Tore my knees up pretty good over the years racing motorcycles. Prior to surgery, my knees, for weeks on end, were feeling fantastic, almost bullet proof. Before getting hurt I had been riding bicycles up steep hills as a form of preventive therapy on a weekly basis. Does that sound dumb? Not really. Hillclimbing is not brutal on the knees just as long as you make darn sure you spin the cranks as opposed to mashing down on them. Huge difference between a spinner and a masher. I developed a problem to my knee in March, 2008. The doctor cut a portion of my cartilage out on June 17, 2008 (no stitches, just a trim job, a.k.a. partial meniscectomy), making me as of today approximately 23 days post-op. The procedure as stated word for word in the O.R. report (brace yourself for some big words that are foreign to everyday normal people): "Arthroscopic guided chondroplasty of medial femoral condyle of left knee, removal of multiple chondral loose bodies of left knee, and partial medial meniscectomy of left knee."
>10 days post-op I met with the the doctor for the first time since surgery. Here are some things he stated: "Here's a picture of the inside of your knee. (He hands me a picture taken during the surgery. It shows the dreaded bucket handle.) You can take that with you. And the reason for that is there are some changes in your knee that we can't make better with arthroscopic surgery. If you look at the picture you can see underneath your kneecap where the kneecap and thighbone...it looks pretty good...normal cartilage. As we come around to the inside part, medial condlye, inside part...you have both cartilage and exposed bone. The area at the end of your thigh bone, that cartilage is gone. You do not have bone on bone. There's still cartilage left on the other side and on the top of your shinbone. There's a meniscus partially left inbetween, and then, unfortunately, the exposed bone under your thigh bone."
>bad news: He went on to say that the chances for a complete recovery are only 50/50, thanks to the dreaded bucket handle. As bad as a bucket handle is, the doctor said I'm not bone-on-bone, which is good, I guess. But what I do have is a hole in my cartilage with bone that is forever exposed. You can't put a patch on it.
>i do not yet have my natural walk or gait back yet. My leg is stiff and I still walk with a very noticeable limp. I started PT last week. I'm making improvements in nice, small, daily chunks, thankfully. On days like that the sky is blue and I see a light at the end of the tunnel. The PT allows me to ride the stationary bicycle, but not a road bike. He started me with isometrics but we have yet to use any ankle weights. Right now we're focusing on getting my range of motion back and flexing my quad muscle
>i was full weight bearing on post-op day two or three. I got rid of the crutches around day three post op
>up until post-op day ten I stayed at home and was completely sedentary. Nine days post-op presented nothing unusual in the pain department. Note that I was either in bed, sitting on a chair or up and about hobbling around fixing something to eat but I never once left my apartment. I was prescribed Vicodin for pain, but I never took any. On post-op day ten I started to go outside as it was time for me to go see my surgeon. All I did that day was go see him and then later go to the supermarket. It was then later that day that I started to experience for the first time what I call "electric shocks" to my injured knee. On a scale of 1 to 10 the electric shock produces a level 9 feeling of pain. You definitely don't want to be carrying a carton of eggs or step in the shower or fire a gun at a target when you get one of these electric shocks. The shock lasts for only a split second and is gone as quickly as it appeared but make no mistake, it's painful. Guess you could say that it feels like a very quick and hard bee sting. Only once did I get an electric shock in a public place and it was kinda embarrassing. You grimace a little and you might say 'ouch' out loud and then you are just as quickly composed and feeling fine leaving people wondering what the heck that little display of pain was all about
>ever since day 10 post-op I average anywhere between 2 and 5 electric shocks a day, with a rare day when they are not felt. (I don't take any OTC or prescription meds, it's too soon for that, gotta give PT a chance). The $100 question is whether or not the electric shocks will go away once all the swelling goes down and once I get my full range of motion along with my strength back. (yes, knee still a little swollen 20+ days post-op!) Then again maybe the electric shock is something that'll never go away and is due to the dreaded buckethandle. Which means they'll have to either shoot some lubricants in my knee (Synvisc, hyaluronic acid or corticosteroids) or give me either a full or partial knee replacement. Ultimately the question might come down to whether or not I want to live with the electrical shocks 0-5 times a day on a daily basis and become a fanatical day-in, day-out gum chewer. I guess I can always bite down on chewing gum whenever I get an electric shock. I do know that the more I stay in bed off my feet, the less the shocks materialize. When I get on my high horse and start moving around, i.e, to go swimming, to go ride the stationary bicycle, to go do my PT excercises, to go to the store, or any day that combines all of that stuff along with a lot of limping around, I can expect to feel more shocks either on that day or the day after, which is a residual effect, I believe
>all in all if it wasn't for the electric shocks I'd say that my rate of progress has been very good and that I'm very pleased and pleasantly surprised with how well things are going in my first week of physical therapy, 20+ days post-op. Specifically, though my leg is still stiff and I walk with a limp, I have equal weight distribution over both of my legs. However, the electric shock matter leaves a huge question mark hanging over my head and I have no idea when, or if, the electric shock issue will ever be resolved. Yesterday was a very bad day as I had a record 7 or 8 electric shocks all in just one day. On days like that there is no hope, no light at the end of the tunnel. If the shocks don't go away, I'll have to make a radical change in lifestyle. I'll have to avoid going down a stairway, avoid going to certain public venues, avoid being in an area where I'm surrounded by people and give up my hobby of taking pictures in urban areas a.k.a. street photography.
I hope this helps anyone out there who is slated for the same type of surgery. Please leave a comment if you have anything to share, especially if you've been in my shoes and have experience with the same type of surgery.
>10 days post-op I met with the the doctor for the first time since surgery. Here are some things he stated: "Here's a picture of the inside of your knee. (He hands me a picture taken during the surgery. It shows the dreaded bucket handle.) You can take that with you. And the reason for that is there are some changes in your knee that we can't make better with arthroscopic surgery. If you look at the picture you can see underneath your kneecap where the kneecap and thighbone...it looks pretty good...normal cartilage. As we come around to the inside part, medial condlye, inside part...you have both cartilage and exposed bone. The area at the end of your thigh bone, that cartilage is gone. You do not have bone on bone. There's still cartilage left on the other side and on the top of your shinbone. There's a meniscus partially left inbetween, and then, unfortunately, the exposed bone under your thigh bone."
>bad news: He went on to say that the chances for a complete recovery are only 50/50, thanks to the dreaded bucket handle. As bad as a bucket handle is, the doctor said I'm not bone-on-bone, which is good, I guess. But what I do have is a hole in my cartilage with bone that is forever exposed. You can't put a patch on it.
>i do not yet have my natural walk or gait back yet. My leg is stiff and I still walk with a very noticeable limp. I started PT last week. I'm making improvements in nice, small, daily chunks, thankfully. On days like that the sky is blue and I see a light at the end of the tunnel. The PT allows me to ride the stationary bicycle, but not a road bike. He started me with isometrics but we have yet to use any ankle weights. Right now we're focusing on getting my range of motion back and flexing my quad muscle
>i was full weight bearing on post-op day two or three. I got rid of the crutches around day three post op
>up until post-op day ten I stayed at home and was completely sedentary. Nine days post-op presented nothing unusual in the pain department. Note that I was either in bed, sitting on a chair or up and about hobbling around fixing something to eat but I never once left my apartment. I was prescribed Vicodin for pain, but I never took any. On post-op day ten I started to go outside as it was time for me to go see my surgeon. All I did that day was go see him and then later go to the supermarket. It was then later that day that I started to experience for the first time what I call "electric shocks" to my injured knee. On a scale of 1 to 10 the electric shock produces a level 9 feeling of pain. You definitely don't want to be carrying a carton of eggs or step in the shower or fire a gun at a target when you get one of these electric shocks. The shock lasts for only a split second and is gone as quickly as it appeared but make no mistake, it's painful. Guess you could say that it feels like a very quick and hard bee sting. Only once did I get an electric shock in a public place and it was kinda embarrassing. You grimace a little and you might say 'ouch' out loud and then you are just as quickly composed and feeling fine leaving people wondering what the heck that little display of pain was all about
>ever since day 10 post-op I average anywhere between 2 and 5 electric shocks a day, with a rare day when they are not felt. (I don't take any OTC or prescription meds, it's too soon for that, gotta give PT a chance). The $100 question is whether or not the electric shocks will go away once all the swelling goes down and once I get my full range of motion along with my strength back. (yes, knee still a little swollen 20+ days post-op!) Then again maybe the electric shock is something that'll never go away and is due to the dreaded buckethandle. Which means they'll have to either shoot some lubricants in my knee (Synvisc, hyaluronic acid or corticosteroids) or give me either a full or partial knee replacement. Ultimately the question might come down to whether or not I want to live with the electrical shocks 0-5 times a day on a daily basis and become a fanatical day-in, day-out gum chewer. I guess I can always bite down on chewing gum whenever I get an electric shock. I do know that the more I stay in bed off my feet, the less the shocks materialize. When I get on my high horse and start moving around, i.e, to go swimming, to go ride the stationary bicycle, to go do my PT excercises, to go to the store, or any day that combines all of that stuff along with a lot of limping around, I can expect to feel more shocks either on that day or the day after, which is a residual effect, I believe
>all in all if it wasn't for the electric shocks I'd say that my rate of progress has been very good and that I'm very pleased and pleasantly surprised with how well things are going in my first week of physical therapy, 20+ days post-op. Specifically, though my leg is still stiff and I walk with a limp, I have equal weight distribution over both of my legs. However, the electric shock matter leaves a huge question mark hanging over my head and I have no idea when, or if, the electric shock issue will ever be resolved. Yesterday was a very bad day as I had a record 7 or 8 electric shocks all in just one day. On days like that there is no hope, no light at the end of the tunnel. If the shocks don't go away, I'll have to make a radical change in lifestyle. I'll have to avoid going down a stairway, avoid going to certain public venues, avoid being in an area where I'm surrounded by people and give up my hobby of taking pictures in urban areas a.k.a. street photography.
I hope this helps anyone out there who is slated for the same type of surgery. Please leave a comment if you have anything to share, especially if you've been in my shoes and have experience with the same type of surgery.
Last edited: