Happy M-Day Plus 7.

I can't believe it's been 7 years since my meniscus transplant.  My knee continues to serve me well, and I'm still playing ice-hockey, riding bikes (transitioned to mountain), and doing lots of things I probably shouldn't do (like catching bullpens for my baseball youth team and playing scout team QB against pee-wee footballers).  I'm not particularly good about icing after big events, and I don't really think about my knee holding me back.  If I treat it poorly, my knee will remind me that I'm not 21 anymore, and doctors have inside there 4 times.

Through this blog I've met many people from around the world that have had this surgery.   I've seen some awesome outcomes, and some unfortunate folks who have had setbacks (one was hit by a truck on her bike wrecking her freshly minted MT).  As I'm sure you can see from my blog, rehab was the key to my personal recovery, but also I knew there was a chance the outcome wouldn't be great. I was 35 and nowhere near ready to quit playing hard...it wasn't a tough choice for me, but I did as much research as I could before making the final decision.  I was also fortunate to have a great team at Dr. Stone's and a great local PT (John Zior in Rocklin, CA), who guided me through every up and down.

I'm on my second custom functional knee brace as I wore the first one out (yes, I play that hard).  I use it for skiing, hockey, and basketball (yes, I've started playing again with my 12 year-old son).  Hockey is not a twisting sport, and my MT rarely, if ever, gives me issues.  I feel like I have something going on behind my knee cap, and in the lateral part of the knee (the opposite side of my MT), but I can live with those issues and I don't plan on stopping for anything.  I've read that the average life span is 10 years for an MT, and considering how hard I've pushed mine, I'm hoping for the best.  I'm not ready to do it all over again, but I would still do it all over again.  My MT surgery been a solid decision for me thus far.  Since I don't have medial pain, I'm assuming my articular cartilage is hanging in there, my knee is very stable, and the MT is doing it's job.  So, for those of you getting ready for this surgery, get yourself ready physically and mentally for a challenge.  For those of you in the middle of this journey, hang in there, there is light, however faint, at the end of the tunnel.  Finally, if you've had the surgery, and you are still going for it, let me know about what you are doing in the comments.

All the best and Merry Christmas.