Was skiiing in the Sierra Nevada on Easter Sunday (March 31), 1975 -- landed in a heap after spending the bulk of the day trying to forget my water skiing technique and trying to learn how to snow ski on a warm spring day. Made it down the mountain and called it a day. Next morning, had a knee the size of a football. Saw a co-worker's knee doc on an emergency basis who told me to take a cab to the hospital from his office. Admitted myself (without even a toothbrush!) and had a 'procedure' done the following morning. With my very loose ligaments, they decided nothing more was going on than 'an internal derangement'. Not even sure they use those terms anymore.. Woke up with a plaster cast from top of hip to ankle. Such fun!
Once the cast was off, tripped, fell on bad knee, landing myself back in doc's office. NOW, he says, we have something to fix! They found a classic bucket handle tear of the left medial meniscus. So... they took the entire thing out!
Fast forward to 1997. After several 'spring cleanings' (scopes), the last one just didn't end the ouch, ouch, ouch of walking, saw the doc and told him to fix it. "I can't", he said. "If you guys can clone sheep, you can fix my knee", I said. He referred me to a wonderful doc in San Francisco who, he said, "CAN" ... made the appointment and took along my video of the latest scope.
The US Food & Drug Admin (FDA) had just approved the procedure the new doc recommended in April, 1997. I had the ACI and meniscal transplant done in two steps -- the harvest of the articulate cartilege cells in May, and the implant and cadaver meniscus transplant performed six weeks later. No weight bearing for approximately nine weeks. Had to learn how to walk again from the beginning...
Six months of intensive rehab later, I could run (check it out, RUN!) up and down stairs with no pain -- for the first time in over 23 years! My doc said I could ski again! (Not that I will, fear had set in by then!) I was lucky -- no arthritis had set in after the original trauma back in 1975.
I am now more than six years post surgery. Have talked to other potential candidates of this combined procedure and would be pleased to share my experience with anyone who faces this.
