hi everyone i went to my os last may with swelling and alot of pain in my knee.. he had me do pt for 3 mos with no relief.. he than ordered an mri and said i had lateral meniscus tear and the beginning of arthritischonromalicia patella bone spur and cyst . said i needed arthoscopic surgery. i had scheduled it for aug but a family emergency came up. by the time i could do surgery xmas was around the corner and i decided to take pt job ( at a local grocery store in the deli, took it cuz it was pt and thought i could handle that much) till the beginning of the year and do the surgery. i did the surgery 1/12 and was told the tear was the least of my problems. today i start pt next week i go back to the os for a follow up the best i can remember of my conversation with him after the surgery was my cartlidge was more damaged than originally thought. I would need a replacement sooner than someone else my age and that there more options available to me I am a single mother 46 slightly over weight and really confused to what damage he is talking about. hopefully the therapist will help me out more today. he did talk to my mother who came with me and told her my knee was like that of an 80 yr old. in my 20's i remember having a really bad fall and my knee swelling up so bad the er would not do an exray the swelling and pain went away so i didnt pursue it. my mistake! anyone know of options for me? or what that means? would appericiate it Maryann