The Journey So Far

Hi friends! I’ve been a lurker/occasional commenter on this sub and I just wanted to share my knee journey over the past 6 months or so! (I am a 27F, for reference)

August 19th, disaster hit for my right knee. I was line dancing at a party, when my right knee gave out, I heard a snap, and I hit the ground. Immediately unable to put weight on it, immediate swelling. Picture 1 shows the swelling the next morning.

I ended up going to the ER, where they originally said that it was back in place and I should be fine. After a CT, I was placed in a full leg immobilizer, told “I’m not sure how you did this, but you seem to have broken a piece of your femur off” and sent home with a referral to my ortho.

Ortho determined I had a “90%” detachment of my medial retinaculum, and loose bodies from the impacting injury to my femur in my knee cavity. He wanted to try PT before surgical options. I was moved from the full leg stabilizer to a patellar stabilizer brace.

Come October, it was determined PT was not succeeding, and that the loose bodies had possibly moved to a worse spot due to clicking and continued instability in my knee. Surgery was our next step

October 14th I had an outpatient open medial retinacular repair and advancement, along with an arthroscopy for loose bodies. The following days were met with a lot of pain, as I was only on OTC paid meds after leaving the hospital. I was on 2 crutches for about a week and a half, and one crutch for about 2 weeks after. Pictures 3 & 4 show post op days 6 & 8.

Cue PT round 2! At my most recent follow up (approx 12 weeks post op), I mentioned issues still with clicking and instability. My ortho (god bless his patient soul) decided to do another MRI after an X-ray showed what could be more loose bodies. Lo and behold, I have another! Picture 5 shows my new little friend.

I am now scheduled for a second arthroscopic surgery on Thursday (January 23rd). I am obviously ready for this long journey to be over and get back to walking semi-regularly again, so here’s hoping this time heals well! 🤞