Begin at the beginning

So where did this all start?

One day I was sitting in my office and when I stood up, my knee hurt. I thought it was strange, but after stretching it still hurt, so I just called my coworker instead of walking to his office. It was just kind of an ache. The next day, it was much much worse and I could barely walk. I figured I had twisted it or something so I stayed home and kept it elevated and warm all day. That seemed to help, and it was better the next day.

I still noticed a clicking when I walked on the stairs and it was still just a little achy. After two more weeks of that, I went to my family doctor. He gave me an anti-inflammatory ordered an X-ray. Before I had heard the results of the X-ray, I had to leave on a trip across the states to Arizona (I am in Maryland). I was waiting in the airport and got in line when they started boarding, and then realized I had left something at my seat. I lightly jogged back to the seat and back in line. My knee started hurting terribly!

I saw two orthopedic surgeons, and both provided the same diagnosis of Osteochondritis Dissecans (OCD). This is a condition with no known cause where the cartilage basically dies off in a limited area. It can be extremely painful. The recommended surgery was called Microfracture (MFX for short). This surgery is basically drilling into the bone under the defect to force a healing reaction. Scar tissue is formed which hardens into fibrocartilage, covering the damaged area. My surgery date was set for 3/20/09 and I could hardly wait as the pain grew worse every day.

The MFX itself was easy. It was over in 30 minutes. I woke up and the nurses asked about my pain level. Compared to before, it was nothing! No big deal. Here are the pictures from the surgery. I will give them a gross rating of 3. Picture 1 and Picture 2.

With MFX, the recovery is the important part. I was non-weight bearing (NWB) for 6 weeks with my leg in a straight locked brace whenever I was moving around. This was to prevent scraping off any of the scar tissue as it was forming. The scar tissue was the whole point! Also, during the first three weeks I used a Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) machine for four hours a day. This machine bends your knee over and over again very slowly and to an adjustable angle. The point of the CPM is to make sure the scar tissue forms in a shape that will allow continued use of the knee. One big blob of scar tissue that locks your knee would not be very useful. I also began physical therapy to regain range of motion and strength.

Things started to get better for a little while, but after about two months it all went downhill again. The pain was getting worse and the clicking or catching was returning. I tried Supartz, which is like WD-40 for your knee. I only had one injection as I had a bad reaction to it. The pain doubled, which is not normal. That was my last non-surgical option. However, the surgeon I was seeing did not perform ACI, so this is when I went to Dr. Trice.

I will pick up here in another post.