Microfracture fast forward 14 months.......

Hi.........Here is my story......

I am a Certified Athletic Trainer and played basketball, volleyball and ran track all through my educational years and basketball through college on a scholarship.

I had an ACLreconstruction in Nov of 2000 and moved out of state 8 weeks into my rehab....never went back which being an ATC should have said I knew better.....unfortunately sometimes we are our own worst enemies. Needless to say it took me a longggggg time to be able to run again.......Just as I was feeling comfortable running again in 2006 I ran out on the football field after an injured player and stepped in a hole I didn't see. I didn't even realize it until after the game (adrenaline I assume) when my knee was SWOLLLLLEN to say the least and I couldn't bend it at all! I worked in an outpatient PT clinic so I did modalities to try to help but nothing worked and it just kept getting worse.......FINALLY I gave in and went to the doc and had a whole lot of fluid drawn off and got a cortisone injection..........yea to say the least it did absolutely nothing at all for me.

A month later I saw the surgeon and said I wanted my knee scoped and cleaned out and my ACL screw removed and he suggested I also do a lateral release. SO I agreed and also gave him permission to do what he needed to do to FIX this horrific pain! (no MRI cuz we knew I needed the scope and screw removal regardless of what the MRI said)

I wake up from surgery to my MD saying "well I have good news and bad news" "Good news is I didn't have to do the lateral release) "YEAAAAAAAAAA "Bad news is you are on crutches NON WEIGHT BEARING for 6 weeks" I wanted to punch him! BUT remember I had given him permission to do what he needed to do in there. What he found was CRAZY! I had 3 VERY large grade 4 OCD's .......one in the medial femoral condyle, a very large one on the back side of my patella and another in the trochlear groove ........so ok.....6 weeks no big deal.
At my first follow up visit I mentioned to my OS that another OS friend of mine had said he ALWAYS does Synvisc injections starting 6 weeks out. My OS said he hadn't heard anything about it and said it was worthless.......sighs

I did what I had to do and 6 weeks later handed over my crutches and walked out of his office. Felt pretty good overall.....this time I DID my therapy at work as I was told! I was feeling better by the summer and went to the beach. I misjudged a wave and it carried me to a shallow sandbar and my knee buckled. When we got home I went straight back to the MD and got a cortisone injection along with more fluid drawn off. Ever since then though I can feel my tibia shift up into the OCD in the femur.....it brought me to my knees......literally!

As a last resort I got the PA to agree to try synvisc cuz I am WAY too young for a knee replacement.

3 weeks ago I got my first injection and couldn't believe the difference.....I thought no way I feel this good after one injection......now after all 3 I am absolutely amazed at how great my knee feels. I can honestly say it hasn't felt this good in YEARS!!!! When I questioned the OS today about doing Synvisc on other patients following microfracture and he just saw the literature only 6 months ago and just didn't know.

ok now to my real point.........ASK your surgeons what is available to you if you are still experiencing pain following this surgery. If you think about what happens during microfracture, Synvisc or whatever joint lubricant replacement your doc uses just makes sense because it cushions that area while it is healing.......ahhhhhhhhh if only I had had it done a year ago!!! GRRRRR

I know this was long winded but I wanted you all to see that you are not alone with your struggle with microfracture......years from now alot of us will probably be comparing joint replacement procedures but if anyone has the same kind of relief I have had out of these injections I would ask about them or what your surgeons knows about them!
Good luck to you all in your recovery and challenges with this surgery!