MUA Oct 2017 TKR - Hematoma - MUA - Finally past 90!<

[Robinmhs88]

Agree most older Pts are aggressive and the younger ones realize massage can be helpful

 

[banjaboy]

Hi funkymuse! Not heard much from you recently? Hope all is well. Went for my 9 week check with surgeon, he is very happy, he says im way ahead numberswise compared to my left knee. I have gone against the Bonesmart credo and gone with a rather more aggressive PT. Yes, i have had pain but not hurt pain, stretch pain, muscle building pain, for me it works. The new knee is at 115 ish with a little discomfort, the left one after a year is 135. He allowed me to drive again so im back with the living! What does my little tale indicate, we are not all the same. I hope you are progressing funkymuse[emoji173]️


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[funkymuse]

Good morning all.
I've been only lurking due to having absolutely no energy from a tummy bacteria and working and a foot fungus and another personal health issue. All that has zapped my energy to even want to type anything when I get home from work. So I'm here to catch up and respond to all your nice concerns and advice! I quoted and answered a couple of the posts here and I think what I covered in my answers addresses all of the concerns and suggestions! I thank everyone for chiming in.. I'm so grateful for the words and kind support. I will say that my knee is starting to feel really good except when it comes to my bend. So I feel healing on all other levels is progressing nicely. I can walk pretty darn normal and the internal swelling feels very minimal most of the time but this bend issue is really bothersome.

If there's even another time, stop him from raving on about what he wants, and say "This is what I would like you to do today . . . " If he won't accept that, then walk out.

I like this approach and will use it next time. However I do not plan to go back to this particular PT. He's rather a waste of time. AND I cancelled all PT visits except for 2 or three after my MUA and none of them will be with the 'fool.'

In any case, how many times have we advised you to stop all the exercises?
No wonder your knee won't bend if you've been working with this fool!

Well I have always followed the advise here with exception a a few days early on where I felt so good I thought maybe I could increase my biking or stretching or walking and I ended up, like many others in the ODI Club and so I stopped. In reality I do so little that I'm not sure what exercises you want me to stop. My day consists of waking up.. getting up, walking around doing morning ADL's and if I don't work that day, I do 3 gentle heel toward bottom stretches, while laying on my tummy, (which I love because it stretches the quad muscle); then doing ADL's throughout the day and icing and elevating; doing some floor stretching for the rest of my body, and at end of day doing 3 more of those gentle heel toward bottom stretches. I MIGHT or MIGHT NOT on my days off, do a few half turns on my bike. On my work days, I get up and do my morning ADL's, and then go to work where I sit and walk and ice. When I get home, I might or might not do the heel to bottom stretch. Then I ice and elevate and go to bed.

As far as working with this 'fool' which indeed he is a bit of a fool, I have seen him 3 times since early Nov and each time we have hardly done anything as he has spent most of the time talking. The last visit he had me to those 3 exercises I mentioned in my last post above and I did maybe 5 of them max and very lazily not pushing anything, as he was just showing me how to do them but that was it. I had NO PLANS what-so-ever to do them at home and I haven't.

If I'm reading your post correctly, you seem to have gained some ROM since your visit with the surgeon on January 3rd.

Well.. here's the facts about my ROM. I had reached the 70 -75 degree mark several weeks back and then I went into a period where my knee got more swollen from going back to work and I regressed to 60 and held there. Now that my knee has lost that swelling, I'm back to where I was several weeks ago at 70. So in truth I have not gained any ROM. I have very bad pain within the knee capsule if I go beyond where my knee wants to go at 70. So I really don't think my knee has made any progress and I feel it's just stuck where it is. My swelling internally feels very non-existenant except if I end up walking too much at work and then ice brings it back down. Even at my most bendy either after resting or warming up in the tub, I'm still at 70. So based on my personal feeling about my knee I'm not sure further time would bring me any more ROM.

And it may just thank you profusely if you let it rest from all that pushing that these therapists are doing.

Well I haven't let them do any of this since my first 2 PT sessions back in early November. And it's getting plenty of rest!

Looking at pictures of bent knees is like looking at pictures of food and expecting that to satisfy our hunger.

This cracked me up!!!

Again thank you all.. as of this moment, unless a miracle happens, I am headed toward the MUA on the 25th.
I plan NO AGGRESSIVE therapy and I won't be seeing the 'fool' and will be resting, elevating and icing and reporting in.

Blessings to all and continued healing!

 

[Tanya76]

I am sure all will go well on Thursday. Will be thinking of you

 

[Celle]

Best wishes for Thursday. I hope it goes well.

 

[Jamie]

I do hope this MUA works for you. You have the right approach as to what to do and not do afterwards this time. Can you take some time off from work? That would be advisable to give yourself a couple of weeks.

 

[becticu]

Hi @funkymuse, I just wanted to let you know I found your private message and sent a reply. I haven’t been on in quite some time so I didn’t see your message. Best of luck to you with your MUA. Listen to your knee, there is hope!

 

[funkymuse]

Yes @Jamie I have at least one week scheduled and possibly two if I need it!

Thanks you Celle, Tanya and Becticu for your kind wishes and support. I'm quite scared but I'm working to trust God in this. Hate to go back to the drugs. Hopefully I won't have to be on them for long. sigh.

Today I did too many ADL's! Good gracious! My leg is a log now! ha ha. Resting, icing and elevating as I write.

 

[Jamie]

Please try to relax. Having an MUA isn't at all as traumatic as the original surgery. And while you may go backwards a bit in terms of your progress, it won't be completely like starting recovery right out of surgery. If it is adhesions holding you back, that will be gone and it will be a relief.

 

[funkymuse]

Well... today I got a call and the PT office cancelled all the sessions for after my MUA claiming that I had canceled to many appt's prior as they have a policy of only 2 cancellations which I never knew about! Anyway, maybe it's a blessing in disguise but now I'm freaked out because I don't what particular gentle exercises I'm supposed to start doing after the surgery which I was hoping to find out at my first PT appt on Friday which is now cancelled. Sigh. So.. I'd love all feedback and suggestions on this.

I will get another list of PT's from the Doc's office and try to find someone but not sure if I really need to. I mean would the exercises be similar to the ones that they gave me to do after the original TKR? Gentle knee slides, etc.? I dont' know what really would change except I need to keep it gently moving when I'm not icing and elevating?

The only thing I would really love is a PT who would do some gentle massage and stretching work with me like so many here on the board have gotten.

Thanks so much for any feedback on this. Hope everyone is having a good day.

 

[sistersinhim]

The recovery after the MUA is the same as after a tkr, just ADL. They will keep your knee moving without inflaming it. You do not need to do any exercises now or afterwards. Your knee knows how to recover and doesn't need a doctor telling it how!

 

[becticu]

Hi @funkymuse, that’s unfortunate about your PT but maybe a blessing in disguise. @Jamie is absolutely correct. I was terrified it would be like starting over and isn’t at all, at least my experience wasn’t. You don’t have all the fatigue like after your replacement. My pain wasn’t anything like after my surgery. Like Jamie said taking care of the adhesions and having them gone totally changed everything for me.

My PT totally did massage and gentle stretching after the MUA. I gradually worked back into my exercises. I pray you find the right one for you.

 

[Polkadot]

Please don’t be frightened about the MUA procedure. I was a complete mess going into it, partly from fear of the procedure, partly from fear of failure, and partly from the fresh memory of the pain I had after the TKR procedure. As we approached the hospital, and then went up to the fifth floor in the elevator, I was struggling with involuntary tears, which let me know how scared I was. It was all I could do to hold myself together while the nurses prepped me and the anaesthesiologist and doctor stopped by. A couple of times, the tears broke through, and the hospital personnel acted quite surprised and alarmed. I was very embarrassed but couldn’t seem to get my feelings under control; they were so deep-seated.

Well, I’m here to tell you that on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the discomfort after TKR, waking up after the MUA was between 0 and 1. We had an hour and a half drive home afterward, and I was able to sit in a Panera Bread for about a half hour for lunch halfway home. (This was the most I could handle even before the MUA). I was particularly apprehensive about going right to PT that afternoon after the MUA, but I was fine—just a little additional soreness and a lot of solicitude from the physical therapist and assistants.

So take some deep breaths and do some calming pursuits, and please don’t overthink it. You will get through this! It’s just a little blip in your recovery radar, and if it helps with your “bend,” you will be glad you did it.

 

[sistersinhim]

Many benefit greatly from a MUA. I pray that you are one of them!

 

[funkymuse]

Yes @Polkadot - I think after this long recovery with the Hematoma surgery shortly thereafter, and just all the normal 'first time' frustration that has come from this entire journey, the trepidation is a bit intense, so I'm not surprised at your emotions spilling over like that. I just dread the hassle of it all and praying I don't have alot of pain. The Doctor made sure to tell me it was going to be very painful. So.. ok.. great! Thanks Doc! However, I am thinking everyone's experience is different with the pain as I've read some have pain and some don't so I hope I'm one that doesn't. I have a low threshold for pain so who knows what will happen. I do have a spot in the scar itself that is painful when I try to bend beyond where I've been able to get, and so that and my tight muscles seem to be blocking any further progress - so if the doctor can help me break through these two things - even if I don't have any adhesions, well that will help me I'm sure.

I called three local PT's today and left messages - and from the looks of their websites and mission statements - they all seem like they would be the more gentler types. I'll have to pay for it myself but at this stage being able to go to someone local and have them be caring would be very lovely. Not sure if I'll do it as yet but I'm exploring.

@sistersinhim that was a lovely comment and I sincerely appreciate any prayers! I mean maybe I'm making a bit deal out of a small procedure but it seems the emotional journey with this for many, is a bit overwelming!

Thank you @becticu - it's very helpful to hear from those who have gone through this and have come out the other side successful.

Blessings to all...

 

[Angiebabe]

Oh you are not making a big deal..it is your third time in hospital for your lovely knee it's ok to be nervous. I'm in the pain is nothing like a TKR group because it wasn't too bad for me soreness not so much pain. They are bending it not cutting or sawing this time so it has to be better right?!

Personally however much my surgeon said it would be fine I didn't believe him until afterwards so just be kind to yourself and say it's ok to feel.

You are a bit of a warrior and really rather awesome on the quiet!!

 

[kmak81230]

best wishes for a good day on thursday and for a good recovery the rest of the week. you'll do just fine.

 

[SusieShoes]

Sending prayers and wishes for your MUA tomorrow. May your next recovery be easier and better!

 

[funkymuse]

Well Mother Nature sure is challenging me! About 3 weeks ago, I came down with a bad case of IBS-D which has not abated. I even had stool testing and I have no bad bacteria. So that's good to know.. however the IBS has made me weak and thus I contacted a bit of a cold which I have been battling off for about 2-1/2 days with Peroxide in the ears, ginger tea, nettie pot, stinging nettle root and astragalus and of course all my vitamins. Also I have had a horrid itching going on the bottom of my feet for weeks which I thought was a fungus but it's not! I've tried every cream in the book including Tea Tree Oil and Coconut oil and nothing works. The doctor thinks its a nerve issue which I have done blood work for and I'm waiting for the results... but the itching has started to affect not only my feet but the rest of my body. sigh.
She thinks it may be a vit B deficiency as I was low before the surgery and could be even lower now. Plus I do have a low level yeast issue which I have been treating with Boric Acid suppositories. Oh yay! Right?

So I'm waiting for the scheduling nurse to call me today so I can tell her that I'm battling this cold. I hope not to have to cancel the surgery as I do think I will be better tomorrow. I am not congested and I'm sure it's due to all I've been doing with the nettie pot and all. What happens now is I get waves of extreme fatigue and a bit of pressure behind my eyes and sinuses, followed by a period where I feel just fine. So I'm resting and hoping that I feel good by end of day.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. It's just flat out awesome.

 

[Jockette]

I wonder if the itching is from just plain stress.