How to Avoid a Third MUA (Bruce’s Story in Texts)
When 25% of knee replacement patients who have the procedure known as the MUA (Manipulation Under Anesthesia) need to have a second one you know that the procedure is highly flawed at solving a knee bending problem. For Bruce the job was to avoid a THIRD MUA. To make sure his knee recovery did not just go on and on we brought in the big guns… our X10 Knee Recovery System™. The X10 program is comprised of three primary components:
- The X10 Machine placed in a patient’s home
- The X10 Recovery Coach (in this case, me… PJ Ewing)
- “The X10 Companion” (personalized email series)
The story of Bruce’s dramatic recovery can be seen as it happens in the text messages we shared. I hope you can see the heart and strength and commitment Bruce made to getting this knee working again in the exchange below.
Day 1, Getting Started
The MUA was early on Wednesday, August 9. It was scheduled at The Rothman Institute, about two hours from Bruce’s home. Dr. Rothman was only able to get to 110º in the MUA procedure. This meant that the best bend that Bruce was likely to see was 110º. As a reference that was going to be barely enough to ride a stationary bike. These were the cards we were dealt so we were just going to have to live with 110º as our ultimate goal. On the first day, the day of the MUA, Bruce got on the X10 machine in the evening for one brief session. At the end he got to 58º.
Early Days, Good Progress
Lots of Optimism, Still Early
Extension (see the 0º shown in Bruce’s photos of the X10 screen) was clearly not a problem. We were ready to adjust the X10 to focus solely on flexion (shown in orange). Good progress for Bruce’s quest to avoid a third MUA. We were feeling great!
Quad Spasm, Bruce’s Recovery is Interrupted
Everything was going well and we switched our strategy to focus just on flexion when… it hit! Muscle spasm in the quads. His quadriceps muscles just locked up.
This had been the big problem in the past, and we all were immediately worried that this was going to derail Bruce’s seeming positive recovery to date.
His numbers crashed and Bruce spoke with our P.T. to check in. He applied heat to the muscles but that did not work at first. He took a muscle relaxer… again no immediate effect.
He kept at it, having learned from past experience on this nemesis to his recovery… and we watched, and waited. Early in the recovery our quest to avoid a third MUA was in jeopardy.
Quad Spasm Under Control (sort of), Rebounding…
When recovery goes wrong: the failed knee and MUA — Read More
Now Seeing Real Progress
Day by Day Progress. We started to believe that Bruce could get to his ultimate goal of 110º, what Dr. Rothman got in the MUA. Bruce was inspired, dedicating himself to his three daily sessions on the X10.
What if…
All along the way we were looking at 110º as the goal because of the results of the MUA. But what if Bruce could do better? What if he could beat the MUA numbers? He was starting to believe that he could, and was dragging me along for the ride. Just maybe…
When Bruce reached 110º we were all joyful! You can just feel it in our text messages… a huge milestone – riding a stationary bike was now doable… Bruce was on a clear path back to normal life.
Not done yet
In the end Bruce blew away his goals… getting to 126º range of motion. He was able to avoid a third MUA… and then some. In his own words you can see Bruce approached this knee bending problem like he approaches life… with perseverance and hard work… with the result being success! Watch our brief interview below to learn more about Bruce’s journey.
post script: By the way lunch with Bruce and his wife, Cathy, was delicious on the day of the pickup. I am so glad to have met them both and to have participated in such a great story of recovery!
