Hi Kate and welcome  I'm actually pretty new here too but happy to share my story!

I'm Bee, 23 and located in London. I've had instability and pain issues since my first discloation and frature (LK) aged 11, and subsequent dislocation (RK) aged 12 - as you can see I have issues with both my knees, but instability is worst in my left. I didn't receive any physio after my fracture which I blame for the difference.

Before I had my injuries, and subequent diagnosis, I was the most active and sportiest girl in the world! I was also in intensive training to fulfil my lifelong ambition to be a heptathlete and was competing regionally... that all came to an end when my consultant said I should quit ALL contact sports and running... I became quite depressed, but eventually changed my goals and moved on.

I lived with the pain and instability and associated problems until I was 20, and went through the diagnosis process all over again in my University town (Leicester), which resulted in a Lateral Release in 2009. I now know that this was possibly the worst procedure for someone like me, as alongside various mechancial problems with my knee (that I can't believe the surgeon missed!) I also suffer from hypermobility.

Anyway. To be present day. MY knees are the worst they've ever been. I am lucky enough now to have health insurance through work, so have been seeing two wonderful physios for almost a year now. One of them referred me to a private os, mr Bell, who I will be having a Trochleoplasty with in late September. Currently fighting the insurance co to pay for it, otherwise I will find myself with plenty of debt! I am so grateful that this op is around though - I have a domed trochelar instead of a groove, amongst other problems, but until now had never been faced with any real chance of success through surgery. I am now wishing, hoping and praying this will allow me to run and play sport again for the first time in 12 years!!!

Eek sorry for the mega post, didnt realise I had so much to say!

Bee

Bee! OMG your story, you're amazing to be keeping that sane. This has ruined a career for me thankfully, I just play football to keep fit, but wow. I didn't even know your trochelar could be domed. Mind blown! I feel like I'm learning a million new things with each post I read on this forum. I mean I never even knew what my surgery involved until I came on here. That's the worst thing - specialists never tell you anything! Good luck with your insurance company but even more luck with the running again! Money is a short term thing... freedom is what I miss most!

Hey SG. Yep, looks exactly the same. Of course I've been told twice in the last three days that if I paid $15,000 I could get the surgery tomorrow practically. Money gets you everywhere it seems. Not so easy when you're an unemployed student though. ha ha. God yes footy needs to come with blazing neon lights that say 'if you have a single issue with your legs ever, or have bad luck and might get kneed in the knee, don't play this sport!'. I didn't have surgery to replace it the first time which seems to have been a mixed blessing. I was told by my specialist that if I had then I wouldn't have a chipped bone which is a major butthurt and apparently will never stop hurting (if no one has had it I want you to imagine someone just stuck a sewing needle in your leg, pushed it right in, then left it there) but the surgery would have left some serious scarring and I wouldn't have been walking within the first month. Though since I was doing physio three weeks after my injury and I my knee still came out I'm not sure that made a difference. I don't get a lot of pain at physio. At least I didn't the first time around. My physio is great though, best in Sydney in my opinion, and my kneecap came out and popped back in again last Monday when we were going leg lifts so we went 'okay, let's tape it and get you a lay down' which left me being like 'THANK YOU YOU GOD-LIKE MAN!' but generally I have a pretty high pain threshold. I was gassed up like high as a kite when they pushed my kneecap back in which was fun. I can go under general, I had ten teeth removed when I was a kid, but it makes me feel sick so to be honest that's probably the thing I'm least looking forward to. I hate fainting and I do it far too often for my own good.

Hope your injury is a thing of the past now though and thank you both for your warm welcomes!

.Kate

Hi kate,
I'm also in the patello-femoral department since my childhood. have bad dyplasia of the trochlea and kneecap. Okay in one knee it is bad (plus OA now at age 32) and in the other knee it is mild with no OA according to MRI, but still have the symptoms.

I just wanted to say, don't feel bad for not having the "right" treatment from beginning on. There is no right treatment in general. Espially after reading around here, I realize how dangerous joint surgery is, so it is always good to try conservative first.

I also ruptured my MPFL in my youth, due to locating kneecap. I only had a scope at that time to take out some broken off cartilage, but nothing else. They wanted to do TTO  ('98) and said I NEED that. I said to myself, I'll try without, if it dislocates again, I can think about that, but not now.
I strengthend my legs, I did a lot of sports the last 20 years. Mainly biking, swimming, mountaineering, even squash. Still I always paid attention not to twist or have forces from the sides through my knee. So I gave up team sports, because there you can't control the forces, all that stop and go and the other people. Sometimes it feels like it will dislocate, but then I take of weight from that leg in a reflex and it doens't.
(My problem now is the OA that had to come sooner or loater.)


What I wanted to say, not every MPFL needs to be reconstructed. They say, if you dislocate your kneecap once, chances are 50 % that it happens again. So tehre is a 50 % chance it it not happening again!

Okay now, it happend again in your case and you have pain.
I wonder why thy want to do TTO and not MPFL reconstruction. I have researched on that topic in science databases and also consulted a specialist in that field. According to what I understand TTO is not recommended any more. First this technique is more prone to mistakes, causing you arthristis on the long run. Second, even if is is done perfect, it sems the patella tendon is changing and getting fibrotic and scarred up over the years, means most people with TTO have cronic problems on that tendon.
MPFL reconstruction is favored, no ligament issues here and if it is messured correctly by the OS, it also does NOT improve arthritis.

I just wanted to let you know that, maybe you take another opinion before you have TTO, which seems outdated.