Rehab therapy: ‘They know what they’re doing — and they smile’ [video]

Her new knee was no problem for Roberta Keiler. In the video above, she tells about her recovery at the same Hawaiian campus where she lives. Within three weeks, she was walking home.

Osteoarthritis in Roberta Keiler’s right knee had caused her pain for years, but the day she couldn’t climb on a bus to get herself home, she knew she had to act. Knee replacement surgery was the answer, but following the procedure, she had a new problem.

For help, Roberta needed to look no further than the Hawaiian retirement community where she lives.

Steve Hess, director of rehabilitation at Good Samaritan Society – Pohai Nani, helped Roberta manage her knee pain before her surgery. After her knee was replaced, Steve and his team knew they could get Roberta back to a pain-free, active lifestyle.

“We got her up within those first days on a walker,” Steve says. “She just progressed beautifully from that point on. It was a success.”

Roberta did occupational and physical therapy five times a week, and each day, she felt less pain. The therapy team at Pohai Nani worked with her on balance and helped her strengthen her new knee.

After just three weeks of therapy, Roberta was so mobile she was able to walk home to her apartment on the other side of Pohai Nani’s campus.

“I can walk and it doesn't hurt," she says of her new knee. ‘”It's dependable because that’s what I want with my body. I want it to be dependable, and it is.”