My Meniscus Surgery Experience

[RedWeb]

I'm one day out from undergoing a "minor" arthroscopic procedure to remove a torn portion of the meniscus from my left knee and having both my knees cleaned out. I thought doing this thread might provide a benefit to others who face the same type of situation. I'll add updates as I progress and try to keep it up to date.

Here's some background information...

I'm a 55 year old male who has played tennis for about 5 years now. During that time I have also been very active with yoga and general fitness training. I had to sit out about a year of total time due to L4-L5 herniated disk issue. I'm 6'3" tall and my weight goes from 200-210 lbs. Due to disk and ankle issues I gave up running (other than on court) about 3 years ago. I've never had any significant knee issues during my life (including years I played basketball in HS, college and into my 40s). The video link below shows me at a practice session last summer so you can get an idea of my health and game (I'm a 3.5 player).

http://www.youtube.com/user/RonaldCJones?feature=mhum#p/u/8/vYcWue8u9LI

For the last 6 months I've been fairly inactive due to moving to a new house and work demands. There was no specific incident when I injuried my left knee but I do recall several tweeks that happened on and off the court over the past 3 months. Then about 6 weeks ago I was hitting an overhead and almost fell down as it felt like someone stabbed me in the back of left knee with knife. Since then my knee has been in constant pain (primarily in the back and outside of knee) that varies from 3-8 on a 10 scale. I tried to play a couple of matches since that time and it was pretty much me dragging my left leg around the court.

So after a visit to GP where it was determined that the knee itself was fairly stable I visited the orthropedic surgeon and had an MRI done on my left knee. The findings are summarized below...

ACL and PCL intact, tendons and ligament intact, marrow signal normal, small joint effusion, no popliteal cyst, mild chondromalacia on patella and lateral tibial plateau, medial meniscus posterior horn degeneration, mild fibrillation of meniscus (suspected source of pain), remainder of lateral meniscus intact.

After further discussion with doctor and the fact that its simply not getting better the green light was turned on to proceed with procedure. The official titles are "Left Knee Arthroscopic Partial Lateral Meniscentomy" and "Bilateral Knee Arthroscopic Chondroplasties". In layman's terms I'm having a portion of the outside of the left meniscus removed and I'm having both knees scrapped and cleaned.

The prognosis is that I'll be back at close to full speed in 4-6 weeks.

 

[RedWeb]

Pre-Op Visit

Yesterday I visited the clinic for my pre-op workup. I gave medical history, was told when to show up on Friday, was fitted for compression stockings (something I was familar with as I have undergone vein stripping previous on both legs), turned down crutches purchase, turned down walker rental/purchase, discussed what the first couple of post-op days would be like. I was also given two prescriptions that needed to be filled prior to the procedure, One was for pain. The second was to keep me from getting an upset stomach when I took the pain meds. I don't have the drug names right now as the prescription is at the pharmacy but I'll provide them later.

As a side note I have been taking meloxicam (Mobic) for about a year to help me deal with my back issues. I knew I'd have to stop taking that at some point prior to the surgery so I'm taking this opportunity to try and quit it altogether. I've been off of meloxicam for about two weeks and it is amazing how much pain that was hiding. I stopped talking it cold turkey, not something that they recommend that you do. It took about 5 days to not feel like my entire body had not been hit by a sledge hammer. I now feel aches and pains that had pretty much been gone since I started taking the medication. The ole right wrist and shoulder are talking to me more now and the deep lower back pain that I had when I first hernidated my L4-L5 is having to be dealt with without meds (yoga, inversion). On the positive side my mental alertness is better as well as my urinary stream (no joke).

 

[RedWeb]

Day -1

I took the dogs (we have 3 rough coat collies) for a long walk last night. Figured it might be the last chance for a week or so. Tonight we take them to dog training so they won't get a walk. One of my mini-goals is to be able to attend dog training again next Thursday (6 days after procedure).

Ever since the meloxicam has left my body I cannot even jog 5 yards without my left knee screaming at me. It was obviously hiding some of the seriousness of the problem. Walking is not a issue but my left knee does stiffen up after about 45 minutes. Icing always helps and I've been doing that after any activity over the past 6 weeks. Over the course of the last two weeks I have totally shutdown and done nothing except walk and ride stationary bike. No yardwork (my paver walkway remains 3/4 complete) or tennis.

 

[charliefedererer]

Yesterday I visited the clinic for my pre-op workup. I gave medical history, was told when to show up on Friday, was fitted for compression stockings (something I was familar with as I have undergone vein stripping previous on both legs), turned down crutches purchase, turned down walker rental/purchase, discussed what the first couple of post-op days would be like. I was also given two prescriptions that needed to be filled prior to the procedure, One was for pain. The second was to keep me from getting an upset stomach when I took the pain meds. I don't have the drug names right now as the prescription is at the pharmacy but I'll provide them later.

As a side note I have been taking meloxicam (Mobic) for about a year to help me deal with my back issues. I knew I'd have to stop taking that at some point prior to the surgery so I'm taking this opportunity to try and quit it altogether. I've been off of meloxicam for about two weeks and it is amazing how much pain that was hiding. I stopped talking it cold turkey, not something that they recommend that you do. It took about 5 days to not feel like my entire body had not been hit by a sledge hammer. I now feel aches and pains that had pretty much been gone since I started taking the medication. The ole right wrist and shoulder are talking to me more now and the deep lower back pain that I had when I first hernidated my L4-L5 is having to be dealt with without meds (yoga, inversion). On the positive side my mental alertness is better as well as my urinary stream (no joke).

I'm sorry to hear you are having such difficulties and need arthroscopic surgery. But thank you for sharing the specifics of your problems, and providing a "diary" of what the procecure involves.

One aspect you mention is stopping meloxicam. Do you think it was more masking symptoms that might have alerted you more was going on, it provided a welcome relief from aches and pains, or a bit of both?

In any event, good luck with your procedure. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

 

[RedWeb]

Thanks for the well wishes, Charlie.

One aspect you mention is stopping meloxicam. Do you think it was more masking symptoms that might have alerted you more was going on, it provided a welcome relief from aches and pains, or a bit of both?

The meloxicam was definitely masking the full extent of knee pain. There is no way I could of played those two final matches without it. Even then I was pretty much dragging the leg around. I was stupid to play those matches. I ended up having to default my final match of the season and drop out of playoffs (Ultimate tennis league).

Since day one I have always been concerned about taking meloxicam long term, for various well documented reasons, and swore I would get off of it. For me the drug did wonders and, in retrospect, allowed me to push my 55 year old body harder than I should of. I was taking 15mgs/day (2 7.5 mg tablets). Over the course of the past year there were periods when I would only take it 3-4 days a week.

But after moving into my new house (December) I was doing all sorts of things (attic work, masonary work, new room construction) pretty much gunho for 3 months. During that period I had to take it every day just to be able to get out of bed. I have very little cartlidge in my thumbs and the drug helped me deal with lower thumb joint pain as well. One big factor during this time was that I also fell away from my normal fitness activities and I think that cost me dearly.

Meloxicam is a wonderful drug. But for every benefit there is a price to be paid. I never suffered with any type of digestive issues with it and that is what a lot of people complain about. It definitely did effect my sleep. I did not get less sleep. It was just that my dream experiences were much more frequent and vibrant. Not in a nightmare type of way however. After a night of sleep I would usually wake up with watery eyes and have a slight feeling of disconnection from the world.

Since I have stopped taking the drug my dreams are less frequent and I do feel a little more alert. I'm sure each person who takes the drug reacts in different ways so my experiences may not be those someone else deals with.

IMHO, meloxicam is good for dealing with issues short term. But I won't be nervous about taking it long term, especially if I was older. My doctors pretty much feel the same way.

 

[rudester]

Had lateral meniscus procedure done on feb. 7th, i can relate, and wish you the best.

 

[matt.flynn60]

Hang in there man and good luck. Tearing the meniscus is worse than tearing the ACL.

 

[RedWeb]

Hang in there man and good luck. Tearing the meniscus is worse than tearing the ACL.

Have to politely disagree with you on this. I was involved with high-level soccer for many years as a parent, coach and referee seeing my share of knee injuries. I'm sure there are degrees of injury but in general ACL rehab takes a lot longer than meniscus. Could you expound on your statement?

My own youngest son, who played for the nationally know Texans club, had to deal with a torn ACL at 16 and the 6 month rehab was torture even for his young body and he is twice the athlete that I am (he got the best gene combination from his mother and I, other than the height part). If something of that magnitude is ahead of me I am greatly undereducated about what I'm facing.

Had lateral meniscus procedure done on feb. 7th, i can relate, and wish you the best.

Rudester, thanks for the encouragement. Where are you in your rehab?

 

[RedWeb]

Surgery Day Morning

Should of gotten up during the night as its 8AM and I'm already feeling dehydrated. No food or drink after midnight but since my procedure is not until noon the doctor told me I could drink water up until 5AM or so. But I slept through the night having gone to bed about 11.

I'll leave the house around 10:30 and drive through the pharmacy to pick up my meds. Got to pull my ice machine out of the attic here shortly. Its a cool little ice chest that has a pump inside that pushes ice water through a tube into a cooling area. I'm sure I'll be using it a lot over the next few weeks.

 

[charliefedererer]

Good luck with the arthroscopy today! I hope all goes well.

 

[rudester]

Hang in there man and good luck. Tearing the meniscus is worse than tearing the ACL.

I think i know the basis for this statement having had 2 ACL surgeries which included trimming of the mensicus on both, as well as the more recent torn meniscus procedure. The thing about a repaired ACL is that the end result can be very successful, although the ACL rehab is indeed very long and difficult.
The end result of meniscus procedure depends on the extent of damage and the type and location of the tear. The prognosis runs a continuum of excellent to not so good. Hopefully yours will be minor and you will be back on the courts soon. My most recent arthroscopy was done on Feb.7th, I was back on the courts hitting balls in 3 weeks and played a tournament 8 weeks later, in my case i waited too long to get it repaired and have some arthritis. I am able to play tennis at this time but still have to manage how much i play. After the ACL rehab however, i found the rehab for the meniscus incredibly easy. There were about 3 days after surgery where i was not enjoying myself much, but after that every day was improvement. Make sure you start an aggressive rehab as soon as possible and stick with it, even when your knee starts to feel better. Some Orthopedic surgeons do not put enough emphasis into rehab, especially if you are older. See that you do this and you will be on the courts very quickly again, let us know how it turns out, and again, best of luck.

 

[RedWeb]

Day 1

Recuperation currently consisting of sitting/laying on the sofa watching Nadal and Murray battle it out. Don't think Murray has the fitness or mental level to close it out. The surgery did not go totally as expected. The doctor ended up finding a tear on the right meniscus as well as the left. However, he said he dealt with that as well. Honestly, I don't remember a lot and I'll be calling him on Monday to get more details.

The operation itself took about an hour. I arrived at the out patient center about 11AM yesterday having driven through CVS to pick up my post surgery meds. The pain killer is hydrocodon-acetaminophin. I also have promethazine to quiet my stomach as the pain med can cause upsets. Typically I don't have that issue but I follow the instructions and take it prior to the pain pill.

After filling out the typicaly paperwork I am taken into a prep area where I disrobe down to my cotton underwears and socks. The hospital gown and cap are quite flattering. The nurse starts an IV in the back of my right hand after fumbling with my big rolling veins a bit. No big deal as I'm use to that and she had deadened the area.

Then my wife was brought in and we proceeded to wait 45 minutes or so for the doctors to come in and give their pre-game speech. I was not happy about have to wait on a uncomfortable dolly for so long but what are you going to do. Things were a little more tense because a 19-year old special needs girl was also preping for surgery and they where having a diffucult time with her regarding anethesia. She was a sweet girl and I felt sorry for her having to undergo what she faced without the mental understanding that allowed for some small pain to help deal with bigger issues. Suddenly my problems are not so big.

The anethesologist stuck a shot in my IV drip and the next thing I remember is waking up in my room. My wife told me the doctor said he had talked to me in the recovery room but I have zero recall of that. After I got dressed I was wheelchaired out to my car. Both knees where heavily wrapped with gauze and I had a compression bandage on both legs. Have to wear this junk for 48 hours and then wear compression socks after that. The initial pain level was a 4 or 5 and things stayed that way until I got home and went to sleep.

We had an surprise waiting us when we got home as we had no power. The big deal was I had to walk up our front stairs because the garage doors would not open. We had driven through Chick-Fil-A to get some food as I was very hungry but I did not eat as much as I thought I would because I was so groggy

I woke up about 7:30 that evening and was walking around gingerly. My main focus was seeing if the pain in the outside and back of my left knee was still there as it had been for over a month. At this point its hard to tell anything and I'll just have to give it some time. I've already started doing some leg lefts and hip adduction exercises but I don't want to over do it.

Well Nadal crushed Murray in the third. Now I'm enjoying the FA Cup semi-final between Manchester United and City. I've been a MU fan for several decades. My ice machine is wonderful as I'm simply switching it from knee to knee with an occasional short break. The heavy gauze is protecting my knee's from getting too cold.

The wife is heating up some salmon so its time to put the keyboard aside. So far so good.

 

[RedWeb]

Picture Of Knees

Its 2PM on Saturday and a little stiffness is starting to set in. The same stiffness that MU showed against City today. Ouch! They simply had nothing in their tanks the second half and when Scholes went off that was all she wrote.

No pain pill since 10AM this morning and I want to last another couple of hours. Below is a picture of my knees. Lovely aren't they. OMG my legs look fat. I have to wear the wrapping and gauze through the weekend then I can take it off and get a shower.

I'm walking around about the same. Trying to sit at my work desk (I work from home) was a little more painful than I would want. I predict more pain to come as I continue with rehab. My stomach is a little upset ever since I had lunch. Hope I don't get constipated.

It was a good day to be cooped up. Lots of sports action on today with tennis, football (Real Madrid and Barca still to come) and NBA playoffs. My wife went to get her hair done so my nurse/slave is not here right now. A man could get use to this lounging around.

 

[mark999]

might want to look at mullein root tincture for your back problems. here's a good link.-http://www.herbcraft.org/mullein.html

 

[RedWeb]

Day 2 (Sunday Morning)

Slept last night without my legs raised on pillows. Much easier on the back. Only took one pain pill through the night. Today overall I feel better but my knees feel kinda a rickety and like they could lock up easily. I'm walking/shuffling fairly easily now. I began the day with a series of ROM exercises, leg lifts, hip exercises.

We have wooden floors so one thing I did was sit on the floor with my legs out in front of me and bottom of feet on ground. My legs were bent with my knee in front. I slid my stocking feet out across the wooden floor and then pulled them back in, grabbing the top of my socks and pulling my legs in toward me as much as I dare.

As soon as I complete my exercises I put ice on the front and back of the knees. I'm fearful that I'll attempt to do to much to soon as I am being fairly conservative in my approach.

I'll be taking the bandages off this evening after a short trip to the YMCA to try and spend a few minutes on a stationary bike. When I get home from that I'll clean up and take the first shower I've had in over 2 days.

Already starting to get a little stir crazy. I'm going to try and catch up on a little work so we'll see how my legs feel after a couple of hours in a chair. I find that anything were I can get my legs above my torso feels good so I frequently lay on the floor and raise my legs onto a sofa, chair or table.

 

[RedWeb]

Day 2 (sunday Afternoon)

My wife has talked me out of going to the "Y" this evening. Maybe it had something to do with what she saw when I took my bandages off as shown in the pictures below.

I was surprised when I saw they did not shave my legs. Guess they don't do that during orthoscopic procedures. I have to say I wasn't expecting the swelling to still be there as much.

The pain level is not very bad. But I'm still bothered by stiffness behind my left knee. I have to tell myself to be patient and not worry to much.

 

[Ken Honecker]

The stiffness behind the knee the knee might be from a Bakers Cyst. I know I have one and for some ungodly reason my doctor simply wouldn't fix it when he scoped my knees.

I sure hope your's turns out better than mine did. I have been doctoring on the darn thing since Oct and still don't get around as well as I did prior to surgery. The last time I was to the doc he looked at me and said we were in uncharted territory since they didn't get guys my size as athletic as I am.

 

[matt.flynn60]

Have to politely disagree with you on this. I was involved with high-level soccer for many years as a parent, coach and referee seeing my share of knee injuries. I'm sure there are degrees of injury but in general ACL rehab takes a lot longer than meniscus. Could you expound on your statement?

My own youngest son, who played for the nationally know Texans club, had to deal with a torn ACL at 16 and the 6 month rehab was torture even for his young body and he is twice the athlete that I am (he got the best gene combination from his mother and I, other than the height part). If something of that magnitude is ahead of me I am greatly undereducated about what I'm facing.




That's just an observation based off of my college football experience, non scientific of course.

 

[RedWeb]

The stiffness behind the knee the knee might be from a Bakers Cyst. I know I have one and for some ungodly reason my doctor simply wouldn't fix it when he scoped my knees.

A Bakers cyst is also known as a popliteal cyst and there was no evidence of any of that going on.

 

[RedWeb]

That's just an observation based off of my college football experience, non scientific of course.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[RedWeb]

Day 3 (Monday)

Tightness and stiffness is getting a little worse, but pain is still not an issue. Went through series of mild exercises this morning and that help. After, I iced on machine for about 30 minutes.

I'm a little pissed that no one has called to follow up with me. One suture seems to have issues as one side has been peeled back a little exposing what lies under the skin. If I don't hear from someone by mid afternoon then I'll be calling them with my concerns.

 

[RedWeb]

Day 3 (Monday Afternoon)

Doctor's office finally followed up with me around noon. Discussed the suture issue, the stiffness behind the left knee issue and what I could/should be doing. Nurse, of course, had to talk to surgeon and call me back. Which she did about 2 hours later.

They said that unless the suture has pus and/or I have fever or pain at the site no need to worry. My days as a leg model maybe over. They also say hard to tell anything long term this short a period after the surgery. Surgeon will due full evaluation on Friday during my first scheduled follow up. They said not to do alot. Just try to get weight bearing on it (ie walking) and do stationary bike if I feel up to it. Any more extensive exercises should be avoided (uh oh). Guess I'll taper off a little. May hit the "Y" bike this evening.

Have taken one pain pill today. At this rate I'll have a two year supply with refills.

 

[RedWeb]

Day 3 (Monday Evening)

Spent 30 minutes at the "Y" free wheeling on a low rider stationary bike. Then did some stretching and 1/2 squats while holding onto a rail. A couple of hours later I feel fine. I'll still probably take a pain pill before I go to bed to help me sleep.

 

[vjmisra]

Best wishes

Hope your recovery is going good. Have patience and follow doctors advice.
I can say that from the my personal experience. I have the similar surgury but on my Righ knee. I was and am an avid tennis player and loves to play almost every day and currently 52 years old.

Surgery was done on 9/11,(yes It was co-incednce, I was amused when I realized it)

Initially pain was sever for few days but then it slowly died and within a week I was without any support. Took me full 8 week to recover but doctor adivce the there will be some minor niggles and I need to give it at least 3-4 months before he would discuss any abnormalities. Now my knee is as good as new and my left knee is complaining to me of discremination.

I hope my story will cheer you up and wish you good luck to your recovery.
VJ-

 

[RedWeb]

I hope my story will cheer you up and wish you good luck to your recovery.
VJ-

Thanks VJ you brought a smile to me just as I was heading to sleep. Will rest better because of your pleasant story.

 

[RedWeb]

Day 4 (Tuesday Afternoon)

My left knee is ALOT stiffer than it has been at anytime since the surgery. I suspect the cycling last night and the fact that I've been working at my desk all day and have not been good about icing it down. The stiffness is at the front and outside of left knee. Not sure just how hard I should work on the tightness.

 

[RedWeb]

Day 5 (Wednesday Evening)

The stiffness in my left knee was about that same but I focused more on stretching and icing today. That helped. There is not a lot of pain associated with the stiffness, until I start stretching and even then is not bad. It just seems weird to have what feels like a tight strap over the top and side of my knee.

I went back to the gym and spent 30 minutes on the stationary bike. I had very limited bruising (2-3 coin size areas) until today. But when I got home that had changed has about 1/3 of my left knee area was showing light bruising on the inside and lower front.

Nothing else new to report.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Do they want you to do the bike so early in your recovery?

I had meniscus surgery, and I tried to do PT-type stuff early. I decided it was making things worse, and I needed to let the swelling go down. I backed off some, and I think it was a wise decision.

 

[RedWeb]

Day 6-9 (Thursday-Sunday)

Sorry for the delay in posting an update. Work and personal matters had to be attended too.

Anyway, I went to the doctor on Friday. He said I was doing well. They took out the 6 stitches (actually one had already come out on its own). He reviewed, and gave me, pictures of both my knees. That was pretty cool. I'll scan those in and post them as quickly as I can. They showed a fairly shredded left meniscus and a slightly torn right one. He explained how he had cleaned things up and removed approximately 10-15% of the left one. He said my knees were in pretty good shape overall but that I did have some signs of arthritis. He said he would not be surprised if I needed knee replacement surgery in 10-15 years if I kept up my current level of activity.

He told me I had limited swelling and that he would not have to drain any fluid. He told me to continue with stationary bike and start adding elipical training, but avoid lunging or squatting activities. I could also do swimming and walking but to avoid any pounding activities, ie tennis, for a few more weeks. They did not give me any specific rehab program to follow and I was a little bothered by that. But he said there was no need for any specific physical therapy protocol or sessions.

He wanted to see me again in a month.

Today (Sunday) after walking the dogs for about 45 minutes my right knee feels a little stiff, but overall its good. If someone put a gun to my head and told me I had to run I don't think the right knee would be an issue. However the left one is not quite there. Over the past 3 days the muscles (tendons, ligaments) on the outside and above the knee continue to be very stiff. I'm unable to totally work this out. The doctor said as long as I had swelling that I'd continue to feel that stiffness. But this is a little weird as its most above the actual knee. I can't massage it away either. The pain is not that intense (4/10).

My plan is to start hitting the "Y" twice a day now and working up my own regiment. Any suggestions are very welcome. I want to be back on the tennis court hitting against a stationary ball machine in 10 tens.

I'm also starting a 21-day cleansing program tomorrow. I need to get back in great shape before the summer heat hits hard.

 

[RedWeb]

Do they want you to do the bike so early in your recovery?

My doctor is definitely a surgeon and not a rehab guy. I've gotten next to nothing in this aspect of the process. He basically said do what you can stand but avoid stomping, lunging, squatting type of exercises. I told him what I have done (as explained in this thread) and he was perfectly fine with it. He said it would be fairly hard to hurt the knee if I avoid the no, no's.

He said my swelling was a little below normal. I work at home so I have been doing a fairly consistent regiment of stretching and icing (with an ice machine). I also have an inversion table, but I've only been going to about 55 degrees and for a few minutes. (I typically hang totally upside down for 10-15 minutes).

 

[RedWeb]

Knee Pictures (Left)

Below are pictures of my left knee.

The shredded looking part is bad.

 

[RedWeb]

Knee Pictures (Right)

Below are pictures of my right knee.

 

[RedWeb]

Day 11 (Tuesday Morning)

All continues to go well. Last night I walked a lot (60 minutes) and did 30 mins on the stationary bike. This time I used the more typical stationary bike that is more like riding a real bicycle. I also moved the resistance from 1 to 4 (scale of 20).

Left knee still remains somewhat sore and bruised. Right knee is feeling good, relatively speaking. I'm taking a pain pill before I go to sleep at night as I think it helps reduce the pain enough to help me sleep. I'm not taking any during the day. I'm no longer using the ice machine and simply use reusable gel packs 2-3 times a day. Continue to do stretching through out the day.

 

[RedWeb]

Day 13 (Thursday Morning)

Knees definitely on the mend now. I'm now able to walk down stairs normally now. Before I kind of had to shuffle to avoid undesired pain. My left knee is still pretty stiff. Things are always worst when I get out of bed in the morning but a little stretching does wonders. I can reduce the tightness/soreness in the area above my left knee by kneading/pinching it with my fingers.

I have dog training again tonight and last week was pretty tough as I had to switch with my wife and take our smallest female collie and give her the larger collie pup (65 lbs). I'm hoping tonight is less painful, and I'm sure it will be.

Wearing jeans today for the first time since the surgery. Tempted to go outside and do a little work but I promised myself to take it easy.

I'm still a little concerned about the slight pain in the back of my knee and the fact that the numbness in my left big toe has not gone away.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Hey, Redweb,

I'm glad things are going fairly smoothly for you. I wanted to share my own recovery experience quickly and in greatly abbreviated form.

I think that at about 10 days, I started going to PT. The goal of PT was to get the swelling down and work on restoring range of motion. It was quite a while (weeks?) before we got the knee to fully straighten.

The other thing I remember is that, in retrospect, I pushed too hard too soon. The conventional wisdom was that meniscus patients could return to activity 4-6 weeks post-op. Being gullible, I believed this.

I think I started doing doubles clinics at 6-8 weeks. The result of that and other aggressive rehab efforts (not under the supervision of a PT) was that I developed chondromalacia patella. This was from a poorly tracking kneecap due to an imbalance of the muscles or whatever around the knee. This caused scuffing of the articular cartilage and a return to PT about 4 months post-op.

It took another round of diligent PT to correct the imbalance and get the knee to stop scraping. This was all way back in 2005 so my recollection is getting fuzzy, but I would say it was over a year before the knee was 100%.

My point in saying all of this is that it might be a good idea to take it easy and focus on restoring range of motion and avoiding swelling. Seeing a PT to evaluate your tracking might be a good plan also.

In my post-op visits, my doc said the same thing your doc said: "You can't hurt the knee, let pain be your guide, blah blah blah." Well, I think that was not good advice because surgeons aren't the best sources of information about recovery. Better advice would have been: "Don't overdo it or push too hard or you might be back to see me sooner than you expect."

 

[Maui19]

I had my left and right knees scoped about a year apart. The right knee (which was done first) was like a training experince for me. It was about a month before I become normally mobile, and then a little longer before resuming all activities. The second time around, I was much more aggressive about my recover. I was doing the stationary bike (with no resistance) on day two after surgery. I remember doing a lot of range-of-motion- exercises and icing it a ton. I wasn't as afraid of reinjuring the knee or any soreness from PT. 20 days after surgery, I was back playing competitive basketball in my local league.

I think the followup is hugely important, and my doc encouraged me to be aggressive. It is too bad your doc doesn't seem to be that involved in the work after the surgery, but it sounds like you are doing well with it. Good luck on your continued recovery!

 

[RedWeb]

Hey, Redweb, I'm glad things are going fairly smoothly for you. I wanted to share my own recovery experience quickly and in greatly abbreviated form.

Cindy, thank you so much for your considerate post. Your experience strikes at the heart of my primary concern - rehabbing appropriately. I'm two weeks out and if I HAD to play a match this weekend I probably could. I am trying to go slow but that is totally against my nature, which you can obviously relate to.

My current general guide is that its painful then I backoff. My primary focus is gaining ROM back then moving forward.

 

[RedWeb]

... Good luck on your continued recovery!

Maui19, glad things went well for you and appreciate you sharing your experiences. I'm probably a little older than you and while I plan to be aggressive I'm going to stretch things out a little more than I would 20 years old.

 

[RedWeb]

Day 14 (Friday Evening)

Its been two weeks since the surgery. The incremental progress I'm making is improving daily. I did over do somewhat today as I helped a friend who is helping me with a paver walkway I'm putting in. But ice and stretching help me feel better. No "Y" workout for me this evening. I'm still not considering yoga yet as I can't even do a proper child pose yet (not enough ROM in my left leg.)

 

[RedWeb]

Day 16 (Sunday Evening)

Ok, I over did it Friday and Saturday. Today was the first day I've felt any stiffness behind my left knee cap. So I decided to take it easy and not do a lot. The last thing I want is to experience any long term effects to my ROM.

I did go to the YMCA and spend 30 minutes on the stationary bike and do some stretching. I also walked the dogs for about 45 minutes. Other than that I was Mr Lazy today and I plan on being that way well into this week. The weather has turned miserable again and is forecast to stay that way for a couple of days. So its a good time just to chill out.

Once again the best thing for the stiffness has been icing and stretching.

 

[Maui19]

Maui19, glad things went well for you and appreciate you sharing your experiences. I'm probably a little older than you and while I plan to be aggressive I'm going to stretch things out a little more than I would 20 years old.

I'm 56, you whippersnapper.

 

[RedWeb]

I'm 56, you whippersnapper.

I'm only a year behind you. But remember...

"It's not the years, it's the mileage."

My odometer has turned over a couple of times.



Stay thirsty my friend.

 

[RedWeb]

Tuesday (Day 18)

Feeling better each day. Most of the soreness is behind my knee caps now and its on the minor side. However, it feels like it would really hurt if I tried to do something like jumping up and down or running. Left knee is starting to feel more like right but still does not have range of motion that right does.

Continuing with normal daily activities and rehab. Still at least a week away from first time back on tennis court. I MIGHT go out this weekend and hit with my ball machine. I'm no longer taking a pain pill before I go to sleep.

Go Mavs!

 

[Cindysphinx]

Bump!

Where did you go, Redweb?

 

[RedWeb]

Monday (Day 24)

Sorry for a lack of posts over the past week.

Its Monday and this week I will hit the tennis court for the first time in almost six weeks (3 weeks pre, 3 weeks post surgery) as one of the USTA teams I'm on has practice tomorrow. It will be good to see some of the guys and get some encouragement. Not sure how much I'll do.

I've worked out pretty hard the past two times I've been to the "Y" including 30 minutes sessions on stairmaster and elliptical machines and some weight training as well as band/tube training. I was amazed how heavy my feet felt when I did legs lefts, etc. Obviously some strength has been lost since the surgery.

I took this weekend off as I visited my mom out of town. That did not help my weight situation either as mom's cooking always beats my will power.

I'd say my right knee is 95%. Very little stiffness or pain. I still have one incession area that is not totally healed. I can kneel on my right knee with all weight. I'd say my left knee is 75%. It is still stiff and I cannot kneel with my full weight on that knee. I can rub both knees very hard with my palms and get about a 3-4 on the pain scale.

Starting this week I'm going to start ramping up to a full recovery workout schedule in an attempt to get back to fighting weight and shape by mid-June. I will also begin doing some interval work on local HS track that has relatively soft surface. I'll ramp up what I've only done lightly up to this point including: hamstring strengthing, leg raises, leg curls, hip flexions, hip adductions, hip abductions, etc.

I feel like I have taken it very easy since the surgery and have in no way worked hard toward a shorter recovery. My focus was always on getting full ROM back and I'd have to say that appears to be happening relatively easily. I'm full on right and 95% on left.

I have a lingering concern regarding the back of my left knee. I have some type of tendonitis there I'm going to have to deal with. The tightness/pain is at the outer/upper part of my calf and goes up into my hamstring. I plan on discussing with doctor during my next visit (next week).

 

[RedWeb]

Monday Evening (Day 24)

Ok, so maybe I'm not ready to do much track work. When I first tried to run this evening I could only go about 25 yards before my left knee started stiffing up and I became concerned. It was not really painful, it just did not feel right.

So that called for about 5 minutes of stretching and walking a couple of laps. After some more stretching I was able to run further and I kept working until I could alternate jogging 110 yards then walking 110 yards. I did about 8 of these stretching frequently. The main issue was a tightness right under my left knee cap.

I've got a ways to go. Back to the gym in the morning.

 

[FloridaAG]

My wife had arthroscopic surgery on her knee 2 weeks ago to address torn meniscus and clean it out. She is 37 years old and a 3.5 tennis player. In 1997, she had full ACL reconstruction on the same knee and about 4-5 years ago had the same procedure done but we do not believe the surgeon fully addressed the problems.

Anyway, surgery went extremely smoothly. She was walking without crutches 2-3 days after surgery. 8 days out she was riding her bike around Key West. Today is day 17 and she is trying to run for the first time this weekend. She is going to see how it feels and perhaps hit tennis for the first time this coming weekend. If not this weekend, next week.

It all depends. We have a friend that was riding his bike around 2 days after his surgery.

 

[Cindysphinx]

After some more stretching I was able to run further and I kept working until I could alternate jogging 110 yards then walking 110 yards. I did about 8 of these stretching frequently. The main issue was a tightness right under my left knee cap.

I've got a ways to go. Back to the gym in the morning.

Yeah, I remember that stage. I would run one minute by my watch, and then walk a while. I wouldn't increase the one minute until the entire minute felt good. As you might imagine, it took a while to get up to 10 minutes of running!

 

[RedWeb]

My wife had arthroscopic surgery on her knee 2 weeks ago to address torn meniscus and clean it out...

Florida, good luck to your wife. Keep us apprised of her progress.

 

[RedWeb]

Thursday (Day 27)

Wow its been 27 days! I figured by this point my knees would be totally back to normal and feel great. That is not the case but I continue to make progress and try not to get down. As stated previously the left knee, where the biggest original problem was, is lagging behind the right. I feel I could do just about anything on the right one and the left is about 75%.

Tuesday, two days ago, was my first time on a tennis court in about six weeks. I felt like it was a few days to soon but things went well. I hit with a friend for about 45 minutes and then played two sets of doubles. I was very careful and did not extend myself at all. Needless to say many balls were not reached. I certainly could not play a match at this point. As soon as I got home I iced both knees down.

The next morning my right knee was fine but the left one was very stiff under the kneecap. I had to do quite a bit of stretching to make it feel better that morning. Wednesday night I went to the "Y" and spent 60+ minutes on the cycle going fairly hard (12/20) doing random hills. The back of the left knee continues to be a worry as it is not "right".

I'll hit the courts again this weekend and see how it goes.