A Tear in my Lateral Meniscus

About two months ago, I did something that caused a good deal of pain in my right knee. I don’t know what I did or exactly when/how it occurred but the next day my knee was swollen and hurt a lot. So I began icing it frequently, taking a lot of Ibuprofen and have tried to not put too much stress on it. (Yes, thank you Roger, I have been taking the Ibuprofen with food.)

Well, the pain hasn’t really let up at all, so about two weeks ago I finally got in to see a professional. He prescribed an MRI which I had done last week. The Dr. looked at the MRI today and told me I have a tear in my lateral meniscus and may have damaged some of the articulate cartilage at the base of my femur. Surgery is pretty much the only course of action.

Below is a side view of my knee, from the MRI. The dark area where the green arrow is pointing, is what the entire meniscus is supposed to look like. The damaged area of the meniscus is pointed out with the red arrow.

This image is from the front of the knee. That little tiny black spot amid the charcoal-colored stuff could be an indication of damaged cartilage, but the Dr. won’t know until he can go in and take a look.

So, surgery is scheduled for June 16th. It’s outpatient and, since I pretty much sit at a computer all day, I shouldn’t need to miss more than a day or two of work.