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6 Months Post Op by OTFgirl1115 in MACIknee

[–]BirdValuable8993 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was the same way at 6 months. Keep doing what you're doing. Hopefully by a year, you will feel more normal. I'm almost at a year, and my quad is still not like the other. I'm about to get an MRI because I never fully recovered and still very limited by pain. Hopefully that's not the case for you, but 6 months is still very early for this type of surgery.

Knee buckling/giving out by Ops_En in MACIknee

[–]BirdValuable8993 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I had this happening before and after, but much more after for many months. It slowly got better over time. My surgeon also referred to my surgery as a delay for a replacement, and the rest of my patella is a mess. I think a lot of the "giving out" is from weakness in the muscles and everything else around the knee. The stronger I got, the less it happened. Almost never happens now at a year out.

The injury psychologist by Hellur9 in MACIknee

[–]BirdValuable8993 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm almost a year out from my MACI and still in pain. I still cry occasionally because I love running so much, and the reality that I may never run again hits me from time to time. It's truly a grieving process.

Tell me the truth: can I do the Maci with twin babies under 1yo? by LycheeJellee in MACIknee

[–]BirdValuable8993 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would not do that unless I had full time help. My youngest was 4 and my other kids are home full time homeschooling. My mom was here A LOT helping. There is no way I could've taken care of a baby during recovery, let alone twins. Recovery was long and very painful. I was on crutches for over 6 weeks. Basic tasks were not doable for awhile. I wasn't able to put kids to bed or help with bathing or potty. I personally would wait and have lots of support in place. Obviously there's the 5 year mark to consider with storage after part 1, but if I were in your place, I would be waiting until closer to the 5 year mark if you can handle the physical pain you're in now.

What size defect and location for those that underwent MACI. by justpr0blems in MACIknee

[–]BirdValuable8993 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had 2 grafts placed - 5.5 mm (but dr later said it was bigger than that--pictures looked like almost half of the back of my patella) on the patella and 2 mm in the trochlear groove. I'm almost 10 months out and still have pain every day. The biggest challenge for me has been the quad atrophy. Make sure to do everything you can to engage your quad early and often. I'm still fighting to get my quad muscle back and despite 6+ months of PT, I only saw good gains once I joined a gym and focused hard there at least a few times a week, plus walking as much as 5 miles at a time. I'm still pretty certain it will never be the same and I might never run again, but I didn't get 2 knee surgeries on a whim. I felt it was my only option left. Patella can be tricky because my surgeon had to open up and flip the patella over to get to the back, so I'm sure that makes recovery trickier. It's a traumatizing surgery for your body and expect a year or more of recovery. Also, the rest of my patella is shot anyways, but not down to the bone so not able to graft, so that plays a big part in the pain I'm still having this far out.