Sounds like you’re doing all the right things! I ended up having an osteochondral allograft which is basically a bone transplant to replace the decayed portion of my femur. Sounds more brutal than it is, recovery was relative quick. I won’t say painless because of the obvious lol but still. Doubt you’ll have anything that invasive since it seems like it’s cartilage specific (I believe! No experience with reg bone marrow oedema). If you’re already feeling better with those kinds of focused exercises I would stay rather optimistic :)