Arthroscopic surgery.. ???

[dodukes]

I was just wondering how many of you on here have had this done and what was your experience like?
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Background:
I've had knee pain for a loooong time but its usually just slighlty bothersome and it only really acted up about a couple times a year where it was really bad. I have let it go because quiet honetly it didnt seem like a big deal. Well since Dec. of last year I ve had pretty constant pain in the knee, no matter what i did it didnt seem to go away. After activity it was excruciating.

I finally went to an orthopedic surgeon who took some xrays and I did an MRI last week. The first meeting he said he suspected chromomalacia patella and gave me some exercises but that he wanted to do the mri to have a better look. I had my followup yesterday and well lo and behold i have what he said was normallish wear or my cartilage but I have a tear in my meniscus that is causing fluid to leak out but it cant get back in therefore forming a cyst.

He recomended I do arthroscopic surgery and I have been scheduled for after labor day.

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I just wanted to get a feel for what people who have had this go thru for recovery. I have an active job and I would have to be at least walking 2 weeks after the surgery for that. How long did you guys take? Also where you able to drive? Do you recomend I do it for this, I think the idea is to repair the tear rather than remove but I am going to call and ask again along with some other ?'s I had because of course I have been googling(bad idea) and it doesnt seem good to take out parts of it. Has anybody had a meniscal cyst here?

I just have a ton of anxiety maybe over this...lol. My friend said to get a second opinion but I feel that he is correct in the diagnosis since everything i have googled before and after seeing him relate to meniscus issues and my sympstoms pretty much match up. I also chose to go to a high profile doc who operates and deals with pro athletes for that same reason, i didnt want to be doubting too much of what was discovered.

Anybody have any stories?? anything to share, i am just so unsure and I dont want to make it worse than it is now, but the thought of having no pain in doing my daily things is very attractive!..lol

 

[brerrabbit]

I have had it on both knees and it was fine. Was walking the next day because it is not invasive at all. While doing the second knee they found I had degenerative cartledge and suggested a cartiledge transplant. They take cells form the knee grow them in a lab and then open up the knee sew a patch over the area and inject the cells. They then grow into cartiledge. This surgery the third one was not fun. No weight on the leg for six weeks. Rehab, pain and a long recovery. It was worth it though because without it I was facing knee replacement in five years.

 

[ntsammy5]

I had it 5 times on a knee that was badly injured when I was in high school - I never had any problems with the surgery and was generally running again within 4 weeks. I had a TKR a couple of years ago and now no more running, but no more swelling or pain either.

 

[dodukes]

Ok so this sounds like a pretty simple procedure. Sounds like I should be walking fine fairly quickly afterward. How about driving?
I guess I am just overly anxious from too much googling and the thought of being immobile for a few days...lol.......

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

I have had 4 on both knee's. from what I hear most people I know have had the experience as above stated. People able to walk well within a few days. Mine however did not go good (crutches for 6 months after) and still cannot walk. BUT.....that is because my knee's are beyond repair and I need knee replacements. Not to mention one of my knee's is sticking out of the side of my leg!
so I think you will be just fine, unless of course you have all the crap wrong with yours as mine are!
good luck!

driving you should be fine, which side is it? Also, It might help to have a stool for the shower if your shower does not have a seat. I did have problems the first few days with this.

 

[dodukes]

I have had 4 on both knee's. from what I hear most people I know have had the experience as above stated. People able to walk well within a few days. Mine however did not go good (crutches for 6 months after) and still cannot walk. BUT.....that is because my knee's are beyond repair and I need knee replacements. Not to mention one of my knee's is sticking out of the side of my leg!
so I think you will be just fine, unless of course you have all the crap wrong with yours as mine are!
good luck!

driving you should be fine, which side is it? Also, It might help to have a stool for the shower if your shower does not have a seat. I did have problems the first few days with this.

This is what freaks me out, that I will not recover smoothly and will have a long time to heal and with work its jus tnot feasible. I dont think mine are that bad, i mean i do things thru the pain now even tho it hurts like crapola!! The dr said crutches for about 1 week and then should be fine in 6 but lke you mentioned like the people above most everything I have read its either good within the week or long time like yours. sigh....

Its on my right knee which is my driving leg..lol

wow thanks for the tip on the stool for shower, i havent given it much thought other than im suposed to go back to dr the day after surgery to get the bandages removed and what not and then she said i could shower after that. I guess is didnt think about the fact that I cant go in there with my crutch...lol. food for thought, thanks!!

 

[mamacatnv]

I am sitting here wrapped in an ace bandage with an ice pack - I had my Meniscus repaired yesterday. I also had a "significant" tear in my ACL that the Dr. "shaved" off.

Surgery was yesterday at approx. 1:30 p.m. and I was home by 4. I woke up in a lot of pain that was promptly addressed. I will say that last night into this morning it has been much more painful than I had anticipated. However, at about 2 this morning we discovered the magic cocktail - Vicodyn and Advil. Controls the pain without nausea that the larger dose of Vicodyn was causing.

The biggest issues are getting in/out of my recliner and on/off the potty. I was told to stay off it for 3 full days (use crutches to bathroom etc) and that I can bear weight on it but to keep it elevated as much as possible. I will begin physical therapy next week.

My Dr is concerned about the ACL but says the Meniscus is an easy fix and an easy heal.

Send me a PM if you are interested and I will keep you aprised of my healing progress. I did schedule myself off of work for a week so I am hanging out in my recliner with my laptop and my phone

 

[monkey68]

If they repair the meniscus, then you should expect to be on crutches for a while. But, there is a poor blood supply to the meniscus, and most people don't have a tear where there is good blood supply, so usually, they just shave off the part of the meniscus causing the problem and reshape it a bit, which is why afterwards, most people do really well as far as pain goes. If the doc thinks you'll only need to be on crutches for a short time, chances are he's just going to remove where the tear is. But call to be sure.

 

[D&R love Disney]

I had it to remove floating cartilage caused by osteocondritis discans.

Only had a local, went in at 1:45 and my Mom picked me up at 4:00 pm. Hardly any pain at all and had a few stitches since Doctor had to make the opening larger since the cartilage was very large that was floating. Drove after a few days and was walking without the crutches after a few days.

Good luck with your surgery.

 

[maxiesmom]

If they repair the meniscus, then you should expect to be on crutches for a while. But, there is a poor blood supply to the meniscus, and most people don't have a tear where there is good blood supply, so usually, they just shave off the part of the meniscus causing the problem and reshape it a bit, which is why afterwards, most people do really well as far as pain goes. If the doc thinks you'll only need to be on crutches for a short time, chances are he's just going to remove where the tear is. But call to be sure.

That is what I had done. The pain was minimal, and they actually let me put some weight on my leg the same day. I just had to help that leg with crutches a little. I couldn't drive for almost a month though, it was my right knee, and you dont want to be using it that much too soon.

I work retail, and I had to take a month off. Then I worked half days for a couple of weeks. But I work in a store where we run ourselves silly too.

 

[dodukes]

I am sitting here wrapped in an ace bandage with an ice pack - I had my Meniscus repaired yesterday. I also had a "significant" tear in my ACL that the Dr. "shaved" off.

Surgery was yesterday at approx. 1:30 p.m. and I was home by 4. I woke up in a lot of pain that was promptly addressed. I will say that last night into this morning it has been much more painful than I had anticipated. However, at about 2 this morning we discovered the magic cocktail - Vicodyn and Advil. Controls the pain without nausea that the larger dose of Vicodyn was causing.

The biggest issues are getting in/out of my recliner and on/off the potty. I was told to stay off it for 3 full days (use crutches to bathroom etc) and that I can bear weight on it but to keep it elevated as much as possible. I will begin physical therapy next week.

My Dr is concerned about the ACL but says the Meniscus is an easy fix and an easy heal.

Send me a PM if you are interested and I will keep you aprised of my healing progress. I did schedule myself off of work for a week so I am hanging out in my recliner with my laptop and my phone

WOW, that sounds serious! Yeah mine is definetly not that intense or I would have to wait because of work. I am definetly liking the haning out part...lol... good luck with the healing, I will PM you if i think of anything, I think right now Im just having needless anxiety over this cuz its a week away

If they repair the meniscus, then you should expect to be on crutches for a while. But, there is a poor blood supply to the meniscus, and most people don't have a tear where there is good blood supply, so usually, they just shave off the part of the meniscus causing the problem and reshape it a bit, which is why afterwards, most people do really well as far as pain goes. If the doc thinks you'll only need to be on crutches for a short time, chances are he's just going to remove where the tear is. But call to be sure.

I guess I didnt think of it that way. Honetly I dont care what he does as long as it doesnt hurt afterward, I cant imagine that pain can get any worse altho im sure it can but im not going to think that it. I am going to call just to find out. Interesting that you say that a repair will be worse off than complete removal.

I had it to remove floating cartilage caused by osteocondritis discans.

Only had a local, went in at 1:45 and my Mom picked me up at 4:00 pm. Hardly any pain at all and had a few stitches since Doctor had to make the opening larger since the cartilage was very large that was floating. Drove after a few days and was walking without the crutches after a few days.

Good luck with your surgery.

I'm liking this recovery time..lol...no seriously thats quick she told me I should expect to be there around 7 hours. I wish it was that quick.

That is what I had done. The pain was minimal, and they actually let me put some weight on my leg the same day. I just had to help that leg with crutches a little. I couldn't drive for almost a month though, it was my right knee, and you dont want to be using it that much too soon.

I work retail, and I had to take a month off. Then I worked half days for a couple of weeks. But I work in a store where we run ourselves silly too.

Wow you couldnt drive a month?? Is that normal and to be expected? There is no way that I could be out that long. I have a game to work 13 days later and i drive around 80 miles roundtrip for work 3-4 times a week.




anyway thanks you guys for advising me of your different recoveries and surgeries. I think i am just way too worried and since I have to be at work, no choice, I worry extra specially more.......i think i just need to stop worrying, i dont think my knee is that bad and just hope for a fast and good recover time, positive thoughts...lol....