Well, I’m less than 2 weeks away from having left knee surgery. How did this get started you ask? About 3 weeks ago I decided to go to the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic based on a referral from a co-worker. The clinic is known very well in the Colorado region for working with athletes at all levels so I figured it would be worth giving them a try. I’ve put off looking into surgery on my left knee until now based on timing. The right knee surgery 3 years ago was during the fall, it snowed a week after the surgery, and getting around wasn’t easy in the cold. This time around I figure an early spring surgery will set me up for some warm weather during the recovery period allowing me to get out and do the simple things like ride a bike.
During my first appointment on April 13 the doctor recommended an MRI. The X-ray results showed good bone structure and good spacing between the bones. However, the X-ray also showed a potential area of concern under the knee cap.
On April 18 I went in for the MRI. The best part about the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic is that the doctor, physical therapy, and MRI locations are all in the same suite. The MRI lasted about 45 minutes and was pretty boring. My left leg was placed in a chamber with the rest of my body on the outside. This was different from my previous MRI which had most of my lower body in a chamber. On Friday, April 21 I received a phone call noting various concerns with cartilage wear in the knee. Although this wasn’t a surprise it did have a negative affect on my day. Really, who wants to hear bad news even if you’re expecting it?!
On Thursday, April 27 I met with my doctor to go over the MRI results in detail and discuss next steps. During this meeting the doctor showed me the areas of concern on a monitor. It turns out that there are two areas where surgery might be required. The first and most serious area is the same exact spot where surgery was required on my right knee. The other area is on the bottom area of the knee. There wasn’t conclusive evidence for the bottom area to make a determination on how serious the wear is. However, one thing was clear from the MRI results, microfracture surgery was required. The only question is if it is required in both areas.
The doctor gave me a few options during the meeting; (1) put off the surgery for a few months and continue therapy to strengthen the inner part of the thigh, or (2) look into having the surgery. He did note that waiting a few months will not cause the knee to get worse or have an adverse affect on the surgery. Since this has been a long time coming there wasn’t much through required. I opted for the surgery which is now scheduled for May 16th.
In the mean time I’ve been doing some “therapy†to tighten the inner thigh area and loosen the outer thigh area. More to come next week following the pre-op appointment…
