Right Knee Open Autologous Cartilage Cell Implant

You may recall I posted earlier this year that I was having some problems with my right knee. I had a tear in my lateral meniscus, which was repaired during an arthroscopic procedure done in June. During the same procedure, the doctor found a couple of chondral (cartilage) defects; one on the underside of the patella and another on the lateral side of the joint, where the meniscus was damaged. They took a biopsy during the scope and discovered that I inherited bad cartilage from somebody in my family. But because there was no damage to the bone yet, I was identified as a good candidate for cartilage replacement, a procedure in which my cartilage is reproduced in a lab and later implanted through open surgery. That’s where we’re at now. I had the cartilage implants done on Friday, December 4th.

This is me, pre-op, shaved leg, cute blue footies and conehead-styled hair net (courtesy of Karen).

I’m feeling fine right now; not too much pain. It does look a lot worse than it feels at this point though. I’ve included a picture below of what I like to call Frankenknee, but you’ll have to click on the warning to see it. I didn’t wanna gross anybody out without a warning.

Those white pads with the wires sticking out are for part of my therapy. The wires connect to an electro-stimulation device. Read about it here if you’re interested. It helps keep the swelling and pain down a bit.

So there’s the update people have been asking for. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers so far. I’m looking at a 4-6 week recovery before I can get around on my own without too much difficulty.