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MUA UPDATE - MUA determined today...ugh!

If you can hang until next Monday, my oppo Jamie will be back and she has a veritable lexicon of surgeons she could refer to for you. But she's on leave all this week. She's in the US of course
 
@Josephine that would be wonderful! Thank you.

Having said that, I will say I'm a bit tentative about jumping back in for more treatment. I'm in a real quandary as I'm not sure which is worse ... stick with this post op knee, hoping I can adjust, get better with PT, ADL's, etc OR have someone say, "Yep, we gotta fix this thing."

I guess getting another opinion is not a terrible thing, but the thought of going through this again has me a bit uneasy. The first month of recovery was an awful experience, between the relentless pain and constant nausea, and to have to face that again...no thanks! Furthermore, I just turned a corner on that pain (still there, much more tolerable now) and my stomach has finally settled down. I'm working part time again and getting around fine. I'm also starting to walk more, getting in the pool for lane walking and getting out more. I have a 5 year old grandson who's very active and another grandchild on the way. I just want to play with them and not have my life be all about my knee. But then again, I'm only 6 weeks out post surgery, so I guess I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. I would value another opinion, so thank you once again for your help and for the thoroughness of this site. I can see that so many have had hope restored here :angel:
 
Do bear this in mind: having a second opinion does not inevitably mean more surgery. It's just that - an opinion.
 
Knowledge is power, and the more information you have about your knee, and this condition, the better equipped you are to make a decision. No need to rush into anything. That said, why not get another opinion? If this is something that needs to be fixed, might as well know that.

Good to know your pain is less now! Those first weeks can be brutal (I had a bad tummy too, and that was almost worse).
 
I agree with @Josephine it might be very beneficial to get another opinion. I was extremely vaglus before TKR and still have the right one to go. I would be so upset to not have been that way before surgery and then wake up that way. It causes so many problems with gait and balance issues and back problems. I totally understand what you mean about just wanting to get on with your life. Best of luck to you.
 
Of all the dozens of threads, replies and postings I've read here I've seen a fair mix of good and bad regarding MUA. But since I'm still fairly new to the site, I'm sure I've missed something important on the matter.

Doc gave me the choice today to MUA or not. With my knee 7 weeks out, 85 flexion and at 35 (forgive me, not sure if that needs a minus or stand alone) for laying flat, according to PT, I took that option. Naturally, I'm very tentative as I feel I've recently turned a corner on the pain and movement, but it's not enough according to PT and my OS. Last thing I want to do is invite more pain into this process, but if it helps, I can find the courage.

And I was so proud of myself today for being able to cycle completely through on the bike, both forwards and backwards for the first time! I guess I am not making as much progress as I thought I was.

Any thoughts, musings, experience would be greatly beneficial to me at this time. Thank you, kindly.
 
You could wait a few weeks and see how you do---you can have a MUA until 12 weeks. Since you feel that you have turned a corner, perhaps a few more weeks of rest and gentle exercise will make a difference. If not, tiy can awats iot fir a MUA then. I will tag @Josephine so that she can give you the best advice for ab MUA

I am also going to give you the recovery articles we recommend to those who are new to recovery. I think it will have some information that will be important to you. All of the articles are short and easy to read.
 
oops, here are the articles!!

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines. Don’t worry:

1. Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now; they are almost certainly temporary

2. Control discomfort:
rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.​
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. Here is a week-by-week guide for Activity progression for TKRs


The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?

Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key

Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery. While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
​
 
@skigirl Thank you, but I should've added that this is not happening right away. In 2-3 weeks time. I've never heard the whole wait 'til 12 weeks thing, but would love to know more. One other thing, as it regards waiting, naturally I got the whole "the sooner we break up that scar tissue, the better" spiel from the OS. One really walks a fine line with TKR trusting your doc and trusting your instincts!
 
that's fantastic you can do the full rotation on the bike with 85 degrees flexion. i remember previously you mentioned that you had a valgus condition. would this be helped by the m.u.a.? did your surgeon say anything about fixing that?

as for the 12 week "window of opportunity" ~ my surgeon said the same thing. as we've read here, that is not true, at least in most cases. several members here have had very positive outcomes after m.u.a. wishing you all the best in making the decision which is best for you.:flwrysmile:
 
@RadioGal, it's a tough decision. In your case, if you're not in a hurry to return to work, I'd wait. My surgeon tells me that the so-called 12 week rule is a *myth* and that it can be done at any time. If you can manage full rotations on your bike, something tells me you have more than 85 degrees flexion. I may be wrong, but that seems quite unusual? We all read and hear so many conflicting statements about MUA, but one thing I've seen here are quite a few members who seem to have benefitted from it and that's encouraging. Personally, I think a LOT can happen for you over the next few weeks, and you might find you really don't need to do this. If you do need it, then so be it. You've been through TKR, so you'll be well equipped to deal with any fallout.
 
@liam2015 The valgus subject came up today and both my doc and his PA really think it's not an issue. At least one not to be (overly) worried about. He examined my x-rays again, had me walk and said it's there but not showing in my gait, just when I stand. He said it's within "normal" range. With my recent progress, I too am beginning to feel it's not an issue. I had a visiting PT early on bring this up and he made it sound quite alarming, even refusing to allow me to do my PT for the day. He said 15 degrees off, @Josephine measured by way of pic I uploaded and it's definitely much less. Dr. was none too happy with the alarmist PT and immediately ordered outpatient therapy after that. Even the PT I have now is not too worried, so I'm just going to go with the flow and work on getting some more bend in this knee. Thank you for asking.

And @Pheebs52 I suspected the same thing...that I had more than 85 in me. I overheard the PT's assistant say "95" when I was flexing on my own, but then they seemed to have changed that midstream for some unheard reason, saying that was with their "assistance."

Yes, those wicked physical therapists bore down on me today pushing to get extension and then flexion. It actually took me by surprise as I thought I was going to be doing all the work, so wasn't enough time to stop them. And, of course, I've been extremely stiff and sore all day because of it! I think I scared some clients with my gasps and cries, lol, but maybe they'll feel a tad better about their tennis elbow now :heehee:

Thanks for the good word on the MUA. Sounds like it does help some. Still, the thought...
 
RadioGal,
You'll notice that I have merged your newest thread with your original recovery thread. For several reasons, we prefer that you only have one recovery thread:
  • That way, we have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
  • If you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
  • Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.
So please post any updates, questions or concerns about your recovery here. If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.
If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.
How to tag another member; how to answer when someone tags you

Here are the instructions on finding your thread, How can I find my threads and posts? . Many members bookmark their thread, so they can find it when they log on.
 
PTs bearing down on your sore knee may be the cause of swelling and lack of ROM. It seems you may be stuck in a vicious cycle of aggressive therapy leading to swelling which equals no movement of the knee. If you've been on this track for a while I wonder if giving your knee a rest from exercise and therapy would have better results.
 
I'm a recent "survivor" of an MUA, and I came through it well. 'The horror stories about pain and screaming (you have seen them, I'm sure! Scared me to death beforehand.) didn't happen to me. I was quite comfortable afterward. My ROM did improve about 20 degrees after the swelling of the MUA went down.

That said, my surgeon didn't give me a choice, and I found this site after my MUA. I would probably have insisted on waiting a bit before doing it, now that I know I was doing too much aggressive PT and exercise before the MUA and aggravating/prolonging the swelling. I've since really downgraded my exercise, my PT is more gentle, and my ROM is SLOWLY increasing.
 
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