Knee, Meet Surgeon, Please Get Along Together

It's official, I'm having surgery.  The whole thing started at the end of November and after trying everything but surgery I'm willing to give it a go.  The official diagnosis is Medial Synovial Plica Irritation.  Often times it is referred to as patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS or runners knee).  Essentially it is a dull ache that gradually increases in pain until you're forced to stop.  Sometimes it takes days to build up while other times it only takes less than a mile.

An MRI done back in December revealed a possible meniscus tear as well as a large cyst; aka Mr. Irritated Plica.  More often than not rest and an anti-inflammatory regimen will take care of it, but not this time.  In the words of my surgeon "I see about 200 of these a year and I perform surgery on about 5".  Looks like I scored on the wrong side of the odds this time around.

Through the course of this whole thing I've tried complete rest, physical therapy, and both non-steroidal and steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (all oral, no shots).  The result is always the same.  I can run, but I'm limited to a paltry 20 to 30 miles per week and there's no way I can do back to back long runs without the pain returning.  I even contemplated an extended time off, like the rest of the year, but I'm told it wouldn't make a difference.  Plus I'm not sure my family could tolerate me for that long, there's no doubt I would go a little crazy.

So next Thursday I go in for a simple scope that will make me good as new.  I know, I know, I'm not naive enough to think that nothing can go wrong or that it won't work, but at this point I'm extremely optimistic and I will do everything in my power to make sure I heal and rehab properly, pinky swear.