u/Automatic_Entry7

**TL;DR:** Pro basketball player whose meniscus surgery turned into a nightmare. A year later, I’m still dealing with chronic inflammation, severe muscle loss, and an autoimmune diagnosis with no return to play in sight. I’m struggling with whether to start lifelong medication or walk away from basketball, and I’m looking for advice from anyone who’s been through something similar.

I’m 26 years old and a former Division I player who started my professional career in Europe.
During my rookie season, I tore my meniscus in the semifinals after getting knocked out of the air on a dunk attempt and landing awkwardly. When I got home, the MRI showed a repairable meniscus tear. My surgeon recommended surgery, but I had already committed to playing for my national team four months later. Since a repair would’ve kept me out for 6–8 months, I chose conservative rehab instead.
After months of rehab, I got my injured leg to about 80% of my healthy side. It still swelled and hurt, but I could run, jump, and even dunk again. I played for my national team and played well. I wasn’t quite the same athlete—I had lost a step—but I was functional.
After the tournament, I decided to finally have the surgery because I wanted to get from 80% back to 100%.
Instead, everything went downhill.
After surgery I developed a blood clot, then chronic inflammation that never went away. Every attempt at rehab seemed to make my knee worse. I could never hit the strength milestones my surgeon and physical therapist required, so I never progressed to running or plyometrics.
Now, over a year later, my leg has severe muscle atrophy. It’s barely around 10% as strong as my healthy leg. I still can’t go up or down stairs normally, standing for long periods is difficult, and I haven’t been able to get back on the court. Some days I honestly feel like the surgery disabled me.
I’ve rehabbed at least four days a week for over a year. I’ve done everything I was told, but every time I make an attempt to progress, my knee becomes painful and inflamed again. It feels like I’ve made almost no meaningful progress despite putting in so much work.
I finally saw a rheumatologist, and they believe I have an autoimmune condition attacking my knee. They prescribed a strong medication that’s now been sitting in my refrigerator for a month because I can’t bring myself to start it. It may be a lifelong treatment with significant side effects, and I don’t even know if it will solve the problem.
I’m honestly questioning everything. I don’t know if I love basketball enough to commit to medication for the rest of my life, and I don’t know if there’s even a path back to playing professionally.
Mentally, this has been the hardest year of my life. I’ve struggled with depression, and it’s painful watching former teammates reach the NBA, the G League, and top European leagues while my national team continues to succeed without me. It feels like my life stopped while everyone else’s kept moving.
The hardest part is that I put everything into basketball. I never really built an identity outside of the game, so now I’m left wondering who I am if this career is over.
Has anyone dealt with chronic inflammation after a meniscus repair, an autoimmune diagnosis following surgery, or simply had to walk away from the sport they dedicated their life to? How did you cope? Did things ever get better?
I could really use some advice or even just to hear from people who’ve been through something similar.