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MUA Manipulation and stiff knee after TKR

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Oh, this thread sounds like me. I begged information about a support group from my OS and PT"S - none to be had around here. I was frustrated not getting answers I sought from my OS at my 6 months visit, about all the cracking noises and delayed sleep patterns. Twice my surgeon suggested scar tissue removal surgery, but gave me no details. That's what led me to stumbling into BS. I really don't know what walls I'd be climbing if I hadn't found you all to chat with. It's great to talk with others who know what you are going through.
 
Wow. Great advice everybody.. I am eight weeks out, at about 93 ROM..manipulation has been mentioned to me a few times..I am going to opt to work on it myself..Just knowing that you can gain range like that at home, a year later, is so comforting...How are you doing now Suzie?
 
Just noticed another post by you .. I understand about wanting to just have some fun..It is a long go..It will come, I am sure, the ROM I mean! The fun we have to make ourself :0
 
Hi Martha and Leslie01,
Yes add me to that, I am very grateful for the advice and support from BS forum. Some times I wish the medical professionals I deal with also agree with the advice given here. In particular, not subjecting a knee patient to pain for a bit of ROM and not putting pressure on to get a good ROM with a ' defined window of opportunity'.

Suzie
 
Suzie,

All we can do is keep trying and hopefully more ROM will come. I seem to be doing a little better each day but not gaining too much ROM. I do think massage helps! I know I will hear something from my OS on Monday as I am not at 90 yet but I am gaining slowly but surely. I am hoping he doesn't release me to work until my ROM has improved. Take care!

Lisa
 
Lisa, you're still only 5 weeks out! Much to soon to be fretting over this. And don't think of going back to work until 12 weeks or as near that as you can get. Anyway, that's supposed to be a collaborative thing, not just his dictate!
 
Yes, but Lisa if you are like me, you may not have had much of an idea on post op recovery time lines. I thought I knew - I'd watched my husband recover 3 times from hip surgeries, and from afar my mother from TKR, but knees really do take more time. Unfortunately mine really has taken much more than most. So, learn to go with whatever pace your knee dictates. I very unrealistically tried to think of going back to work 1 month post op. But really, no one was telling me to think otherwise. My knee let me know how unrealistic it was.
 
I've found this thread really helpful today :). I've posted comments on a couple of other threads about my own limited ROM, and to hear my physio talk it seemed as though I was the only 'failure' in the world. However, it just seems as though we all take different speeds to recover. My Consultant is very much at odds with my physio - he believes in the taking it slowly route. My RTKR was last December and I'm now 9 to 55 degrees. Still doing the exercises and keeping fingers crossed for a bit more movement. I'm back at work full time as a teacher very soon, so this darned leg had better be up to moving by then!
 
Snoopy, your situation sounds a bit like mine. If you haven't heard the terms - aggressive scar tissue - I'll introduce you to them. I'm told in some lucky few the body aggressively produces randomly aligned scar tissue that acts sort of like our body's own defensive system to prevent exertion - sort of like the body's own method of making a cast with some flexibility.

I warn you - I hope your students are respectful enough to allow you to prop your leg up. I tried going back to the classroom as a substitute teacher, thinking it should be okay. I found myself up on my feet more than my body wanted me to be, I needed to sit with my leg elevated, and mid afternoon I was quite ready to find someway to lie down, if only for a few minutes. I don't know what age group you work with. I've taught them all. There are different physical demands depending upon the age group.

I know you must have some anxieties about this. Fill me in, and I'll try to offer you more suggestion.
 
Wow - very similar Martha! I teach 12 to 18 year olds, and I've bought trousers to preserve my dignity as I envisaged sitting with an elevated leg at times! They are lovely students though so I'll be fine. I hope. Thanks for the hint about the aggressive scar tissue. I'm feeling a bit aggressive myself - about my leg, not about my students I hasten to add. It feels as though something really tight is just holding it stuck inside; which of course it is. Those pesky adhesions - grrrrrr. Do you know if they ever loosen up over time or do I have to have them snapped/surgery performed?
 
I'm told adhesion and aggressive scar tissue are terms that are used interchangeably. And yes, I agree, it feels like a tight band is wrapped around inside your leg. I envisioned it all being scar tissue, but I'm being told it isn't. The scar tissue is up near the scar. I guess it somehow tugs on other parts so that it makes it feel like tight netting pulling on your calf and thigh, too. About a month ago, that feeling left my thigh. It still affects my calf.

With older kids you tend to be up front with a lecture format more often. This is likely a bit overboard, but you might want to think of bringing in a raised platform that you could put a lazy boy on. I found I was standing, trying to write on the board, pull down maps/screens and the like which all meant standing on your feet more than your leg may like, especially with your limited range of motion. Do you use a walker, cane, crutches? It seems as though you must still need something. Can you drive? Is there anyone that can drive you? I couldn't drive until I reached 90 and even then it would hurt if I went far so I self-imposed a 10 mile radius from my home.

Hope this helps you think through some of the issues you may face. I also it hopes it doesn't depress you. I'm glad you can count on lovely students. That will go a long way to easing potentially rough issues.

Happy Easter!
 
Thanks for the advice - it is much appreciated. I use sticks and can drive very short distances. Luckily my school is only 3 miles away from home so it isn't too bad, and the roads are good. I guess it will be trial and error but i really do like your advice. It's good to hear from someone with the same job who knows the limits / demands and so forth. I wonder why scar tissue can't be snipped away at through keyhole surgery, given the problems associated with MUA's? Oh it's such a long road to recovery:)
 
snoopy said:
Oh it's such a long road to recovery
Click to expand...

Is that the truth, snoopy. We all want and expect that it is like other surgeries where once the surgery happens we heal for a few days and everything is better. TKR's don't work that way for most of us; we have put up with a painful knee for ages and it takes quite some time and work for it to heal.
 
Oh, Suziepi, December 2012? My knee was replaced on January 23, 2012. I'm a teacher and I'm still struggling. Five steps forward, three backwards. Today I practically raced down the hallway to copy scripts for my fifth graders. By the end of the day, I hobbled out of school, my knee so stiff and (I think) swollen. I wish I had never had it replaced. I just didn't know that being able to walk without pain most of the time was such a gift. I had times when I was in severe pain...I think if I had had my meniscus cleaned out, I might have had another five or six years. Going through this again? Not something I want to do. I keep telling myself that progress may be very slow. I'd say I'm getting better month by month, but after a day like today, I wonder if it was worth it, and if I can keep working.
 
I had my knee replaced on January 23, 2013..I had a meniscus repair done in November and I just wanted you to know that it made no difference at all..I know that everybody is different..
I too, have wondered if it was all worth it, but I am early on..I hope that when I am one year in, that I will KNOW it was worth it..
Thinking about you and hope for continued progress.

Leslie
 
Hi All,

Its been a few days since I have been on as I have been a bit busy. My dad-in-law is in hospital with a painful back and cellulitis. He is 92 and lives alone so he needs help. My sister has come off her motor bike and broke her collar bone and some ribs, so she is in hospital as well. There is nothing like some drama to take my mind of knee problems.

The good news for me is that I have been put on a 8 weeks rehab program as an outpatient. Its a lot cheaper than having to pay for Physio sessions and Hydrotherapy and it includes an 1.5 hour gym session. The ideals of the rehab program and professionals are very similar to the advice on the BS forum. I only wished that I had been on this program earlier.
Nothing should be done by the patient or the staff that causes pain and there isn't an empathises to improve ROM (the empathises appears to be more on getting back the functionality of the leg). The first day the Physio got me to be able to walk down stair normally!!!. I haven't been able to do that for quite some time.

As of Friday I have resigned from my job after being there for 26 years. I thought I needed to focus on my health and to enjoy life from now on. I am(was) an IT professional so most of my working life has been spent looking at a computer screen with very little social interaction. Being at home makes me realise what a recluse I can be. So I am hoping I can open the curtains and let the world in.
I feel sorry for the teachers out there that have had a TKR and go back to work. I know I couldn't manage it. Standing up for any period of time would be difficult. I do hope you can rest up when needed.
I hope you all have a good day
Suzie
 
I see you are taking a difficult post-operative course and turning it around into a positive. Nice work. So glad things are all headed in the right direction for you.
 
Thanks Maryo52
I am working on the positive side. I have been depressed about whether I would ever get a decent ROM. My previous Physio told me I would be lucky even to get 100 and that it would take some time. A good ROM seem to be the holy grail to the success of knee replacement.
My goal now is not to worry to much about the ROM, but to improve and get back more of the lost functionality of my knee, leg and the rest of the body. I think now I am in a better position to do that.
Have a great day.
Suzie
 
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