Robert is a 63-year-old avid swimmer, backpacker, and cyclist. When hip pain started keeping him off the trails, he went to see fellow swimmer and physical therapist Joyce Kight about the problem.

The two worked together to achieve some success, but Robert continued to have pain at night and with walking. Joyce advised him to see an orthopedic surgeon, who performed an MRI and discovered a significant tear in Robert’s labrum in addition to arthritis in the joint. Robert agreed to have hip replacement surgery and continued PT and cycling until the surgery date. “It was low impact motion that kept the joint lubricated, so it was helpful to keep moving until the surgery. But we had to wait until after the surgery to start making real improvements,” says Robert.

Robert had the surgery in May. Initially, he focused on managing the swelling. “I borrowed an ice therapy machine from a friend who had used it after her shoulder surgery, and that machine was a godsend,” he says. “It was my best friend in keeping the swelling down.” Shortly thereafter, he was able to begin walking and exercising.

“It was a good thing I was retired,” Robert says. “I had lots of time to do my PT religiously. Every day, I’d walk a couple of miles and do some gentle stretching and exercising or go see Joyce. We would go through my exercises, and she would make sure I was doing them right and give me more exercises to try.  I’m an engineer, so I’d always put my assignments in a spreadsheet. Sometimes we’d also do dry needling or ice and stim (electrical stimulation) if I needed it.”

Robert says that he recovered quickly, receiving clearance in July to begin his Peloton workouts and returning to cycling the roads by August. In November, he and his wife Kim completed the 67-mile Three Bridge Cycling Tour in Sunset Beach, NC.

While Robert has been able to continue enjoying the activities he loves, he says he still goes to KCP once or twice a month as he works through a few remaining issues with tightness in his leg.

“Obviously I respect her, and we’ve worked together on setting up a home routine to keep me stretching and strengthening and staying active,” he says. “We’re always tweaking things to make sure I’m getting the most out of my home workouts and my office visits.”

Robert says that he appreciates the relationship he has developed with Joyce and KCP. “I’ve always trusted that Joyce will not be over-aggressive with me. I never felt like I was doing things that might make an injury worse, and I can’t say that was my experience with other PT groups before. It always seemed like they were working off the queue sheet and not listening to what patients were trying to tell them. That’s not the case with KCP. They understand your abilities at any given moment and can give you what you need at that time. They’re always listening and adapting based on how I’m progressing,” he says.

Joyce says,” Robert was so dedicated to his recovery! He followed his home exercise program religiously, and I am so happy to see him back to enjoying cycling again.”