81-year-old recovers from knee replacement at Life Care of Port Townsend

Jonathan Langdon, an 81-year-old resident of Port Townsend, Washington, underwent a left total knee replacement on March 20, 2020.

After returning home, Jon began to notice increased pain and swelling around the incision site and returned to the hospital, where he underwent a second surgery. He arrived at Life Care Center of Port Townsend on April 14 with orders for IV antibiotics and physical and occupational therapy services.

Upon arrival, Jon was limited in his mobility due to pain and range-of-motion restrictions in his left knee. He also required an immobilizer brace to ensure proper healing. He needed moderate assistance for all bed mobility and functional transfers. He was able to walk, but with poor posture and multiple deviations due to pain and limited range of motion. He required moderate to maximum assistance for completion of all activities of daily living and was only able to tolerate approximately three minutes of standing.

Physical therapy for Jon focused on transfer training and ambulation. Once range-of-motion restrictions were lifted and the brace was no longer required, PT began to focus on stretching and strengthening the left knee to improve the quality of his gait.

Occupational therapy focused on improving Jon’s ability to perform activities of daily living. He was taught how to use adaptive equipment, such as a reacher, sock aide, dressing stick and a leg lifter, to increase his safety and ability to perform dressing/grooming tasks. Because Jon planned on returning home independently, OT also focused on increasing his safety with dynamic balance and reaching activities in order to reduce the risk of falls.

When he discharged from our facility on June 9, Jon was independent in all mobility tasks with use of a front-wheeled walker. He sent us a letter shortly after returning home to thank everyone for their kindness and hard work. He states that he is doing as well as expected. He is currently driving. We were all grateful to hear from him and couldn’t be happier about the update. Keep up the good work, Jon!