Fix My Knee

I’ll start with a general overview of what happened, when, and how. It all started back when I was a senior in high school. I was young, fit and healthy. I had complained of my right knee occasionally “locking up” on me, but I didn’t complain too loudly. It didn’t seem serious — I would just force the leg straight, and the knee would sort of “pop” back to normal. But at one point it locked up and wouldn’t “unlock.” I ended up having conventional surgery for a torn lateral meniscus cartilage. I was on crutches for a few weeks, then back to normal, and I thought no more about it

Fast forward about 20 years, to 1999. The same knee locked up again, and again wouldn’t “unlock” no matter what. I had an arthroscopic surgery, in which the doc removed a “loose chondral body” (I think that means a piece of cartilage). I was thrilled. Immediately after the surgery, I was able to stand up, walk around, bend the leg, straighten the leg.

Then the doc told me the bad news: I had no meniscus cartilage in there, and had lesions (holes) developing in the articular cartilage. I needed two major, complex and expensive surgeries in order to avoid a knee replacement. I needed them both — either one alone would leave me vulnerable. And I needed them fairly soon, or the lesions would result in full-blown osteoarthritis and it would be too late.

Later on I’ll go into my long battle with the insurance bureaucracy to get this covered. I did eventually get it covered. I had a major open-knee surgery that lasted 4 hours and left me on crutches for about 2 months. Then I had an arthroscopic surgery. Then another open-knee surgery. Then another arthroscopy. Then finally another open-knee surgery. (I think that about covers the surgeries; it’s possible I’ve forgotten one or two.) The first of these and the last of these were planned and expected; the others came about unexpectedly.

That series of surgeries took place in 2000-2001. Today I can climb stairs, ride a bike, rollerblade, water ski, snow ski, pedal my Adventure Island kayak, and do nearly everything else I want to do. I don’t have full 100% contraction, so I cannot squat, nor do I have full 100% flexion. I probably have about 95-96% both ways. The knee is still sensitive, and if I have to kneel, I have to have a pad or cushion of some sort under the knee. Also, I can’t kneel for long periods of time. But in general, there’s little to no interference with activities of daily living, or recreational activities that I enjoy.

It was a long, painful, and costly journey. But I’d do it all again if I had the same choice to make.

Tags: General Knee Surgery //