Posted by jim on Monday, March 10, 2008. Visit jim's BodyDaemon Journal.
I've just had a knee operation.
I can't type much due to my shoulder still being in a sling, but it turns out I had a 'cyclops lesion' in my knee. To quote kneeguru:
A cyclops lesion is a complication of anterior cruciate ligament surgery, where the new replacement ligament slowly strips away and bundles into a knot, jamming up the 'intercondylar notch' and preventing the knee from fully straightening. The lump sometimes looks like the central eye of a mythical 'cyclops' monster, hence the name.
A little background for people that don't know me that well - I've had several knee operations over the last 5 years for an ACL reconstruction, a meniscal tear, nerve damage / scar tissue removal, 2 more meniscal tears, then removal of a plica. The last of these was in 2005. Since then I've had the following problems:
The goal of the operation was to figure out what on earth was causing all of this, and hopefully fix it. Since this isn't covered by my insurance, I had to pay for the surgery (around £4000).
So, the operation identified and removed this cyclops lesion.
Other than that, my knee is apparently in great shape inside. I've got around 85% of my cartilidge left, and there's hardly any wear and tear (not bad for 7 surgeries).
One of the most frustrating things about this has been fighting for the diagnosis of the problem. I've been complaining of this for well over 18 months during which time I have seen countless physiotherapists, surgeons, chiropractors, paid for MRI scans / x-rays, etc. In the end they had to go inside my knee to see what was wrong, but I was discouaraged from having an operation at all, since it came with no guarantees.
I guess it's a good thing I stuck with my instincts and insisted on a procedure to hopefully figure out what was wrong.
I won't know for sure whether this has fixed the problem until I'm back on my feet properly, but I was getting pain upon extension - the symptoms of a cyclops lesion - so hopefully this is it fixed.
I now have lots of rehab to do. I was discharged from hospital today and I've been walking around and it's not too bad, although obviously it is extremely sore.
If this is the end of my knee issues, I can't begin to explain how happy I am :-) My injured knee has literally been the bane of my life for the last 3/4 years, as anyone who knows me in person can attest. I've been affected not just physically, but emotionally and financially. That may sound a bit over the top, but until you've been through a chronic injury you can't appreciate how horrible it is.
It's too early to tell yet whether this has fixed things, but I'm very, very hopeful.
I'll resume physio next week at the Droitwich knee clinic.
Cheers
Jim
I can't type much due to my shoulder still being in a sling, but it turns out I had a 'cyclops lesion' in my knee. To quote kneeguru:
A cyclops lesion is a complication of anterior cruciate ligament surgery, where the new replacement ligament slowly strips away and bundles into a knot, jamming up the 'intercondylar notch' and preventing the knee from fully straightening. The lump sometimes looks like the central eye of a mythical 'cyclops' monster, hence the name.
A little background for people that don't know me that well - I've had several knee operations over the last 5 years for an ACL reconstruction, a meniscal tear, nerve damage / scar tissue removal, 2 more meniscal tears, then removal of a plica. The last of these was in 2005. Since then I've had the following problems:
- pain when straightening leg
- horrible noise / crunching when straightening leg
- pain during any exercise
- pain when sleeping
- stabbing pains in knee when driving
- pain when sitting
- weight gain due to inability to do any cardio exercise, or indeed even just be on my feet for more than a few minutes
- no-one knew what was wrong.. several medical professionals suggested i "live with it". one (a senior surgeon at a respected hospital) said it was just 'wear and tear' and 'id probably need a knee replacement in 10 years'. good eh????
The goal of the operation was to figure out what on earth was causing all of this, and hopefully fix it. Since this isn't covered by my insurance, I had to pay for the surgery (around £4000).
So, the operation identified and removed this cyclops lesion.
Other than that, my knee is apparently in great shape inside. I've got around 85% of my cartilidge left, and there's hardly any wear and tear (not bad for 7 surgeries).
One of the most frustrating things about this has been fighting for the diagnosis of the problem. I've been complaining of this for well over 18 months during which time I have seen countless physiotherapists, surgeons, chiropractors, paid for MRI scans / x-rays, etc. In the end they had to go inside my knee to see what was wrong, but I was discouaraged from having an operation at all, since it came with no guarantees.
I guess it's a good thing I stuck with my instincts and insisted on a procedure to hopefully figure out what was wrong.
I won't know for sure whether this has fixed the problem until I'm back on my feet properly, but I was getting pain upon extension - the symptoms of a cyclops lesion - so hopefully this is it fixed.
I now have lots of rehab to do. I was discharged from hospital today and I've been walking around and it's not too bad, although obviously it is extremely sore.
If this is the end of my knee issues, I can't begin to explain how happy I am :-) My injured knee has literally been the bane of my life for the last 3/4 years, as anyone who knows me in person can attest. I've been affected not just physically, but emotionally and financially. That may sound a bit over the top, but until you've been through a chronic injury you can't appreciate how horrible it is.
It's too early to tell yet whether this has fixed things, but I'm very, very hopeful.
I'll resume physio next week at the Droitwich knee clinic.
Cheers
Jim
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