Walking Program Aids Woman in her Surgery and Recovery
By Concordia Connection Staff Writer
She could have taken up meditation; she could have relied on pharmaceuticals.
But Roxy Goudy had her own prescription for how to ease the pain in her arthritic left knee – walk. And not just any ol’ walk in the park.
The 65-year-old personable wife, mom, grandmother to four grandchildren and health-care aide from Balmoral-Selkirk, Man. developed her own walking program that would have left many others faltering at the start line.
She dates her formal health care journey, complete with a rigorous program of walking up to 20,000 steps a day, to the fateful day in January 2023 when a doctor told her that she was pre-diabetic. This unwelcome news, in addition to the fact that she was already on a wait list for a total left knee replacement was enough to galvanize Roxy into action.
She was not ready to be sidelined by health problems if she could do anything about it!
If a journey begins with a single step, Roxy then developed a dedicated walking schedule of up to 20,000-steps-a-day on her own personal journey to better health. And going to her dad’s home to help take care of him in early 2023 provided just the opportunity.
“I started to walk in my father’s basement,” she recalls. “I would strap on my knee brace with an ice pack and would often walk my way to 20,000 steps,” she says.
“And as soon as it started warming up outside, I mapped out a route and took a walk every day. That led to two walks a day and working out with a trainer at a local gym.”
Whew!
By that time, Roxy was no stranger to the benefits of a knee brace. She had, in fact, been wearing a knee brace for about 10 years when her arthritic knee began to give her pain. It helped to ease the pain and keep her life going.
Today, she is back to doing the things that she and her family enjoy: dancing, zip lining and even gliding (in a plane).
The benefits of her exercise routine were many: pain control, weight loss and being better prepared to go through her surgery, she maintains.
With all this, one could be forgiven for thinking that Roxy was a lifelong athlete, but she quickly denies the suggestion. She will admit however to maybe having a high pain threshold and lots of determination.
Would she recommend her 20,000-steps-a-day routine to other arthritis sufferers? No, she would not. But she is comfortable with one piece of advice: do whatever activities you are capable of safely doing that may help you go through the pre-surgery and surgery process easier. Consult your surgeon if in doubt.
“If I could offer advice to anyone else waiting to get surgery, do what you are able to do to keep you in a position to have an easier recovery. It has made a world of difference, as I don’t think I would be where I am right now if I hadn’t put in the time and effort,” she says.
How does her family feel about her newfound mobility?
“They are very happy,” she says with a broad smile.
Finally, she is super grateful to Dr. Robert Longstaffe, the surgical team, nurses, aides, physiotherapists and all members of the Concordia health-care team who helped her to step up to the active life she enjoys today.
