Odilia's Yoga to Recover

On January 2008, the diagnosis was that my knees were bad, very bad. In fact my left knee was completely torn apart and could literally fall apart if I fell when it failed me. I had constant pain and sometimes my left knee would throb like a bad tooth even when I was just sitting. The doctor gave me a cortizone shot on the left knee and showed me what was possible by replacing it completely. I was supposed to return in three months for another shot or for a knee replacement.
It was a hard decision for me since I had never had had any surgery or even been in the hospital before in my whole life. I was 64 years old, weighed 254 and had heart problems and I really did not think I could endure being on crutches for six weeks or handle the physical therapy after the surgery.
The first thing I realized was that since the knee pain seemed to be gone, I should return to some yoga leg lifts I used to do in the past to get my legs in a little better condition for the extensive therapy that would come later and maybe lose some pounds.
So on January 15, I started with 20 leg lifts with each leg and 10 leg lifts with both together. It was a bigger effort than I had imagined because I had trouble breathing and it tired me so much I had to stop and rest between leg lifts. I continued the rest of the month skipping them every other day to recover from the tiredness of each session.
By the beginning of February, I found out that I could do them on a daily basis and not be as tired as the first week. But I was having big trouble with the two leg deals because I could only lift them like 6 inches off the bed, where I was doing them, since I couldn't get down on the floor.
By the end of February, I started adding more to the number. I was up to 60 leg lifts per day and then 100 and by April when I went to my doctor's appointment, I was doing 200 per day per leg. I realized I could manage to walk better with the help of the cane and I also realized that with the medication for the high blood pressure and my exercises, I was breathing so much better and getting tired less. Having less trouble with my leg circulation made my heart work better since it had less work to do. I had made my knees work better and my heart too.I was really surprised. I also had another nice surprise. I used to have ugly knotted varicose veins on the back of my right thigh and these knots were now gone, disappeared after more than 30 years of having them there.
Then my doctor gave me a bigger surprise. He said that since the rest of the leg muscles were supporting me so much better, I really didn't have to replace my knee for several years or maybe never. He asked me about the amount of pain on my knee and I had none so I didn't even need the cortizone shot anymore, but could have it later if needed.
Today, on October, 2009, I have not have neither the knee surgery or the cortizone shot at all, but I am still doing 200 leg lifts five times a week. I soon realized that if I skip more than three days in a row, my knees start having some pain, my ankles get swollen and even my heart starts giving me the symptoms I had when I started on this routine. So it is really up to me to be sure I am okay by keeping up with the routine. I also need to add other exercises to get my arms and upper torso in better shape.
Oh, yes, I now weigh only 228, since last summer and I have lost several inches from my waist, my hips and my legs feel slimmer too and stronger. Yoga is working a miracle with me!