MRI Says Torn Cartilage In Right Knee

drjimmy

Regular Member

Joined : Dec 2008

Posts : 110

Posted 6/19/2010 7:18 AM (GMT 0)

Well I finally had the MRI on my right knee, the knee formerly known as the healthy knee. I have had 11 operations on my left knee, starting with 2 operations for torn meniscus and the rest were attempts to re-grow some cartilage replacement & scar management. My left knee has been scraped, drilled, holes poked with surgical ice pick, etc in the hope that some "psuedo" cartilage would form. Otherwise it would remain "bone-on-bone." All throughout, my right knee has been perfect, strong, and my support for my entire body, while my left knee recovered from multiple surgeries. For the past 6 months, I have had increasingly bad pain in my right (HEALTHY) knee. I had an MRI and I now have a significant tear of the meniscus in that knee and I'm being sent for a consult with an Orthopedic surgeon. I don't see how I can have surgery on my right knee, since my left knee is weak and painful and unable to take over until my right knee recovers. I also can't go on indefinitely with this increasingly bad pain in my right knee. Another day, another kick in the ***

straydog

Forum Moderator

Joined : Feb 2003

Posts : 19850

Posted 6/19/2010 8:14 AM (GMT 0)

Sorry to hear what you are up against, but sounds like you need to bite the bullet if surgery is in the making. I feel sure you have over used that good knee for many years and now you will start paying the price of "over use or over compensating". Been there on that with the knees. I have had many surgeries on my left knee over the years and then bam the good knee started giving me problems. Our joints can only take so much wear and tear over time and then they start wearing out and crumbling. I had both knees done 3 weeksapart and wuold not recommend that to anyone, I had a partial tear of the ACL in one knee and torn meniscus in the other. Keep in mind you need to do everything you can to keep that good knee in good working order. Take care.

skeye

Veteran Member

Joined : Mar 2008

Posts : 3089

Posted 6/20/2010 3:57 AM (GMT 0)

Jimmy,

I too am sorry to hear the bad news. I also agree with straydog that this new tear is probably the result of overuse & that you may just have to "bite the bullet" and have the surgery done. I went through a similar situation with my shoulders. I had two surgeries on one of them, but then ended up over using the other one in order to compensate for the bad shoulder. In the end I ended up doing significant damage to my previously good shoulder & had to have surgery on that one too.

When you see the orthopedic surgeon, make sure to bring up your concerns about post op recovery/having to rely on your bad leg more. Maybe your doctor will have some ideas. Be sure to ask about non-surgical options as well. Sometimes things like bracing and physical therapy can help delay (or in some cases, even eliminate) the need for surgery.

hugs,
Skeye

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