Manipulation

[ouch]

Hi, Ouch here. Was gone from posting for a few days, sister had to have emergency pace maker put in and she has no one else but me. Luckily my husband has a large family, and they came and sat with him while I was with her. My question is, if he needs to go back in and have his knee manipulated, 1) if there a time frame that this has to be done; in other words, he goes back to the doctors in 9 days for his 3 week visit. If the doctor says it has to be done right then and there, can you wait and see if you can get better ROM on your own and through physical therapy, then if you can't, say have it done 3 months down the road? and 2) do you have to stay overnight in the hospital, or do you come home the same day?
Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Josephine]

Well, people get MUAs done at all sorts of times after the op. It's difficult to say really and depends upon how bad the adhesions are and how easily they will come apart. Some give up more easily than others and that's not according to time or anything. But overall, there's always a possibility that you can get some improvement on your own earlier on. But as time passes, the level of flexion becomes fixed and that possibility wanes. I'm talking here in months rather than weeks, by the way. All in all, it's a clear case for a discussion and agreement between patient and surgeon but in the end, it's down to his opinion (as nobody can really say 100% one way or the other) and how much you trust his judgement.

However some surgeons can be very dictatorial about it. If they decide it needs to be done when they think it needs to be done, then sometimes they can adopt an inflexible attitude, almost insisting that if you don't comply you'll be limited forever. In these cases, it's probably easier to give in. No point in alienating the guy who is in charge of your care!

As for the procedure itself, it's in and out in a day. Not really much more than having a tooth out so far as that goes.

 

[ouch]

Thank you Jo. If I'm correct, I believe you are from England? Or am I confusing you with another Josephine?

 

[Texas]

Uh Oh she might know you Jo. just kidding. I had a manipulation in my 4th week. It was fine it really didnt hurt. The only thing that bothered me was my thigh muscle. I guess I couldnt bend for so long that it got tight (I was 68 dgerees) That went away in 2-3 days. Please post let us know how things are going... Hope he feels better soon, and you take care as well........Kim

 

[Josephine]

Yep - I'm from England. Heaven forfend there should be two of us on this forum!

 

[ouch]

I think when you mentioned Horlicks (sp), that was the giveaway. My husband is from Liverpool (scouse), been in the states 28 years and loves it here in Florida. He was just over last November, still too cold for him. What I wouldn't give for a Cadbury's flake cake!:hehe:

 

[Nana55]

I had MUA in February 09 at 8 weeks post op and was at the hospital for a total of 5 hours and then home. I didn't have anymore pain than I was already having but did have a little more swelling than I had had in a few days. Hope things go well.:thmb:

 

[ouch]

Thank you all for sharing. I was really hesitant about this procedure, but have read mostly good things after it is done. He goes back next Monday (4 weeks) and we'll know then. I'll keep you posted.

 

[loggon]

Ouch
Keep up the faith. Everything will be great. If your hubby has to have the Manipulation he will do great, he is so determined.
Lots of Luck to him and you

 

[FrogFeathers]

I had my manipulation five/six weeks after the surgery. I was kept overnight "for observation and pain management", but that was my doctor's choice. He did my discharge paperwork the night of the procedure so I could leave in the morning as soon as I was ready.

I was bending to the mid-sixties. I felt like a failure, like I wasn't doing enough or that I wasn't trying hard enough. As soon as it was confirmed I needed it, my doctor told me that it wasn't uncommon and it was really not a big deal.

I had a physical therapy appointment the day after I got home. The thing I hated most about it was the CPM machine. I was stuck in my room, bored out of my head. The machine itself wasn't too uncomfortable, just boring being stuck in there all the time. I loathe that machine!

But, its all good now and I realize it isn't my fault, it happens and afterwards, things get better. I went from gimping around with my walker to using just the cane. (I gimp around the house without the cane sometimes). I was bending to 90ish degrees at my last appointment.

Good luck.

 

[stives]

Can you explain what a GIMP is please! Sounds fun. I don't think it's in my dictionary!!!!! :hehe:

 

[FrogFeathers]

My kids have taken to calling me "Gimpy" as a nickname and have turned it into a verb when they have to wait on me when we're walking together. Like today, we went to the hospital an hour away with my dad to visit my mom. My dad and my eldest daughter (19 years old) had to keep stopping to wait on me. She said, "Whoo, Gimpy, look at you, gimpin' along..."

I told her to stop teasing me or I'd hit her with my cane. ;)

 

[Judles]

Politically VERY incorrect!!! :(

 

[stives]

Great word, gimping! I love the words kids think up, we ought to have a special dictionary for descriptive words like that.

I thought it might have been something that you folks across the pond use on a regular basis. I keep coming across all sorts of weird and wonderful words on this forum.

Mind you, we have a few odd ones (words, I mean) on this side of the ocean too!

And aren't canes SO useful too! :hehe:

 

[Judles]

Especially the other end..........to get someone's neck if they're out of line!!!

 

[FrogFeathers]

Politically VERY incorrect!!! :(

They only use it in jest, and only on me. They've lived their whole lives with their dad disabled (they were all under the age of five when he had his stroke). Sometimes, you have to laugh at something or it will drive you insane.

There was no intention of offending anyone else.

Great word, gimping! I love the words kids think up, we ought to have a special dictionary for descriptive words like that.

My kids are 19, 17, and nearly 16. They watched me go from being the strong, healthy mom to falling apart before their eyes. We (as a family) use humor to deal with stressful situations. My mom is in the hospital now and I told her I'd start spiking the kids' food with vitamins so she could harvest them for organs. She laughed and she felt better.

(I'll stop hijacking Ouch's thread now)

 

[Judles]

Oh!!!!! Of course no one intentionally uses the term as a cruel joke! But the "gimper" really doesn't think its funny at all!

 

[ouch]

FrogFeathers,
You hit the nail right on the head. He feels like a failure because the knee just won't bend. We do the exercises twice a day 20 - 30 minutes, ice, heat, take walks and even the stupid cpm machine. If he can come home the same day (if he has to have the manipulation), I think he will be okay with it. He doesn't want to stay overnight in the hospital. They can't make you - can they?
Thanks

 

[Jamie]

Chances are he will be able to come home after the procedure. If that is an issue, call the doctor and talk with him about it. Find out what situation might cause him to have to stay overnight. You're right that no one can MAKE your husband stay in the hospital, but if there was some type of problem and your doctor wanted him to be watched overnight, to me it would be foolish to insist on leaving. Maybe you can ease his mind by telling him that in almost all cases you come right home.

 

[FrogFeathers]

My overnight stay was some kind of policy or it had something to do with their worry over my (extremely well-controlled) asthma. I'm not entirely sure why I stayed overnight, but after having to put up with some stuff with my family, I welcomed the 24 hour break. (My husband had a stroke 14 years ago when he was 28 years old and some things he does tend to get on my nerves... and he'd been on full-bore leading up to the manipulation date).