My knee was bothering me a few years and eventually worsened to the point where I couldn't walk more than 20 minutes without swelling and pain. Despite PT, rest and ice, the swelling didn't subside. It was interfering with my ability to participate in sports and even taking walks! My longtime HSS doctor, Dr. Jo Hannafin ordered an MRI and upon diagnosis (she was soon retiring), referred me to her highly respected colleague, Dr. Sabrina Strickland.
Both Drs. Hannafin and Strickland agreed that I had a medial meniscus tear that could be arthroscopically repaired and thus, spare me from needing knee replacement further down the road. From my internet research, I saw that this surgery is not always recommended for people older than 40 - I was in my 60s - but Dr. Strickland felt strongly that I was in good physical condition to be a successful candidate. I was operated on in February 2021 during the pandemic and was impressed with the efficiency and care at HSS by everyone there. Safety protocol and organization was efficient and effective.
Now for the surgery aspect. As I laid in bed post-op for the six weeks, I was required to bear NO weight on the operated leg. I began to wonder if I had done the right thing. During that time and several months beyond, I contacted the doctor's office repeatedly to check that all of my symptoms were normal and that I would recover. I was unaware (my bad) and skeptical that recovery could take a year. When I was finally allowed to bear some weight on my leg, the knee still had stiffness, pain and considerably reduced flexion which all hindered my ability to walk more than a few blocks and with a much-slowed gait. During this period, I contacted one of Dr. Strickland's patients that underwent the exact same surgery as me (found her on Dr. Strickland's stories page) and learned that she was considerably older than 40, back to normal after just a few months and a serious fan of Dr. Strickland. I began to panic as I was well in to my fourth month post-op and not even close to my pre-op activities. Long story short, it's now been a full year since the surgery and the needless panicking is over. My knee is now completely repaired! I no longer have any swelling, stiffness, pain and have resumed ALL of my physical activities. Doing a full squat (child's pose) took me a full year to resume but I can even do that again. The surgery and year spent recovering was well-worth it. Dr. Strickland is a highly skilled surgeon and I couldn't be more thankful to and her staff to have been under their care. Thank you all!
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