crap - knee surgery required :-(

gkerr4

well - my knee's have been dodgy since Xmas - kind of clunky and weak feeling with a habit of locking and then popping back.

got worse during january when I did a lot of walking on a visit to London and then again in late feb for no real reason so of to the docs

MRI scan was arranged within a fortnight - just got the results and called into the docs.

"you have a tear in your meniscus - cartiledge damage basically - you need surgery to correct this - to repair the meniscus. At your age it isn't going to repair itself (?) you just need it 'done'"

damn...

I have an appointment with the consultant / surgeon next wednesday at a private clinic (through the NHS - how quick is that!!) and it could be done within a week of that appointment if I want it to.
Problem is, I have a family holiday in the 20th May - taking the girls to disneyland - asked doctor about that she said to discus it with the surgeon as it might be worse to do a lot of walking on it injured than in the recovery phase.

interestingly she told me to keep the cycling up as long as it doesn't hurt - said that keeping exercise going would keep the muscles in shape and help stabilize the knee. No impact sports though - or carrying heavy stuff and try to avoid twisting on it etc..

i'm really quite down about this - and quite scared too. anyone any experiences to share (positive only at this stage please.... I'm too low to hear the scare stories..)


:-(

popette

aw, sorry no experience at all but just wanted to wish you all the best for a successful op and recovery. Keep cycling

pdstsp

I had a knee problem seven years ago caused on rugby field and the surgeon thought I'd done my cartliage so decided to have a look (in those days the wait for mri was six months but only four weks for surgery!) Operation was great - no cartilage damage but lots of crap in the knee which he cleared out and right as rain.

In at 8 am - sleep at 9.30 home at 1.00 pm beer at 8 last one against docs orders!

Don't fret - the thing is quite straightforward and they do get you moving as soon as possible after the operation. I was not allowed to walk for 24 hours but then told to keep moving but obviously avoid impact - I wasnt cycling at that time so no idea what the advice re bike would be. However if you can walk you can cycle right?

Good luck - and you can always hire yourself a buggy at disneyland and get your girls to puish you round!!

robbarker

i've had it done. Absolutely nothing to worry about, you'll be back on your feet and out on the bike in no time.

The thing you must do is get some good physio afterwards - pay for it yourself if necessary. The knee and leg muscles take a while to "rewire" themselves and the right treatmant and regime of specific exercises is vital to a quick, complication-free recovery.

gkerr4

thanks guys and poppette -very supportive thank you.

Rob - I intend to get good physio - i want as little 'down time' as possible - not just for the bike, but also for the family. I have two very young daughters to look after and be with so this will drive me on too.

Ruari

I had the same thing, though was first diagnosed as a 'sprained ligament'. Four months and no reduction in pain, with muscle atrophy starting, they decided to send me to an orthopeadic surgeon.
Five minutes of his time and I was booked in for an arthroscopy (made three small incisions around the knee, poked a camera in, and fixed what was neccessary) Operation was a success, had to have extensive physio to remedy the muscle loss, but cycling was recommended, as was swimming.
Six years later, my knee is still fine and I'm addicted to cycling!
I do work my knees hard regularly, being a paratrooper (loadsa kit to hump around), but knee has always been ok.
You'll feel much better after your op, and considering you probably have minimal muscle atrophy, you won't be out of action too long.

Good luck!

oldwelshman

robbarker wrote:

i've had it done. Absolutely nothing to worry about, you'll be back on your feet and out on the bike in no time.

The thing you must do is get some good physio afterwards - pay for it yourself if necessary. The knee and leg muscles take a while to "rewire" themselves and the right treatmant and regime of specific exercises is vital to a quick, complication-free recovery.

I also had " a few" of these unfortunately.
These days with arthroscopy recovery is very fast and I was up and walking hours after the op, they will not let you home until you have walked a bit and had a pee
Sorry to contradict Rob but my experience on my last op was that the physio was a waste of money.
My last op recovery was slower than the others due to more damage and I had restricted leg movement and after 6 weeks of physio was no better. As I was not in pain I joined a gym and did some light weights, some cross training and basic stretching exercises and in two weeks improved my leg flexibility and was able to resume playing squash.
I am not saying that physio does not work in some cases, but it can be expensive when a lot of the time it is basically stretching and massage

oldwelshman

Oh, and just to show it was not a money issue, I was covered for physio through private health cover so money was not the issue for me