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

Oh Gosh @Robinmhs88 - maybe you have a hematoma in there! It will be good to see your OS to see what is going on!!!
 
Both of you are back at work rather early and your knees are doing the normal thing and reacting to the increased demands with increased sensitivity and swelling.

We usually recommend taking about 12 weeks off work and then doing a Phased return to work
 
Celle said:
Both of you are back at work rather early and your knees are doing the normal thing and reacting to the increased demands with increased sensitivity and swelling.

We usually recommend taking about 12 weeks off work and then doing a Phased return to work
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I know @Celle and I sure wish I could have done that. But my bank account would not hold and my job might not either and it took forever to find that job. I"m phasing in alright for sure and I was so happy to figure out my work 'icing' routine that helped me so much!
 
Hope you are ok @Robinmhs88 I hope you get to rest during your break. I can’t imagine working yet. I’m due back on 16th Dec but there’s no way I will be ready. I’m seeing OS on 15th so will see what he says. I have to be able to bend first! Good luck with OS on Monday Robin.
 
Well folks.. I overdid it today. I got up and got on my recumberant bike and pedaled slow but would stop and hold the position to go into a stretch during the bend and I must have pushed a little too hard. Then I made breakfast and I felt how tired my knee was from that biking. A few hours later I took a sauna and did some wall slide bends where I did the same thing, bent to the point of it being just a little too uncomfortable and held for a minute or two. Then I made lunch a little later and that was all I could take. I've been down icing and resting the rest of the day except to get up and take care of small ADL's like brushing my teeth, going to the bathroom, etc.

I'm so tired of being driven in my mind to think that I should push a little bit more. That doesn't work! Get out the mallet and hit me over the head!!! Gosh! But I've been conditioned and continue to be bombarded with information everywhere I turn (except here), that one has to push through pain to achieve the bend. I know I've been given advice here about facing my OS and PT but still the fear lingers about having to stand up for myself.

Tomorrow's plan is NOTHING. Well I do have to put some soup on in the crockpot and a few other small things but NO PUSHING or trying to gain any flexion. I can't GAIN it anyway... I have to let resting and time do that for me.

Thanks for reading my frustrating rant!!!
 
When will we learn :). Please rest up tomorrow. I took a bath tonight and did some heel slides...felt good and although it wasn’t a huge bend it made me feel good :) I got the push harder speech from my hubby but I did what I thought was best. Baby steps to achieve the big goal :)
 
Christina, you're back at work now. You don't need to do any other exercises. Your activities of daily living are plenty of exercise for your knees.

Stop trying to push your knees.
Stop worrying about what your OS and PT will say. Remember that you pay their wages, either directly or through your insurance. They work for you. You don't have to please them - they have to please you.

Why are you even still going to PT? Give your knees a rest from it.
 
funkymuse said:
Hello everyone!

I'm 5 days out and have been reading and gaining much info in regards to my recovery from your forums! So grateful.

The main thing I'm grateful about is that although my PT's told me I have to push to unbearable pain limits, the info on these threads indicates otherwise.

I came home on Thursday, and on Friday I pushed myself to the max and ended up in so much swelling and pain that Friday was a bit of a wash. I felt like I lost ground.

Plus I'm only 5 days out so icing, elevating and just gentle walking and stretching is all that is needed for now.

I was also told that the dreaded scar tissue would build up if I didn't get ROM and straightening down by 2 weeks out. That scared me. But the patient stories I am reading here indicate a different scenario. Thank God!

One of the things I want to inquire about is how the heck to get out of bed after elevating and resting for an hour or so. I'm asking because as I swing my legs off the bed to stand, horrific pressure, burning and pain start up fast in my leg and the pain is unbearable. I'm not sure what to do to have that ease up before I get out of bed. Any suggestions on 'how to get up' to avoid this scenario would be much appreciated.

Most of the time when I'm getting up, I need to rush to the bathroom to pee... so taking a lot of time to prepare to get up is going to be troublesome but if it decreases the burning, pain and pressure I'm totally willing to do it.
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Slowly and gently, would be my advice. Swing your legs over the side of the bed and sit like that for a minute. Which means you have to start the process before the urge to pee becomes too great [emoji12]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
8 Week Update from outside PT today.
I went in and told him I had been trying to reach him by phone and that the reason was that I could not allow him to push my knee anymore because that I was down two days and had to miss a day of work because of it and if he wanted to continue with that type of therapy, then I just wouldn't come back. I said it alot nicer than that but he got the message and the session consisted of the following:

5 min half rotations on recumberant bike.
Heating up my thigh and knee with a heating pad, since it had gotten very cold and tight from the ice pack I had been wearing.
Massage and movement of knee cap.
Massage of quad muscles which were VERY tight and painful.
And that was it.

So here's my new update:
10/17 - LTKR
10/19 - 2 days surgery post op - Unknown
10/31 - Hematoma Removal Surgery & MUA - Unknown
11/8 - 1st PT evaluation - 45
11/14 - 1st actual PT session - 60 (pushed by the PT to 64 which doesn't count!)
11/29 - OS 6 week post op - 60
12/06 - 2nd PT session - 67
12/12 - 3rd PT session - 71

And both the 67 and the 71 number were achieved with me sliding back my own foot without him touching it but I will say I pushed myself deep into uncomfortable territory both times to get to 67 and then to 71. So I guess I am making progress because on the 6th there was no way I could go any further than 67.

I told him where I felt the knee was stopping me from sliding back any further which is in the interior spaces inside and around the knee cap (which were painful as I held the bend), and he said that would be from 'internal scar tissue' formation that he could not get to to work on as far as massage, etc. BUT because of what I've read on this site, I'm not sure it would be scar tissue at this stage maybe more like internal swelling - and this is what seems to have happened with @bertschb's knee and kept him from moving past his 90degree mark, until that cleared out.

So onward we all go. Thanks for all the support and love here and on all the other threads I've been posting on and sorry again to highjack anyones thread with comments and questions pertaining to my own recovery.
 
funkymuse said:
he said that would be from 'internal scar tissue' formation that he could not get to to work on as far as massage, etc. BUT because of what I've read on this site, I'm not sure it would be scar tissue at this stage maybe more like internal swelling
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You're right. It's not scar tissue. It's swelling. Once the swelling goes, your knee will bend more easily.
Stop worrying about ROM and stop feeling you ought to do more to help it. The best way to help it is to do nothing, except ice and elevate and just do your normal activities of daily living.
funkymuse said:
Massage and movement of knee cap.
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Massage is good. Moving the kneecap is not necessary. Your kneecap will loosen up gradually, as your knee heals.
 
Great advice as usual @Celle - I'm really glad to hear that about the knee cap because both my OS and the PT feel it's an issue!!! Good Lord! At this stage I don't even want to go back to my OS!!!! And with how my knee is feeling right now even with just the massage makes me feel like I shouldn't go back to the PT either as the massage was rather intense! That decision may be coming and soon... I've read where many just get fed up with the hassle of it all! I could be using that time to rest and elevate which would most likely be more helpful.
 
funkymuse said:
I'm really glad to hear that about the knee cap because both my OS and the PT feel it's an issue!!!
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I had all my knee replacements done in New Zealand.
No one ever mentioned a need to mobilise my kneecaps and I'd never heard of it until several US members mentioned it. I think it's an American obsession.

My kneecaps were never touched by therapists and they are completely free and mobile. It happened naturally.

Now, I don't believe that American knees are made any differently from mine, so I can't see any reason why American kneecaps need to be mobilised.

Like many other things connected with healing, if you leave Mother Nature alone, she will do the right thing. She knows what she's doing.
 
My PT’s manipulated my kneecap, also, but it was gentle and didn’t bother me. It will not happen next time because I won’t go near a PT’s office!

My OS did push my knee, but he left the knee cap alone. Probably because there wasn’t a measurement for it.

I will not let the OS push my knee next time either. I was so afraid to tell him that, but then at my last appointment I found he was quite agreeable to letting me do it myself.
 
Is there a requirement to go back to our OS at certain times? I mean, the only reason my OS is having me come back on Jan 6th is to see if I got to 120 ROM and if not to talk about an MUA!!! I won't be at 120 and I will not agree to an MUA at least at this stage!!! I want to cancel that appointment but I'm wondering how often our OS's need to see us after they are done with the surgery. Experiences?
 
From what I’ve read on here it varies as to how often the OS wants you to come back. I had more check ups than others on here. I wonder if mine knew more about partials than he was telling me and wanted to keep a close eye on mine. X-rays are done every time I go. I never had the nerve to cancel.
 
@funkymuse This is almost exactly what my PT did when I said no more pain except I get 8 minutes on the bike; heat and stimulation with electrodes last. I think we have to watch them because if we seem like we're doing better they want to go back to exercises that push some. I have to go back Thursday and it may be time for a friendly chat. I like the large powerful massager on my quad and he also does it like a regular massage sometimes. I think my mood was better today because I needed to cry and complain and get it out of my system. It's hard feeling I have lost all control over my knee. I have to remember my knee is the boss. We seem to have some things hind in common.

My husband death was a good thing because there was no solution. What if he had ended up living for years in that pain. He wouldn't have been able to help me with this. Most of the time I remember there is a plan for my life. If there were not, I would never have found my true love at age 47. We had so much fun and his high school friends said Jack and I were meant for each other. We both had a mistake or two if you know what I mean. I enjoy your posts.
 
My surgery was 10/10/17. I saw the PA at 6 weeks. He told me he was there for my surgery. I see my surgeon for the first time 1/3/18. I guess I could have seen him if I wanted , but I get my questions answered here.
 
In UK it seems that everyone had a 6 week review. Physio has been threatening to bring it forward if I dint work harder on ROM! I haven’t and it’s still 6 weeks!
 
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