Hello all, this looks like a great forum!
I am hoping that someone has had the same experience as me and would like to know how they dealt with it.
My story: On June 19, 2002, I was at Lake Mead with some friends. I was on the shore in loose sand and my left leg sunk down suddenly in the sand--about up to my knee. While trying to get my leg out, a boat passed by and its wake picked me up and twisted me to my right with my left knee as the pivot point. As you can imagine, I rotated to the point that my knee popped (I heard it and my knee was under water). Of course, it hurt like heck and was swollen and sore for a few days. It continued to hurt for several months, even to the point of cramping up at work. I saw my primary doctor, who ordered X-rays and sent me to an orthopedic surgeon. He looked at the films and said that I had torn my meniscus and that he could aleviate the problem with arthroscopy, so I scheduled the surgery. In recovery I was told that I hadn't torn my meniscus, I instead tore a fetal membrane covering it. I also went to physical therapy and on my first visit my PT said I was ahead of schedule.
Now, seven months after surgery I am still in the same amount of pain, sometimes worse, as before surgery. I am 19, and while I'm not a totally active person, this knee is slowing me down. I stand at work, but am allowed to sit if I need to (though it makes my job very difficult). Standing makes it worse. I'm having all the normal symptoms: pain, the joint "catching", and my knee becomes very painful whenever pressure is applied to the back side (i.e. sitting in a car or office chair). You know the feeling when you smack your funny bone really hard? That's what it feels like on the back side.
I never had an MRI, and I wasn't too impressed with the surgeon. I think I saw him once post op, the rest of the visits he was out either on emergencies or doing something else and I saw the PA. I mentioned the pain in the back and sides (that I'm still having as I'm typing here) and she said it was residual swelling. The bone on the inner side of my knee is also very painful when pressure is applied. I'm not sure if this is because it's close to one of the incisions and there's nerve stuff going on or what.
Now, I am moving and would like to take the chance to see a different doctor. I feel this pain is not "normal", especially for a 19 year old. Do you think that I would get any relief from possibly another surgery (even though there's no way for you to diagnose me via the internet)? Should I demand a MRI be taken? I don't think it's my ACL, they checked for that and this doesn't seem too similiar to my mom's ACL injury (she had a reconstruction).
Thanks for any advice.
Michelle
