What support after a knee replacement?

[ChocolateBread]

My lovely MIL is probably going to have a knee replacement. Her house doesn’t have a downstairs loo or even step-free access from bedroom to bathroom, so I think it will be impractical to go straight home. She will also need support with cooking, shopping, cleaning etc, and (I think) to make sure she does all her physio and maximises her chances of recovery. DH and I will do what we can, but we can’t be there multiple times a day for weeks.

So I’m either looking for somewhere residential she could go where she could get over the first few weeks. Or for services that would come in and help her. Has anyone used any of these, and could recommend ones to shortlist?

Money isn’t an issue, but other relatives have had bad experiences in the past with carers, so I’m keen to find someone / somewhere with kind staff, who are reliable and practical.

I would speak with her physiotherapist and occupational therapists at the hospital. They and social services may suggest she has reablement care at home or at a local.comminity hospital or carehome for 6 weeks which is free. She can be.assessed during that time for additional help. If she wants to go home to recover would she manage with a bed downstairs.witb a commode and strip.washes. could shopping be done online with delivery. Her gp practice may run a volunteer service who drive people to appointments and shops. What part of the country does she live.

Thanks, Hammy! She lives in London. I don’t think her house (which is very small) would really have room for a bed downstairs, though I was wondering about the possibility of a stairlift. Online shopping is doable, but the cooking would be tricky if she can’t stand / balance / move about. And the kitchen is also small, with not much room to move around or even to sit down.

She doesn’t have a physio or OT - she has just been referred to the consultant for assessment for a knee replacement. I’ll see if she can self-refer to the local ones, as I’m sure they’ll know about all the local options in terms of rehabilitation.

I wouldn't bother with a stairlift, they are really expensive unless they are put in by the local authority and sooooooo difficult to get rid of if people don't use them, we paid 3.5k for one which was used a couple of times and ended up having to pay for it to be dismantled and taken to the scrap heap!!

Would she manage ready meals for a while in the microwave, Marks and Waitrose do them and there are also companies, Cook and also Wiltshire Farms (don't know if they deliver in London) but Cook do.
She will be allocated a physio and OT when she is in hospital, you don't need her to refer herself, it's all part of her rehab after her operation, is she having it done on the NHS? they will see her before and after her op.
When she sees the Consultant I would mention that she lives alone and will need some help, they will probably say wait and see the physio/OT/social services.
I know London very well, which hospital is she likely to have her op in?
She will be encouraged to move around as much as she can after her operation, she should get some decent pain killers, exercises to do, little aids to help her get dressed, these can all come from the OT or she could buy them herself. She will probably get a zimmer frame, is there room at home for that? It might be worth asking when she's had her op and is ready to be discharged if the OT wants to visit her at home to see if there is any equipment she could benefit from, a recliner chair, leg raisers and cushions to put on armchairs, handles to get in and out of bed.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/knee-replacement/recovery/

while I think about it, if she is going to have carers in at home, meal deliveries or is worried about falling it would be a good idea to see if they think she might benefit from a careline system, she could wear an alarm around her neck or wrist and if she gets in a pickle it sends a message through to the care company who arrange help. it's also useful to have a keysafe put in outside her front door to let people in that she trusts if she finds it difficult getting to the frontdoor.

and if she gets in a pickle it sends a message through to the care company who arrange help. In our area "arrange help" means "alert the family" - they require two contact numbers for family members who do not live together, so they nearly always got someone to call on 24 hours a day.

If you do go down the stairlift route, consider a reconditioned one - it reduces the price considerably - especially if you can have a straight rail. As Hammy suggests, most aren't in use for long, so a reconditioned one is pretty well "as good as new". But I'd agree, it doesn't seem worth it for a short term problem.

In practical terms, if there's enough room for a bed upstairs, there should be enough room for a bed downstairs! But it will mean a major furniture upheaval, with most of the sitting room furniture moving upstairs. Your choice is between her being stuck upstairs all day with no access to kitchen, or stuck downstairs with access to kitchen, a commode, and probably feeling embarrassed about visitors (although there's no need to be).

Hammy - I’d had a look at that NHS webpage, but it didn’t quite have the detail I needed. In terms of microwave meals, that would involve her owning, being confident to use, and having space for a microwave. It’s another thing to suggest, but I don’t want to push her too far outside her comfort zone, and honestly I can’t think where it could go in her kitchen. In terms of Careline, we’re close enough to dash round in an emergency, so I don’t see any benefit to that as long as she keeps her mobile phone on her at all times.

Mere - It’s helpful to know about second hand stairlifts, I’ll look into that. The practical issue is that there might be room if lots of stuff was moved and chucked out. That’s not an issue I really want to tackle, certainly not in combination with the prospect of an operation. And even downstairs, there are steps between sitting room and kitchen, so it’s not all flat.

An ot home assessment could identify things like grab rails which could be provided to help with changes of level ,and they are used to encouraging people to move things. What about meals on wheels short term?

The careline can help if someone falls and cant get to the phone or they have dropped it out of reach, you can get a built in fall detector so if someone cant activate the alarm it goes through anyway. We used Telecare and were not first responders, we dont live near enough. The responders were the Telecare Helpline and the care agency, it was a real help for us. The signal extends to the garden and bathroom and loo if someone gets stuck. We have excellent hot food delivery services where I live, a freshly made ready to eat hot meal every day.

with the ready meals, they can also be heated up in a normal oven, she wouldn't need a microwave.

More useful thoughts - I’m making a list, thank you!

I don’t think I can do much more until she has her physio / OT assessment, and I know if staying at home (with adaptations / help) is an option or not.