2010 Winter/Spring RHCI Newsletter: "Staying in Top Form"X11
Look Inside This Issue
Pg 2 New RHCI-Plymouth
opens its doors.
d
Pg 3 Sheryl Woodford gets
relief from back pain
Pg 4 Byrdie Jackson recovers
from a broken neck.
Inside I
Winter/Spring 2010 Newsletter
Stayig n i n Top Form
A businessman and triathlete keeps up the pace after knee replacement.
You 'v
e practically got to run to keep up
with Jim Nichols — and that's just the
wy he likes it.
"You do what you can with the time that
you've got," he says in his soft Georgia accent.
"I don't have time for letting the grass grow
under my feet."
Last summer, Jim, 69, completed three months
of rehabilitation for twin knee replacement
surgery. "I'm almost back to where I want to
be," he says. Where he wants to be is fully
involved in a life so rich and diverse it would
exhaust people half his age.
He owns companies in Wareham and Norton
and runs a plant in China where he travels at
least twice a year. He was, and still is, a top-
notch athlete. Until his surgery, he competed
in six or seven triathlons a
year. Back in the day, he
starred on the Vanderbilt
and Valdosta State University
college basketball teams.
That's just for starters. He and
his wife Sonny operate a farm
on a beautiful, nine -acre
parcel of land in Yarmouth
Port. "The key to farming is
managing the manure," he
laughs. The farm is stocked
with "rescue" animals. He and
Sonny are active in Special
Olympics and in helping young
people recover from addiction.
When Jim grudgingly admitted
he had to do something about
his deteriorating knees, his biggest fear was
how long he would be out of commission. "I
have this clock in my head that's always ticking.
My knees had been bad for a long time. The
doctor said they were the worst knees he'd
ever seen," Jim says.
"I wanted to get better as fast
as I could. There's so much to do."
Once uncommon, double joint replacement
surgery is growing in popularity. "Overall, Jim
shortened his recovery period by rehabilitating
both knees at once," says Susan Ehrenthal,
M.D., Jim's RHCI physician and a specialist in
physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Continued on page 7
Jim "horses" around on his farm. Bending his new knees is no problem.
Rehabilitation Hospital /„24 S P A U L D I N G Affiliated with Massachusetts General
of the Cape and Islands V N. REHABILITATION NETWORK and Brigham and Women's Hospitals
www.l"ilci.org
Finding Relief
Continued from page 3
active life. "I'm on the road all the time,
getting in and out of the car." She also
takes Zumba classes twice a week. "I just
love the mix of exercise and dance."
"People with back pain often shy away
from exercise," says Dr. Rosenfeld. "But
",e majority of cases, the right kind of
e can actually reduce back pain
.__cause it promotes flexibility, increases
blood flow and has other benefits."
The prospect of future treatments doesn't
faze Sheryl. "The reality is I have a back
that hurts. If I have to have the proce-
dure again, that's fine. As long as I can
manage my pain and have a doctor who
understands that pain — that makes all
the difference in the world."
For more info on radiofrequency or an
appointment, call (508) 833-4160.
Staying in Top Form
Continued from front cover
As Jim considered his options, it became
clear that rehabilitation was crucial to a
successful recovery. "I read everything I
could. I talked to people at RHCI and
watched how they worked. That was huge.
Because once my doctor cut into my
knees, I knew there was no turning back."
"At RHCI, we can give patients like Jim
the amount of therapy they're looking
for," says Dr. Ehrenthal. "As I like to
tell my patients, the results of a joint
replacement are only as good as the rehab
which follows. Jim wanted to be active
as soon as possible, and three hours a day
of therapy was a perfect fit to realize the
best outcome from his surgery."
Days after successful surgery at Cape Cod
Hospital, Jim arrived at RHCI. His thera-
pists were impressed with his work ethic.
"He was so motivated," says Mary Seaver,
Jim's occupational therapist. "If you
asked him to do ten repetitions of an
exercise, he'd do 15. He made it all fun.
RHI Program Updates
RHCI Brings Aquatic Therapy to Mid -Cape
his January, RHCI began coRaborat-
ing with Mayflower Place Retirement
Community in West Yarmouth to bring
aquatic physical therapy to the Mid- and
Lower -Cape regions.
"Water's unique properties greatly reduce
the impact on joints during exercise. It's
11
E
He'd come into a room with his smiling
face and brighten up everyone."
"I was called the mayor of RHCI because I
didn't want to stay in bed," Jim admits.
"I'd get up and walk the halls and see
everybody. I made a lot of friends."
Jim "graduated" to outpatient rehabilita-
tion at RHCI's Yarmouth center. For the
next three months, physical therapist Diane
O'Connell witnessed the same drive his
inpatient team had seen. "Jim understood
that his home exercise program was just
as important as the treatment he got in
outpatient therapy," she notes.
"I wanted to get better as fast as I
could," Jim says. "There's still so much
I want to do."
In the center of Jim's home office, the
bicycle he rides in triathlons is mounted
on a training stand that allows him to
pedal indoors. "When I first got back, I
couldn't make the pedals go around
once," he says. Now, Jim is focused on
April, when he will compete in his first
triathlon since the surgery.
an effective treatment for post-operative
hip, knee or back rehabilitation and
other conditions," says Diane O'Connell,
physical therapist, site manager at RHCI-
Yarmouth Outpatient Rehabilitation Center.
In particular, aquatic therapy can improve
strength, range of motion, flexibility,
circulation, cardiovascular function and
early mobility.
RHCI therapists offer one-on-one physical
therapy utilizing Mayflower's warm
therapeutic pool and whirlpool in 30-60
minute sessions Mondays and Wednesdays
from 1:00-4:00 p.m. A physician's referral
and an initial therapy evaluation are
required prior to initiating the program.
Appointments: (508) 771-1300
Visit www.ncci.org to learn more
(Search: aquatic therapy).
"I would recommend RHCI to anyone,"
Jim says. "I was always impressed. I'd
wake up in the morning, and they had
my therapy schedule for the day right
there. If you want to get well and will do
what it takes, there's not a better place
that I know of."
Sonny and Jim at home.
Rowing Double KAee q
or Rip Replacemevrt? Qw
With our Bilateral Joint Replacement
Advance Reservation Program, a bed
will be waiting when you're ready to
begin rehabilitation.
For details or to arrange a tour, call
RHCI Admissions at (508) 833-4200.
Winter/Spring 2010 1 www.ncci.org InsdeRHCI