Considering MACI Procedure Part 2
I’ll be 39 this summer and my left knee has taken a beating in sports over the years (most coming from major soccer collisions). 11 years ago I had partial tears of LCL & PCL that my surgeon opted to leave alone and just do PT. In the past couple of years my knee has started giving me more pain and troubles. In November of last year I had an arthroscopic chondroplasty, partial synovectomy, lateral release and the MACI biopsy taken. I have a ~1.5cm defect in my medial femoral chondyle of about 50% thickness loss.
February to April, it seemed like the arthroscopic cleanup was all that I needed, despite some pain at the lateral release site. Now, I’m getting near constant discomfort in my knee. It feels “full” most of the time and by the evening, it swells and stiffens and on occasion it has locked up which never happened before. I’ve been avoiding high intensity things that I enjoy like recreational softball, pickleball, hiking, etc. and I still experience discomfort to pain — even just from light housework (dishes, laundry, etc.).
I have an appointment with my ortho on Monday, but would love some perspective from those who have gone through this. Was the pain at the point where it was unbearable? It’s definitely not that intense for me. But I also worry about making the cartilage damage worse by putting it off. I’d like to avoid a total knee replacement in my older years.
Knowing how long and hard the recovery is, what level of pain and discomfort pushed you to doing the surgery? Or do you regret it or wish you would have waited longer (I have about 4 years left of Vericel holding onto my cartilage cells) or not done it at all?
I’m a wife, mom to a 7 year old and I work full time (fortunately it’s a desk job that’s 100% remote, but our short-term disability benefits cap out at 60%). Can I get by taking just 2-3 weeks off work?
I also live in a 2-story home. Would I be able to manage the stairs or would I likely need to move a bed to the main floor (still need to go upstairs for bathing)?
Thanks in advance for any insight you all have!