MUA On the other (dark) side and struggling!

[Arielyn]

^ She really is my little nurse.

 

[Jockette]

I’m so happy to read you cancelled your PT appointment. You are doing the right thing for you. Their approach is not right for you. There are many others out there. Maybe consider another facility, or, take some time off from PT and rest and do short walks around your house. That’s all you need to do at this point, really.

Be really brave and take the month of January off from PT. Then re-evaluate how you feel in February.

Don’t let your OS intimidate you on Thursday. Take your sister with you, imagine the rest of us Bonesmarties with you, also. Or, even postpone your appointment until you feel better. (You can do that if you want to.)

Not doing what our OS tells us can be very scary for many of us. But sometimes it’s
important to not do everything that they say. At this point in your recovery it’s very ok to make your own decision about what you will and won’t do.

 

[sistersinhim]

I was blessed to have a surgeon that never pushed PT. He gave me a prescription for it, which I threw away and never went. When I went for my 3 return checkups, all he wanted was to see what my knee would do. Never one question about PT! Of course, he knew I was a single lady that had to take care of myself, so obviously he trusted that I would not be just laying around all the time.

After 11 knee surgeries, I know that I do not need PT, and neither does anyone else if they do their own daily activities. My knee recovers just fine all on its own with only my daily activities. I didn't have the terrible swelling or agonizing pain that so many have after taking formal PT either. I knew the Bonesmart way worked before Bonesmart was even thought of. My surgeries started in the early 80s and I never went to PT even back then. I just didn't see the need for it. Bonesmart was formed around 2004. By then I had already had 6 knee surgeries and rehabbed the Bonesmart way!

 

[Suz]

@Arielyn

CONGRATULATIONS on your first decision to cancel PT today! I honestly got goosebumps when I read that. AWESOME!!!

You did more for your recovery snuggled up with your baby than you would have ever received in the torture-bus enroute to the torture-PT-chamber!

I hope you will see a signifcant improvement in your pain level because of your decision. I also hope so much you will cancel all PT's in January as Jockette recommended. You will be AMAZED at how your knee will respond to rest for an extended time period.

Your poor knee has been through so much trauma and it needs some serious time to heal.

Before you know it you will be telling others here of the positive turn you experienced in your recovery by letting Bonesmart recover your knee replacement! I speak with experience here, there is NO better recovery for this procedure than what you will find in the BoneSmart way!

I gotta say it again.. I'm SOOOO happy you cancelled PT Arielyn! Do so again, and again, and again!

I don't know how much you are using ice therapy, but elevating your damaged knee for signifcant time periods with your ice will bring that swelling, (and pain), right down!

In closing, I have a thought on the anxiety you are feeling about your appointment in a few days.

I have my next appt., a follow up to my MUA, on Dec. 25, and I’m making myself sick with worry about it. Bill, the PA, generally conducts these appointments or is, at the very least, in the room with the doctor. i just want to make it through that appointment.

My recommendation? Take a ball bat with you. LOL!

All kidding aside, I would be absolutely up front with the PA or anyone in that office, telling them that you will absolutely not allow anyone to violate you again. If you say, 'do not do anything to my knee without my permission', they better take heed.

I don't think they can drop you until you are recovered. I personally would be busy dropping them however! They have no clue what they are doing with recovering your knee hon. Find somebody else, even if you have to make a small road trip to their office.

YOU GO GIRL! You've GOT THIS!

'Merry Recovery' going forward!

Hugs, -Suzie!

 

[Tykey]

Remember, just because they wear a white coat and have a certificate on the wall doesn't mean they are right.
Which in this case, they certainly aren't.

Take Suzie's bat with you!

Stay at home, feet up, drinking sherry, ordering everybody else to do everything, and watch old movies!

That's what I do, and I'm 95% recovered

 

[Helizabug]

If you want to stick with PT, maybe set some ground rules at the start:

1. Stop when I say stop.
2. No more trauma for my knee.
3. I will work for progress at a pace appropriate and therapeutic for MY knee by being mindful of

• the difference between discomfort and pain
• the difference between symptoms that ease with movement and a little rest and symptoms that don’t
• the difference between my goals and the benchmarks set by people who only look at the aggregate and don’t know me and my knee(s)

Those ground rules might not be right for you, but I think it’s good to have some that you can stand by. Maybe that clarity will help everyone set reasonable expectations for working together.

 

[Suz]

@Arielyn If your sister, for whatever reason, can't be with you tomorrow, consider rescheduling your appointment. Making decisions that benefit you and your recovery is when you start feeling empowered and 'in-charge' of your recovery! You just don't feel well and will call to reschedule in the coming days. Enhance the truth?!

I live in a remote location with only one OS. I'm just a patient to them that if being seen that day, comes up on a print out. In fact, it's a bit off-putting to go through a surgery like this and then feel completely neglected for 6wks afterwards. I feel even now I'm not to need anything from them for 6wks. And to prove my point, my OS had no problem prescribing Tramdol for pre-surgery pain 4 months prior to surgery. I filled my 'take as needed' prescriptions primarily to make sure I had it on hand post-op, 'if needed'. I already knew from the past that pain-relief would not be as much of a concern post-op.

During my last replacement I begged for a few additional weeks before an MUA. Thank God he heard my plea. After seeing how my knee responded to just a few more weeks of rest, ice, elevation and uncomfortable but not painful exercises in 2016, I know what's best for my newly replaced knee today.

If when I see him at my 6wks recovery date he recommends an MUA I won't beg this time. I will state I prefer more time to recover. He may not like it, but he'll move on past thoughts of me within minutes after our visit! And that will be that!

Your OS's PA performed a 'Manipulation Without Anesthia' and didn't have the professionalism to inform you of what was about to happen. Unforgivable. Now you have us, your sister, snuggles with your fur-baby, life is good!

Nobody needs to touch your knee day after tomorrow if you aren't feeling well! Even when you're resting, icing & elevating, this recovery is still a lot of mental & physical work. There is no room for 'any' guilt for rescheduling follow-up appointments until you feel better. Be Brave and Keep it Positive!

 

[tlfiore]

@Arielyn I literally cried when I read your thread and posts. I totally relate to all you are going through, I do. I wish there was something I could say, or do to make you feel better and take away your pain. Your fear and apprehension about all of this leap from the page and I get it, I really do. I'm currently in a state of ultra-high anxiety and I cannot seem to have faith & confidence, settle down.

My OS brought up a MUA during our last visit. The news brought me to tears because I thought I was progressing nicely. Again, this rhetoric about "you should be at 100º flexion at this point and if you are not at least at 120º flexion by January 7th when I see you again, we're scheduling a MUA," seems to be standard operating procedure by OS and PT alike...so I'm told. It's awful. I have been in a heightened state of anxiety, apprehension and fear since that second post-op visit, which was on December 17th.

I've always had trust issues with certain folks. And having worked in health care as a Nurse Practitioner my entire life, I have an intimate knowledge of the way the inner-mechanisms work within the industry...it's not always pretty. So, I've not quite made my mind up yet about my OS but overall, I'm not a huge fan.

I'm petrified that if I refuse the MUA, I'll be crippled for life. Yet, deep-down I know a MUA is not necessarily required 'cause I DO see where I am making slow but significant progress in ways both related and unrelated to ROM...stride, gait, unassisted walking, pain levels, sleep, ADLs, general movement, endurance, etc.

Please keep posting and let us support and help you. There are very caring and knowledgable people here who can provide a lot of assistance and advice.

 

[Tykey]

Please let your husband know that whilst I'm patiently waiting for Santa, I'm drinking a pint of Adnams - wonderful medication

I'll toast you both!