# Partial Medial Arthroscopic Meniscectomy



## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Hey all,

An old sporting injury came back to haunt me recently, and resulted in me having a partial Medial Arthroscopic Meniscectomy on tuesday. Basically, I had surgery to remove some torn cartilage in my right knee. I had a miniscal tear, along with other cartilage damage that was removed during the procedure. 

I'm currently lying with my leg elevated, using ice packs and trying to do the physio exercises to whatever degree I can. My knee is the size of a rugby ball and is fairly painful. 

Just a wee post to ask if anyone else has had this done, and whether it's been a success. It'll probably take a few weeks to see any great improvement.

Oh, and I'm not allowed to drive either.......

Cheers guys. 

Cooks


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## grout20 (Aug 13, 2015)

Hi Cooks

Had a similar procedure around 15 years ago. Just meant I could continue playing football, squash, table tennis with no issues at all ever since :thumb:

I remember is was a bit strange in the first week or so when my leg just didn't seem to move to order when trying the physio exercises, but just keep at it..... it is so worth it and so glad I had it done.

Weirdest part was having the leg (around the knee area) shaved before the op and I had this horrible, pale, hair-free knee above what looked like a long sock below it! 

Good luck

John


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Actually laughed at that John, as I'm currently looking down at a large, round, bald knee lol. 

Delighted to hear it was a success though!!

Cooks

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## Rían P (Jun 2, 2014)

Sorry to hear you're not in great awl form Cooks, doesn't sound like good company!

Guess you'll just have to rest up and take her easy! 

Was meaning to send you a pm as it's been a while! :wave:

Get well soon,
Rían


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Ach cheers Rían. 

As each day passes it's definitely getting better. Still sore though, and can't move very quickly lol, but I'm getting there. My wee son is off school so he's great company and we are looking after each other incredibly well.

Good to hear from you bud! 

Cooks

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## Rían P (Jun 2, 2014)

Cookies said:


> Ach cheers Rían.
> 
> As each day passes it's definitely getting better. Still sore though, and can't move very quickly lol, but I'm getting there. My wee son is off school so he's great company and we are looking after each other incredibly well.
> 
> ...


Suppose those things just take time!
Your wee son will be able to look after his da then! Haha


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Lol - between us we manage to survive alright until Mrs Cooks arrives home from work and whips the house into good shape for the evening. 

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## Disco Smudge (Aug 27, 2013)

I have this to look forward to. Been informed I have a bucket handle tear. Just waiting for the surgery dates

Hope all is well


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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

Just saw this thread, i have had a full replacement of the cartilage in my left knee. Currently 11wks after my op and only 2-3wks left then i can remove the knee brace which i will have had on for 13-14wks. Its been tough but im full weight baring and i can start to run in it 9 months after my op. Just bought an exercise bike as my physio has agreed to let go on the bike expecting only 1 rotation - 10 minutes later and im happy ad a sand boy. I can see light at the end of a very long tunnel so chin up and you will get through it


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Disco Smudge said:


> I have this to look forward to. Been informed I have a bucket handle tear. Just waiting for the surgery dates
> 
> Hope all is well


Did you damage your cruciate ligament too chum. They usually go hand in hand.

Hope you get it sorted buddy.

Cooks

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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Hondafan1 said:


> Just saw this thread, i have had a full replacement of the cartilage in my left knee. Currently 11wks after my op and only 2-3wks left then i can remove the knee brace which i will have had on for 13-14wks. Its been tough but im full weight bearing and i can start to run in it 9 months after my op. Just bought an exercise bike as my physio has agreed to let go on the bike expecting only 1 rotation - 10 minutes later and im happy ad a sand boy. I can see light at the end of a very long tunnel so chin up and you will get through it
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Holy cow. That sounds awful. Are you in the brace 24/7?

Cooks

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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

Yes im in the brace 24hrs a day and only getting 3 hrs sleep at best but that should improve when the brave is off, hopefully. In 2012 i ruptured the tendons in my left knee with what they told me is a 1% rupture as only 1% of the tendon was still attached. The pain was unbearable, morpheme had no affect on it but taken straight to hospital and an op the next day. 18 months later i was back at work and the had 3 further operations to trim / the cartilage but after the last trim didn't work either it was decide to fully remove it and replace it with an implant. A rare op and even the hospital Physio hadn't seen that op before and had to read up on the recovery procedures. 


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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

2012 op scar









Latest scars









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## Wilco (Apr 22, 2010)

Is this going to become the official knee injury thread? I'll put my story up soon that'll turn a few stomachs lol


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## Wilco (Apr 22, 2010)

Hondafan1 said:


> Yes im in the brace 24hrs a day and only getting 3 hrs sleep at best but that should improve when the brave is off, hopefully. In 2012 i ruptured the tendons in my left knee with what they told me is a 1% rupture as only 1% of the tendon was still attached. The pain was unbearable, morpheme had no affect on it but taken straight to hospital and an op the next day. 18 months later i was back at work and the had 3 further operations to trim / the cartilage but after the last trim didn't work either it was decide to fully remove it and replace it with an implant. A rare op and even the hospital Physio hadn't seen that op before and had to read up on the recovery procedures.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Where did you get the implant done mate? Theres not many places offering this so guessing Wrightington or Southampton.


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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

Whiston Hospital in Knowsley & St Helens Hospital Trust, Consultant is Mr Pydisetti - he's a really nice bloke too and it was done on the NHS - not privately done.

Think this could be a 'knee off' thread


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## Wilco (Apr 22, 2010)

Haha maybe. Well I've had 8 arthroscopies and my last operation was an osteotomy so I'm up there in the pain stakes. I've done a post on another forum regarding what I've had done so I'll copy/paste it here when I'm on my pc. Not one for the squeamish though. Hope you have a swift and full recovery chaps, theres not much worse than prolonged pain mines been 12 years now and it really does get you down.


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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

Thanks mate. I have been told i can resume playing badminton when my knee is fully fit but im not really holding much hope of that. This is a very unfortunate knee club to be in ☹


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## damien.wrl (Sep 29, 2010)

Had one about 20 years ago... Physio is very important, quads hold your knee together and if they waste whilst you recover its a nightmare...keep the quads pumping

As for the scar I think cutting it back with some compound will be better than clay bar but be careful you don't go to deep ...


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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

My quad is alot reduced since my op but i will get it back in shape. Its sore but no pain no gain, feel the burn and all that stuff.

Thats my afternoon sorted, getting my DA out and give my knee the 105 & 205 routine and maybe a final pass with Maguire's carnuba wax. Hopefully no swirls or ghosting


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

My knee looks like it's been waxed too chum. 

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## bigmac3161 (Jul 24, 2013)

Had my acl repaired in 1999 and most of the cartilage removed. Does hurt when the weather's cold which is all the time in norn iron


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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

Ouch 


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## Disco Smudge (Aug 27, 2013)

Cookies said:


> Did you damage your cruciate ligament too chum. They usually go hand in hand.
> 
> Hope you get it sorted buddy.
> 
> ...


Nothing was reported from the MRI. Just have to see what happens now


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## Wilco (Apr 22, 2010)

From another forum, I'm not writing it out again as it depresses me but you can get the idea of what I've gone through. Been a tough year so far and been warned it could be another 8-12 months before I'll be right again. The plate I've had put in rubs on my hamstring and is constantly painful this wont improve til I have the plate taken out again. Grrrrr

Had surgery on Saturday the 30th of January, all went well apart from the implant going in. There was insufficient cartilage remaining from previous operations to graft it to so its not been done. Surgeon said this isn't an issue so alls good I guess. I left hospital on the Sunday evening still full of morphine and god knows what else but felt pretty much ok. Well apart from a porter spinning my wheelchair and smacking my broken leg into a radiator 

3 a.m. Monday morning things took a turn for the worse. I woke up in absolute agony. My leg was solid from my hip to my toes, I couldn't feel a thing in it and it actually felt as though it had died but was still attached. Ambulance called and blue light job to the nearest a&e. Straight through into triage who were extremely concerned and the on call orthopedic surgeon was called to see me as a matter of extreme urgency. Without wishing to sound overly dramatic here I didn't think I was going to come out of this . They couldn't decide if I had a DVT or compartment syndrome but I needed a scan to confirm one way or another. I'd also had quite a significant bleed from my staples which wasn't obvious until my dressings were cut off.
I spent the next 14 hours on a bed in a&e until they could find somewhere for me to be transferred to. I finally got put on a ward on Monday night under observation until they could sort a scan out the following morning. Being on a ward is sufficient to make you feel ill by itself but makes you realise how fortunate you are sometimes. The scan was done in the morning but the results weren't analysed until Wednesday evening where I was started on Clexane even though no DVT could be confirmed. I was sent home late Wednesday evening with a ton of medicine and told to keep an eye on things.
Thursday I phoned my surgeon and explained the situation and how I was, he wanted to see me straight away as he didn't think I'd have a dvt and the Clexane could be making things worse. I had another scan on Friday morning that showed I was clear of dvt but I'd had arterial bleeding I think he called it which had caused the inflammation. I went back to see him on the Monday so he could see how the swelling was and over the weekend it had got considerably worse again. I was readmitted to the private hospital this time and spent 48hours plugged in to a game ready machine trying to remove the swelling.

I've been back and forth many times now and the swellings still here, i'm plugged into a game ready as I type, brilliant machine but £300 rental for a month is a bill I could well do without.
My surgeon is very happy with the result of the surgery but obviously not the amount of pain and stress I've had post surgery. I'm just over four weeks into recovery and I have a feeling this will be considerably longer than I'd originally anticipated. Physio has been put back indefinitely until all the swelling is gone completely and no matter what I do or take to treat that it hasn't worked. I cant wear anything but slippers my feet are so swollen 

Here's a few pics post surgery so don't look if you're squeamish.

Bruising on the rear of my knee. The area of the arterial bleed.









The swelling the night I was rushed back in. My calf was the size of my thigh.









An unexpected secondary bleed whilst back in private care.









The surface wound is healing well now the staples are out and the scar is very tidy. Didn't think it would be after looking like this though.









No matter what I'm struggling to remove the swelling in my lower leg and foot though.








I spend most of my day plugged in to my game ready compression machine though and it does help









I forgot to add the knee joint has been opened up 16mm in total on the medial side so I shouldn't be having any more wear issues on that side hopefully.


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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

Reading this and looking at the pictures made me shiver and feel very fortunate that i have not had to go through what you have. 

People, one of them being myself before my injury, don't appreciate how lucky they are being injury free and not having to have an operation. 

My thoughts are with you and truly wish you a speedy recovery and one with no further complications.


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

@Wilco - I'll just completely reiterate what Hondafan1 has said above. 

The pictures look absolutely horrendous chum. My thoughts are with you too buddy, I sincerely wish you a very speedy and complete recovery. You've been through the mill my friend, hopefully it's just a case of recovering now, with no more complications. 

Cooks



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## Sanke (Aug 21, 2014)

Had the partial tear in my meniscus done 6 weeks ago, full bucket handle tear removed and repaired with gel. 

I was weight bearing the following morning, no crutches and two weeks off work. 

Now 6 week in it feels good, but still doing the physio, mainly strength for the quads (stress positions), hamstring stretches and muscle building. 

Going well, have walked near 80km since the op. 

Steve

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## SBM (Jul 4, 2013)

All the best for a speedy recovery Cooks buddy!


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## Wilco (Apr 22, 2010)

Cheers chaps, it wasn't meant as a "mines worse than yours post". As said its been a tough year and having ambulance staff tell you to say goodbye to your wife just in case was a low point in my life. Still I'm still here and there's people a lot worse off than me but my patience is wearing thin with regards to recovery now. The knee itself feels pretty good but the rubbing on my hamstring is annoying at best and absolute murder when it feels like it. As said we all take our health for granted when we have it sadly.


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Wilco said:


> Cheers chaps, it wasn't meant as a "mines worse than yours post". As said its been a tough year and having ambulance staff tell you to say goodbye to your wife just in case was a low point in my life. Still I'm still here and there's people a lot worse off than me but my patience is wearing thin with regards to recovery now. The knee itself feels pretty good but the rubbing on my hamstring is annoying at best and absolute murder when it feels like it. As said we all take our health for granted when we have it sadly.


It want taken that way in the slightest Wilco, so don't be worrying chum. There's a good wee support network around these parts for a hugely diverse range of topics, knees we can now add to the list. If we can be of support to, or encourage one another, or even if it's just to share experiences, that's a good thing. Great to get others' perspectives. So best wishes for a speedy recovery bud. 


Sanke said:


> Had the partial tear in my meniscus done 6 weeks ago, full bucket handle tear removed and repaired with gel.
> 
> I was weight bearing the following morning, no crutches and two weeks off work.
> 
> ...


I think mine sounds a bit like yours bud. I was weight bearing fairly quickly after the op, and haven't uses crutches either. 5 days in and it's improving reasonably well thank goodness. 


SBM said:


> All the best for a speedy recovery Cooks buddy!


Ach cheers Ben. Thanks for that!!

Cooks

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## Sanke (Aug 21, 2014)

Cooks, 

Keep the physio going, and it'll get better each day.

The swelling goes gradually and you'll be left with two lumps of scar tissue under the skin by the joints at the incision points. 

I took my bandage off once the swelling had reduce enough to cause the bandage to start slipping. 

Keep the RICE up and do walk in moderation. Things will ease up once the stitches are out. 

Youll regain the range of motion with the physio.

I can now detail the car again, but kneeling down is something I won't do, so I sit on the floor and do the lower panels etc. 

Steve

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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

I bought a fitness step so I can sit down on it and not on the floor


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## Wilco (Apr 22, 2010)

Its so frustrating not being able to do the lower panels though. I'm 6ft4 and not being able to bend properly is a nightmare. I sit on my toolbox and do my best from there, I'd love a scissor lift tbh but its not exactly practical on our drive lol


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Sanke said:


> Cooks,
> 
> Keep the physio going, and it'll get better each day.
> 
> ...


Cheers bud. Swelling is well down now tbh, but the joint feels incredibly stiff, with only about 45-60 degrees of free movement. It's great to have someone that's a few months the other side of it, so i know what to expect.

Cooks

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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Hondafan1 said:


> I bought a fitness step so I can sit down on it and not on the floor
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Sorry for laughing bud, but there's a new market in fitness steps for us lot to sit on lol.

Cooks

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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Btw, here's mine lol.










Cooks

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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

I bought a air cast cryo cuff following my first op and it was the best £100 i ever spent. Half fill it with cold water then ice and connect it to the skate board type knee pad and ice cold water circulates around the knee quickly reducing swelling and helping recovery.

I would recommend it


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## Wilco (Apr 22, 2010)

Yep great bit of kit that. Jay(Obsession)s wife gave me hers and its been brilliant tbh although I needed a slightly larger cuff. If you're really wanting something special though look into the Game Ready machine Now they're awesome but v expensive too. Constant temperature and compression cycles would get most peoples swelling out in no time. The ice gets expensive after a while though.


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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

My tip for the ice was to buy 2 small sandwich boxes, about 4"x6" and and inch deep, fill just over 3/4 with water and pop into the freezer. Also i bought 3 plastic beakers with screw lids and just over 3/4 filled and froze those too. As i used one set i would refill and freeze so always had a supply that i didnt have to buy


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## Sanke (Aug 21, 2014)

Cookies said:


> Cheers bud. Swelling is well down now tbh, but the joint feels incredibly stiff, with only about 45-60 degrees of free movement. It's great to have someone that's a few months the other side of it, so i know what to expect.
> 
> Cooks
> 
> Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk


Mine was the same, you'll notice it gains more and more movement everyday, it's stiff due to being forced apart. What worked for me was walking, stair climb (good leg to heaven - up.... Bad leg to hell - down), then rest and ice. Then repeat,but don't over do it.

It's the lateral movement you need to void until the muscle builds. You'll only start that when your swelling decreases.

Trust me, this time next week you'll feel far better than pre operation and you gain another 25° in movement.

This Thursday will be just over a month for me, I'm back to see the surgeon and hopefully that'll be it.

Steve

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## Wilco (Apr 22, 2010)

Yep perfect for the cryo cuff, wouldn't work in the game ready sadly as you have to fill it with cubes. 5 bags a day minimum for a month soon adds up.


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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

Cookies said:


> Sorry for laughing bud, but there's a new market in fitness steps for us lot to sit on lol.
> 
> Cooks
> 
> Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk


I must admit that when i read my post back regarding the fitness step after reading the above i though i sounded like a complete  and laughed so much a bit a wee appeared. Sometimes its better to proof read before posting.

To clarify:
The step was bought to assist my recovery following my tendon reattachment operation in 2012. I think it cost my £5.75, which included postage of £4.50, gotta love those 99p ebay starting prices. I was going to throw it out about 18 months ago and came up with the idea of using it whilst detailing.

Im all for finding another use for something that was going to be skipped.

Anyway, i can see the injuries slow us down a bit but don't stop us carrying out our detailing

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## Sanke (Aug 21, 2014)

Hi Cooks, 

How's the knee going now? 

I got discharged last thursday, all well apart from no long distance running, 5ks are ok but nothing longer. Apparently they a large amount of meniscus out. 

So I'm now in the market for a new mountain bike, and going back to playing table tennis - hop day I'll make the qualifiers for this year's Brit Premier League. 

Steve 

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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Hi Steve 

It's definitely going good chum. Walking is getting easier, and I'm managing to do stairs easier now too. The physio exercises are really helping too, although I still don't have the full range of movement yet, but I suppose it's early days. I find if I walk too much, it gets painful. But I suppose that will also improve over time. 

So all indications are good chum. 

Delighted to hear you got discharged - thats great news. Y review is on 30th, so keep the fingers crossed. 

Cheers bud

Cooks 

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