Putting off Knee Surgery

[NYSkiGirl]

OK so I have been putting off knee surgery for two seasons and I think that it's time to bite the bullet...

I have a torn minuscus and degenerating tendons in my quad and patellar tendon, all in my right knee.

It just never seems like the right time as it's either ski season or 1/2 marathon season. I am going to pass on racing this summer, at least long races and have this surgery.

Has anyone had either of these surgeries? Of course I will be having it all done at once but I am looking for recovery times etc.

Thank you in advance Divas. :Cry:

 

[ski diva]

My husband had a torn meniscus repaired. It was a very easy out-patient surgery and the recovery period is not very long. Go for it!

 

[altagirl]

I've had several surgeries for meniscus tears. But I have no idea what they do for "degenerating tendons"? What is the procedure?

Has your surgeon said whether the meniscus will be fixed with a partial menisectomy or a meniscus repair? The resulting recovery time is very different between the two procedures.

 

[atlantiqueen]

My mom had menisectomy at age 58 and was up and about within 4 days.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

I can only comment on the meniscus aspect. My son had medial resection along with patella tendon ACL graft. Outpatient, in and out the door for the whole procedure in 5 hours. He also bore weight on the leg within 2 hours of being in recovery (with immobilizer and crutches).

Good You Tube video of the meniscus repair procedure:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=233ks9P-X2Q

 

[altagirl]

I can only comment on the meniscus aspect. My son had medial resection along with patella tendon ACL graft. Outpatient, in and out the door for the whole procedure in 5 hours. He also bore weight on the leg within 2 hours of being in recovery (with immobilizer and crutches).

Good You Tube video of the meniscus repair procedure:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=233ks9P-X2Q

Note that meniscus REPAIRS are tricky things. If you're lucky and it's in an area that doesn't take a lot of stress, you might be able to put some weight on it in an immobilizer at least right away. BUT - depending on the placement and your surgeons protocol you could be totally non weight bearing for 6 weeks. With my last repair it was at least gradual - totally non weight bearing for 2 weeks, then like 25% the next week in an immobilizer and gradually going up to 100% at 6 weeks. Even with regular PT, you end up with a LOT of muscle atrophy and it's a lot of work rehabbing it.

With the surgery I just had about a month ago - it was a partial menisectomy. They just cut out the torn section and I was able to walk basically right out of the hospital. I was walking normally within a day or two and out XC skiing and mountain biking in about a week to 10 days and never lost any muscle. Very easy to recover from.

But if your surgeon thinks there's a good chance of the repair working - you do want to keep as much of that meniscus in there as you can. The bottom line is that unless you agree ahead of time to just remove it no matter what, you might go in for surgery and not know what he's going to do or what your rehab will be like until you wake up.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

^^^ Indeed - I posted the repair video instead of the resection, which I believe is also posted on You Tube. (I could listen to this doctor's voice all day )

 

[mcguinncat]

I had a Meniscal Repair July 06', but also had the ACL healing response done during the same surgery.. So I was non weight bearing for a period of time, maybe about 4 -6 weeks. I kind of forget. Most recent surgery 7 weeks ago. Same knee.. meniscus repair held up fine, but the new tear was slighly below the repair so my OS snagged that section out, hence a partial menisectomy.I could walk w/o crutches about 5 days later. Not moving very fast, but hey, still no crutches.

 

[Randi]

I really think you should do it as soon as possible and get it over with. Knees aren't something you should be messing around with or waiting on- ESPECIALLY if you're a skier.

 

[Ealexandra212]

The recovery time can really vary on where the meniscus tear is located and whether they remove the tear or try to stitch it back together. I had a bad tear that was in an area the doctor wasn't sure would hold together (poor blood flow), but he did the surgery to try to save it anyway. Because of this, I was not allowed to put any weight on my leg for 6 weeks. I lost a lot of muscle because of this, even with PT and it took a number of months and a lot of work to get it back.

I would find out where the meniscus tear is located and whether your doctor is going to try to repair it or is going to remove the tear. This might give you some indication of the recovery time. Of course, its possible that the doctor won't know fully until s/he does the surgery.

P.S. Even with a pretty major recovery time, I was back to running 5 months later and am in better shape now that I was before the surery.

 

[alaski]

Now that I had an unnecessary knee surgery, I always advise people to not do it unless they can't function the way it is. It sounds like you're getting along OK the way it is if you can still ski and run. Have you taken a good long time off to let things heal up? Six months away from high impact stuff, minimum. If you haven't done that yet, don't jump straight into surgery.

DO NOT BELIEVE the doctors when they say you'll bee 100% within a few months. That is such a lie. You will probably never be 100% again, ever, and it takes much longer to recover than they tell you.

I know this seems very negative and dire, but I wish someone had told me this stuff before I let them stick cameras in my knee. The doctor swore up and down I had a torn meniscus but it turns out I was fine. Now my knee is even MORE messed up, I'm drowning in surgical bills, and no one can tell me why my knee hurt in the first place. I wish I'd never gone ahead with the surgery. :(