Well, I had my MRI follow-up yesterday for my right knee. He said that everything he sees, there technically isn't a stress fracture, but he called it a "stress reaction". There's a spot of cartilage gone from my knee that he thinks is rubbing on the top of the tibia and causing irritation (he explained in detail the images of my knee which really helped me understand more of what is going on).
This spot/irritation "could" turn into a stress fracture (esp. if I started running, jumping and doing high impact things - ha! that's not going to happen!).
So, there is nothing surgical to do for this. I was told, just give it more time. Stay on the crutches for now, but I can switch to 1 crutch or cane. He said to let pain be my guide. The unfortunate thing is that he said I could get these "flare ups" periodically for who knows how long.
The good news is that the joint space in my knee looks good and he said I don't need a knee replacement and if the joint space continues to look OK, may never need one.
Because cartilage doesn't "heal" or regenerate, nothing can be done. Unless someone comes up with a STEM cell transplant,etc. which is where a lot of the research focus is these days, that would be the only procedure which could potentially fix the issue. He did say they are going to be starting a STEM cell research study for people with knee arthritis in the next few months. I said I would be happy to particpate! But, alas, because I've had a prior surgery on this knee and my joint space is good, he didn't think I would qualify. oh well, it was worth a try!
If the pain becomes too bad, he said he could consider doing a cortisone injection, but cortisone slows down the healing process. (so he wouldn't consider an injection for another few months).
All in all, I was happy that it isn't anything worse! And he did say that (depending on my pain) I can get back to low-impact activities probably in July!
Hope everyone has a great Thursday and weekend!
And Happy Mother's Day on Sunday to all the Moms/Grandmothers, etc.!