News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Dan Higgins won't need that cane for long.
Tom Fish works out his completely replaced shoulder.
It’s never easy recovering from major surgery, but several Sisters area residents have demonstrated that being fit before going under the knife helps — a lot.
Dan Higgins, a mortgage broker and lifelong weight training enthusiast, underwent a complete replacement of his right hip in February. In his early 40s, degenerative arthritis left Higgins facing a major health challenge.
Competitive by nature, he set out to beat expectations in recovering from the major procedure. He hooked up with trainer Ross Kennedy at Sisters Athletic Club and went to work.
“He knew what to do,” Higgins said of Kennedy. “I went to him and said, ‘Let’s create a workout for the surgery — (one that) won’t hurt me.’”
Higgins rode the spin bike right up to the date of surgery and did a lot of leg extensions, leg presses and hamstring extensions to build strength in the legs without putting painful pressure on the hip. Hill climbing on the bike added to his leg strength.
Modern protocols for post-operative recovery call for getting up the day after surgery and moving a little. Higgins made 50 steps. The next day he did 200 and Dr. Bob Shannon cleared him to go home.
“They said that (training) absolutely got me out of there,” Higgins said.
He noted that being an avid weightlifter for years built a good foundation.
“The foundation gave me the ability to train hard right before the surgery,” he said.
Higgins continues to be way ahead of the curve on his recovery and his doctor reportedly considers him a poster boy for pre-operative fitness.
“I went into it like I was going into competition,” Higgins said. “And not only did I win it, I set records.”
Andrea Robinson didn’t share Higgins’ passion for weight training. The 49-year-old’s physically demanding construction site clean-up and maintenance job kept her active and strong, but she was not heavily into training when she found out she would have to have surgery to deal with chronic, intense lumbar back pain.
On her doctor’s advice, she approached Kennedy for a nine-week workout program to strengthen herself for surgery to fuse vertebrae.
“I never worked out before,” she said. “I tried it but I never followed through with it.”
She said she didn’t understand the concept of pre-operative training and wasn’t sure she bought the idea, but she was willing to go along with it. She’s glad she did. Water aerobics and weight training actually gave her some relief from her back pain themselves and she was able to back off of her pain medication.
But it wasn’t until she started her recovery that she realized the good she had done for herself. Her surgeon told her that her nine-week program had taken three months off her recovery time.
“He said I shouldn’t be where I am now,” she said in early March — before leaving for a vacation in Hawaii.
Tom Fish, 77, wore out his shoulder over an active lifetime and he had to go under the knife in October for total shoulder replacement. He asked Sue Rasberry at Cascade Fitness to help him get ready.
“Actually where I got the original inspiration was Greg Wieland at Sisters Acupuncture,” Fish said.
Wieland had had great success conditioning himself and preparing for knee surgery and Fish liked what he saw.
“At my age, guys can die in surgery, so I wanted to get the odds as much as possible in my favor,” he said.
Rasberry designed a program for Fish that focused on general conditioning and honed in on mobility and strength in the upper body. He worked around the limited use of his injured shoulder and trained two and sometimes more times each week for several weeks.
He credited surgeon Dr. Tom Bollom with doing an excellent job on the surgery — but Bollom credited Fish for getting ready.
“The surgeon was surprised at how quick I recovered,” he said. “It’s been five months now and there’s some weak spots, but I’m playing golf again.”
Fish is a believer in regular workouts — about 45 minutes focusing on joint mobility and range of motion.
“If I don’t exercise I really hurt after golf and I tire out two-thirds of the way through,” he said.
People who are facing surgery should consult with their doctor before launching any exercise program. With proper guidance, training can improve the odds of success in surgery and shorten recovery time. Dan Higgins, Andrea Robinson and Tom Fish will swear to it.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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