Arthroscopic Knee Surgery: Scheduled
As I mentioned on Monday, the MRI results are in. A tear of the medial meniscus, and a ganglion cyst on the lateral aspect of the knee. This morning, I finally met with the doctor to go over the results and talk about options.
It is the doctor’s opinion that we finally found the culprit. The culprit is (in the words of the radiologist) a complex tear of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus. The MRI results were a complete surprise to the doctor, given how the pain initially presented (on the lateral side of the knee). The doctor thinks this was the problem all along, not ITBS, and that the pain on the outside of the knee was due to compensating for the tear on the inside of the knee. It is also possible that the cyst is responsible for some of the pain.
The tear is in the avascular region of the meniscus, and thus can’t be repaired, due to a lack of blood to the area. Instead, the doctor will perform a partial meniscectomy, preserving as much of the meniscus as he can. He will also take a look around the rest of the knee, including the lateral meniscus, where he thinks he’ll find some stuff to clean up there. Doc thinks there is something there, and is likely the cause of the ganglion cyst. He will attempt to “pop” the cyst, rather than remove it completely, because it is under the lateral collateral ligament and the peroneal nerve, and he doesn’t want to risk damage to either of those.
As the title of this post indicates, I scheduled arthroscopic knee surgery for next Tuesday, pending pre-cert from my insurance company. I’ve got to get some pre-op lab work done tomorrow, then it is just a short wait until this knee issue is hopefully resolved. Of course, after the surgery, it will be about 4 weeks and several physical therapy sessions until I am ready to even think about returning to normal activity levels.
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MRI Results
I forgot to mention this, but I got into the doctor’s office last week for another follow-up, and he had me schedule an MRI for my right knee. I had the MRI done this past Saturday morning, and I got the results this afternoon. The verdict is in: I have a torn medial meniscus, and a ganglion cyst on the lateral aspect of the knee. I spoke with the nurse, and she was reading the doctor’s notes, which didn’t indicate anything more specific.
I have an appointment scheduled with the doctor tomorrow afternoon (weather willing). I will get the full details at that time. Of course we’ll also discuss what to do next, but it sounds like the next step is going to be arthroscopic surgery. By the way, I am totally okay with that at this point. I am just ready to be done with it, and hopefully get back to running.
Does anyone have suggestions for questions to ask? (Of course I already have a list in my head, but I need to start heading home now, instead of typing those up.)
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Welcome to 2009!
Hey, I know we’re nearly a week into 2009, but since this is my first post of the new year, Happy New Year!
After a long (3+ weeks) vacation, I am back to work this week, and hating it. How much longer will it be until getting up before 10 AM isn’t so hard?
During my time off, we did a little cabin camping in Rusk, TX. The purpose of the trip was to ride the Polar Express themed Texas State Railroad between Palestine, TX, and Rusk, TX. The kids had a great time with that! The rest of the time off was spent attending many holiday parties, celebrating Hanukah with my Dad’s family, and Christmas with my Mom’s family, ringing in the New Year with good friends, and basically taking it easy.
On the first day of my vacation, I was able to start running 3 miles, every other day (up from 2 miles, every other day). It didn’t start off so great. I started to have soreness in my knee during the 2nd mile, and it continued to build throughout the 3rd mile. After doing a short warm down, and stretching, it just about killed me to walk.
Since that first 3 miler, my 3 miles runs have been better, and I’ve done them both outside and inside on the treadmill. In fact, during one particular treadmill run, I decided to extend the run a little to 5K…I finished in 25:02. Now I know that doesn’t translate to the same time on the road, but I was pleasantly surprised, considering how drastically my running has been reduced since early October. I still experience soreness in my knee during my runs. The soreness typically starts towards the end of the first mile, and just sort of stays there for the rest of the run. On the bright side, I’m now to the point where I can consistently run 3 miles without the sharp, shooting pain.
With the new year, I decided to up the distance for 1 run per week, so on New Year’s Day, I ran 4 miles. Miles 1-3 went pretty good, but I had to stop shortly after finishing the 3rd mile. After walking for a few minutes, I decided to give running another try, and ended up finishing 4 miles total. However, as soon as I stopped running, the pain kicked in. I’ve run 2 times since then, stopping at 3 miles for each, and they felt pretty good (continued soreness starting in the 2nd mile, but no pain).
I’ve also taken to cycling a lot more…outside. A lot of my gifts this year were cycling related, which has motivated me to get out and ride more. Nothing too fancy, just some padded cycling shorts and tights, along with a University of Texas cycling jersey. I also got some cycling gloves, a cool LED headlight and taillight, a couple of gear bags for the bike, and a Garmin Cadence Sensor that is supposed to integrate with my Garmin Forerunner 305. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to get the Forerunner to pick up the signal from the sensor. Now if I could get a road bike, so that no longer need to ride my mountain bike on the road…I feel so slow.
In addition to running and cycling, I’ve also gotten back into a pretty regular strength training routine, and have made sure that my lower body is included. I think that this has helped with the knee, but obviously not enough. It is almost time to follow-up with the doctor, and I am becoming more open to the idea of having the knee scoped. I’ll keep you posted.
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