up on the tractor. So my ability to help with baling hay and the gardening was all very limited. I had to have help in order to help. Dr. Radulescu comes here to visit from Mason City, so I was able to consult with him here, and he agreed that it was definitely my hip. He gave me options and I was also having pain with my knees, but we addressed everything together. And he suggested that I might try injections to see if that would help first rather than jumping right into surgery.

Those injections only lasted maybe two days, and he says, “Well, that goes to show that the injections are not the solution and you’re justified in wanting surgery.” And so I says, “When can you do it?” So we did the hip first and that went really well, recovered well, and so then we opted to do the left knee. And recovery is going very smooth. I’m down to Tylenol at bedtime and only walking with a cane when I’m outside, just for safety sake. And we’re going to go ahead and do the right knee. So by summer, when hay making season starts and gardening starts, I’ll be able to function and contribute to the family and play with the grandkids again. Dr. Rad, he was very compassionate. I just felt like he had real interest in making me feel better.