J.G. - I've had a nice portion of my miniscus taken out of the inside/front part of my left knee. Felt better right away to get that flap of torn miniscus out of there. Yes, I had it drained a couple times afterward, but I was on a plane to Alaska 2 days later, fishing on the banks of the kenai and with Bob for the next few days, out on the ocean for Halibut, then back on the banks of river again. Ditching the crutches by the time I was heading home. Running and water-skiing 2 weeks later. Easy surgery. BUT, a complete removal of the whole miniscus would be a bigger deal, must be torn or worn in several places, replacement will be your friend soon I suspect if that is the case.

J.G.
I've had two meniscus surgeries done to me in the last eight years. Left knee both times. My advice follow the rehab plan diligently. Parker said what my experience was. The first surgery I waited too long to start rehabbin my knee and it took damn near a year for it to work right. The second one I began 'habbin it the day of the surgery. Recover was like three weeks. Playing softball after 5 weeks. By the way the second one I watched the doctor do on a big screen. I was told after the second one I was on the 5 year plan for the scope, if I continued an active life stlye. You should be good for a trip in late July if you go soon to get it done. Good Luck
-Todd M.

It all sounds good--- with the recumbent exersize bike I can give the knee a good workout without putting much weight on it. I plan on watching the procedure on the screen as I find that kind of stuff really interesting. The pre-op physical went well so I make mtyappointment today and hopefully get in the the next couple of weeks.

What can I say Marsha, who am I to turn them away.

Yes Aunty, that trimming is called a circumcision

Richard, I have had the medial miniscus removed from both of my knees. Had the right one removed about 16 years ago followed by the left one two years later. Each removal was proceeded by a repair that lasted about a year. The repair required a long incision on the inside of the leg and the removal required three small holes in the knee area. There are some other options to knee replacement before you go that route. They now have a synthetic replacemant material that wasn't available 14 years ago. My knee started to ache last fall and I went to see the Doc. X-rays showed some arthritis starting in the knee joint but that was at 50 y.o.a. and 14 years after removal. Now after all this time I had a cortizone shot in one knee joint last year and that helped a lot. I take the glucosamine tablets daily now and that also helps.

Thanks Steve. I take the glucosamine everyday also. My x-rays showed some arthritis starting. Dr. said it would be three small holes. He also said there was an injection of some acid that is normally present in healthy knees but seems to be lower in people with knee problems. So was your knee in good shape a month after the removal?

I was walking on it with in 24 hours of the removal with out anything but an ace bandage. When I had the repairs it took several days plus I was in a rigid brace for several weeks, the kind with dial indicators on each side. Each week I would adjust the range of motion. The removal was much easier than the repair (which didn't really work).

Thanks Steve.

Jerry, odds are you'll feel like someone knee capped you with a crow bar but they will want you up and starting to walk the next day. You'll be real stiff but they even wanted me climbing my stairs the next day. It's more of not being able to bend it thing. Like said in about a week you'll feel a lot better and three weeks all's pretty good. I feel jipped that I didn't get injected with acid though. Maybe they felt there was enough left over in my system from the 1970's. Oh, one thing that was kind of weird....they gave me a marker and I had to write YES on the leg to be scoped and NO on the good leg. Glad I got it right.

Thanks stlhead--- as long as they give me a script for some Vicoden I'll be OK.

You have to watch out if you are taking the V. You will need help taking a dump.

If you come up short on vicodin, I have a bunch left over from dealing with my neck injury. I must have high resistance; it takes a bunch to get me loopy.

Sg

Thanks for all the replies guys and Auntie should find out my date today.
Expect a call from Joe Salmo.

Salmo g:
My knee hurts!