TKR My new knee journey

[bibi]

Hello Majella and welcome to Bonesmart!
You have come to the right place. One of the administrators will be along shortly to welcome you. I have found this site to be valuable and the support is great!

I had an MUA a few weeks after my tkr. Let's just say I wished I had found bonesmart back then. I would recommend asking for a second opinion on the MUA. From my own experience and from what I have read from other posts quite a few times a MUA is unnecessary. I think your ROM is good!

 

[Celle]

@Majella If you're making progress, you don't need an MUA. Cancel it. You have the right to do that, and to change your mind at any time.

And remember the BoneSmart mantras -
- if it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physiotherapist (PT) - to do it to you
- if your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again

 

[Josephine]

Any ones thoughts would be so appreciated as I'm so confused right now

Honey, we've given you advice until we're blue in the face. When you are you going to take it on board?


Including that we've merged your threads. Please stop creating new threads!
One thread for your recovery please?

It is so much easier to be able to give you the advice you need when we are able to easily see when your surgery was and what has been going on in your recovery just by looking at one thread instead of bouncing back and forth between two or more other threads. That works for you too as you're not reading people's replies to you.

We also have help articles here, you know! In here How To Use This Forum (it's in the "Help & Info" tab across the top of the page).
The article you want is this one How can I find my threads and posts?

 

[Jamie]

Please think twice about having this MUA. I know your surgeon is the "expert" and he's telling you he won't do one after 12 weeks. Frankly, at 102 your ROM is just fine for this early in your recovery. You've been overworking your knee with all that PT and pain. It is swollen even if you cannot see it from the outside. It is angry. Let it rest and continue to do only the most gentle of exercises to bend and stretch it. The exercise bike is great. You still have plenty of time to gain more ROM. And I especially think the MUA is a bad idea if post-MUA means any type of aggressive therapy.

Sometimes you must do what feels right in your gut even if it goes against the surgeon. You are the one who knows your body best. My suggestion is to scale back the exercises, ice and elevate as much as possible to help reduce the swelling and, if you knee is showing progress in the next week or two, cancel the MUA. Just because you signed a document does NOT mean you must have the procedure. You always have the right to decline.

 

[Majella]

?

To Josephine, I'm sorry if I have been such a burden to this website.....I'm not intentionally ignoring your advice, I'm just scared and uncertain at this point....sorry if I have repeated myself in some of my posts! (just nervous) and down about my progress.
It's good to hear about other members experience with MUA and those who choose not to and why.
I really appreciated Jamie's advice "sometimes you must do what feels right in your gut" I have 2 weeks to make this important decision that may change the course of my journey, I just hope it's the right one.
God speed to all of you here!

 

[sistersinhim]

Many on here wish they have the range that you have at only a little over 2 months from a tkr. It sounds ridiculous that your doctor wants to do a MUA when it's so early in your recovery and your ROM is so good. Please seriously think about it.

 

[charmed-life]

My surgeons (3 who have had a part in this knee) all say if MUA is indicated, it is best to do it in first three months after TKR. Surgeon who did my TKR decided once I passed 95 degrees AND was improving a little each week that MUA was not required but he would have done it if I chose. This decision was at 12-13 weeks. Despite that I sometimes wish I had done it as I'm still only improving very slowly and still have a lot of stiffness and some pain - and I do have adhesions we are trying to gently stretch.


Seems like the real problem is knowing IF it's needed. I seriously doubt any Orthopedic Surgeons are trying to make extra work for themselves- they are all booked up pretty solidly.

Good luck with your decision. I know very well how hard it is.

Pat


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[Jamie]

@charmed-life ... Please try not to get discouraged by what you feel is a slow recovery. Actually the way you are progressing is perfectly normal and is much preferable to trying to push your knee into ROM it is not ready for. You'll recover better if you just go with your body's own rhythm.

@Majella .... Hon, you are NOT a burden to BoneSmart! I know you are worried and it's difficult to go against what you're being told by the very medical professionals you've entrusted with your care. You are wiser than you think about your own body! Trust yourself.

 

[skigirl]

@Majella, I want to second what Jamie said---of course you are not a burden. It is easier for us if all of your posts are in one thread---then we know what has been done and what we have said about it. since I often post to 20 people in a day, it is sometimes hard to remember what I said and to whom!! Plus I am old too!!!

Often I get advice from my doc---and yes, they are highly trained experts---but sometimes I disagree with them. Ultimately, it is my body, which I do know best---and my recovery. So---I do think that you will be just fine with less activity and less aggressive PT---but really, it depends on what you think. Are you happy with your progress? Do you sense that you have been working too hard? Are you willing to pull back and let some healing happen in your knee?

Each of us is different and each of us has to decide what we want. But, really it is impossible to work your knee into shape. Your knee has soft tissues that need to heal. If you have been too aggressive, those soft tissues will rise up in protest---and you need to back off and let them rest. (ask me how I know about all of this--intimately!!)

It seems counterintuitive--the American way to to work hard and be the best at recovery that you can be. But, this is an injury = a major surgery. Healing has to take place and it cannot happen with a knee that is being bent aggressively day after day. Your knee is asking for a little slack--you are not at the beginning again, but you have reached a level where you need to back off.

So, try this---back off for the next two weeks. Somewhere along that process, you will see either improvement with lack of exercise or you will see the need for a MUA.

 

[Majella]

Update on my MUA.....I cancelled it! my bend was at 108 two days before the procedure so I called the OS and said I wanted to wait. However now my other knee (which is also bone on bone) started to hurt so bad the other day that I'm limping badly and had to put my knee brace on! I have a Dr. appt next week so I'm sure the OS will suggest surgery. I was hoping for a cortisone injection but then I would have to wait 3 more months for the TKA.! I'm just not sure if I'm mentally ready for another surgery.

 

[newlybionic]

I'm happy you were able to cancel your MUA but I'm sure you must be frustrated by having your other knee misbehaving. Try to ice and elevate them both together and maybe it can help. If you need to face another surgery you have us for moral support.

 

[LFitz]

Hi there I'm just reading your thread and am really glad you opted out for the MUA. I had this done at 9 weeks as I was locked at 69 and couldn't progress. I hadn't found this site at that point and so wished I had. MUA was excruciating, there was no nerve block, just knock you out and manipulate and send you home with pain meds. And it really did nothing but give me a little more bend and a lot more recovery. But enough said about that onward and upward [emoji3]. I'm just really happy you did not have that procedure. Remember slow and steady. I'm sorry your other knee is giving you issues. Hoping it settles down while this first one heals.


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[mamazipp]

I can only speak from my experience. My flex is about 120, but at 15 weeks out ( my surgery was Feb 26) I still cannot do stairs without pain, still needing Oxycodone, still need icing and have nighttime pain and throbbing. I don't use an exercise bike but at PT which I stopped a few weeks ago they have a Nu Step bike, which is just a pushing kind of bike. I still need a cane to walk with.
I would be terrified of an MUA because of the pain after and the fact that you start from scratch again. How can that help? I would listen to the bone smarties, who say that if you can achieve 90 degrees you are doing fine.

I have been reassured by this forum that healing takes TIME, and although I get discouraged by my slow progress, i have to believe that the people here know a thing or two. Trust in the info you get here.
Having said that, it's 4 am and I must grab an ice pack and get some sleep.

Read all the info here, read people's posts, and things will fall into place.

Good wishes to you.

 

[Majella]

Anyone have pain at night even after 3 months? I get this throbbing pain around my knee right when I lay down to try and sleep and still have pain when I walk (mostly stiffness kind of pain) so I'm kind of limping! how long will this last? has anyone here experience this?
I would like to return to my volunteer job working at the children's hospital 2 days a week but not sure I can be on my feet all day

 

[LFitz]

I don't have throbbing pain at night just heavy exhausted kind of pain and I'm about 2 weeks ahead of you. Every knee is different so I hope you are still taking your pain meds if you are feeling this at the end of the day. The stiffness is still there but without limping. Have you tried walking with your cane to help keep your gait normal? I hope things settle down for you soon so you can get back to volunteering.

 

[Celle]

Anyone have pain at night even after 3 months? I get this throbbing pain around my knee right when I lay down to try and sleep and still have pain when I walk (mostly stiffness kind of pain) so I'm kind of limping! how long will this last? has anyone here experience this?
I would like to return to my volunteer job working at the children's hospital 2 days a week but not sure I can be on my feet all day

It's not unusual to still have pain at night 3 months after a TKR. Sometimes, it is a warning that you have been doing too much during the day. And sometimes it's just that you are still early in recovery.

At three months, you are only a quarter of the way through this year-long recovery. Your knee suffered major trauma during the surgery and it has two big, metal, foreign bodies in it. That's a lot to get over, isn't it? I think it's still allowed to hurt, especially when it (and you) are tired.

Maybe you need to cut back your daytime activity a bit, and spend more time resting, icing and elevating your leg?
In any case, I think you still need to take some pain relief at night. Are you doing that?

I don't think you'd be wise to go back to your volunteer job just wait. wait until you are feeling more comfortable.

 

[mamazipp]

I agree with Celle. I am about a month before you and still have frequent throbbing, aching pains at night. I still have to take Oxycodone for it, and ice all night. There have been nights when I think, oh I'll skip the Oxycodone and just try ice, then I think no.......Bonesmart doesn't advocate "toughing it out" and there are no brownie points for being stoic. So I take the pain med!
I'd wait a bit before the volunteer job.

 

[Majella]

I so appreciate everyone here on BoneSmart who gives their support and advice...it makes me feel better when someone says: Oh, I have that same problem or I know what you are going through!
I currently take Tramadol 50 mg 2 x a day...it's doesn't work as well as Oxycodone but my OS wants to wean me off the stronger pain meds. I rest and ice twice a day and physical therapy once a week, ride my bike every other day and do gentle stretches everyday. I guess when I look at where I was 2 months ago...I really have come a long way! sometimes forgetting that my knee has it's "own agenda" and it's going to remind me of that everyday!

 

[LFitz]

Totally agree having people walk this walk and understand what you are going through has been a huge source of comfort and validation for me as well. Hey have you seen Josephine's chart for how to take Tramadol with Tylenol, it really helps with these 2 together. I've taken a screen capture of it on my phone and if someone doesn't have it posted here later than I'll figure out how to upload it.

 

[Suz]

I use Josephine's recommendation of 100mg Tramadol and 1,000mg Tylenol every 6hrs and it relieves my post-op pain. My OS recently prescribed 10-325 Hydrocodone every 4hrs and it didn't control my pain nearly as well. I went back to what I was doing and am feeling much better now! Here's the chart: (Click on it to enlarge). Hope you continue to recover on your 'knee's terms' Majella!