Some background:
I'm a 41-year-old female who has been pretty active through my 30's (running, Crossfit, Orange Theory) without any issues except the occasional IT band tightness.
I went for a run this past spring and felt an odd ache on the inside of my left knee. After an Xray and an MRI it was confirmed that I had a meniscus tear and an osteochondral lesion on the medial femoral condyle. The doctor said the injury looked a few years old and was not caused by a sudden impact activity. It was decided that I should have surgery to clean up the meniscus and have a microfracture procedure done on the lesion.
When I woke up from surgery the surgeon said the articular cartilage was soft, but intact and looked healthy so he did not proceed with the microfracture. He removed roughly 15% of my meniscus. I was elated because that meant a quicker recovery. Recovery was still not easy as most of you here know well. I had PT 2-3 times a week and made about a 90% recovery in three months. I still can not bend into a full squat or do any activities that required being on my knees, but other than that I felt great. I had some residual soreness near one of the incisions and the surgeon said it was just inflamed still and healing from surgery. He said that goes away typically at the 3 months mark.
Four months post-op the pain was increasing again. I had another MRI. The MRI showed that the articular cartilage area lesion had not grown larger or changed and was still intact. However, it showed that the bone underneath was severely inflamed with edema. He cannot explain why everything seemed fine with no pain and now this happened suddenly. I have not increased my activity level and have not attempted running activities. He now recommends an allograft with donor bone/cartilage to replace that spot. The recovery process he laid out was long and painful. Roughly a year.
Now, I know a lot of you have gone through MUCH MUCH worse, but the last surgery almost broke me. I am very independent and I could barely stand being non-weigh bearing on crutches for two weeks and stuck doing nothing for months. The allograft surgery would be six weeks on crutches and then starting over again at zero for PT, which I just finished gaining strength and flexibility back in my leg. I do not think I can handle the mental and physical pain.
So I feel lost and helpless. I am looking for advice on any other options for surgery. I do not know how long the knee will hold out in its current state and if the bone will continue to decline. I want to know the best way of maintaining a healthy knee for the rest of my life. I also would like to avoid full replacement if I can.
I'm a 41-year-old female who has been pretty active through my 30's (running, Crossfit, Orange Theory) without any issues except the occasional IT band tightness.
I went for a run this past spring and felt an odd ache on the inside of my left knee. After an Xray and an MRI it was confirmed that I had a meniscus tear and an osteochondral lesion on the medial femoral condyle. The doctor said the injury looked a few years old and was not caused by a sudden impact activity. It was decided that I should have surgery to clean up the meniscus and have a microfracture procedure done on the lesion.
When I woke up from surgery the surgeon said the articular cartilage was soft, but intact and looked healthy so he did not proceed with the microfracture. He removed roughly 15% of my meniscus. I was elated because that meant a quicker recovery. Recovery was still not easy as most of you here know well. I had PT 2-3 times a week and made about a 90% recovery in three months. I still can not bend into a full squat or do any activities that required being on my knees, but other than that I felt great. I had some residual soreness near one of the incisions and the surgeon said it was just inflamed still and healing from surgery. He said that goes away typically at the 3 months mark.
Four months post-op the pain was increasing again. I had another MRI. The MRI showed that the articular cartilage area lesion had not grown larger or changed and was still intact. However, it showed that the bone underneath was severely inflamed with edema. He cannot explain why everything seemed fine with no pain and now this happened suddenly. I have not increased my activity level and have not attempted running activities. He now recommends an allograft with donor bone/cartilage to replace that spot. The recovery process he laid out was long and painful. Roughly a year.
Now, I know a lot of you have gone through MUCH MUCH worse, but the last surgery almost broke me. I am very independent and I could barely stand being non-weigh bearing on crutches for two weeks and stuck doing nothing for months. The allograft surgery would be six weeks on crutches and then starting over again at zero for PT, which I just finished gaining strength and flexibility back in my leg. I do not think I can handle the mental and physical pain.
So I feel lost and helpless. I am looking for advice on any other options for surgery. I do not know how long the knee will hold out in its current state and if the bone will continue to decline. I want to know the best way of maintaining a healthy knee for the rest of my life. I also would like to avoid full replacement if I can.