Meniscus Tear Part 3

In early February I managed to tear my right meniscus for a second time. I was out bouldering in Custer with friends, and partway up a climb I felt my knee pop while moving to stand up on a high right foot. I knew immediately that I tore something. Since I was near the top of the boulder and didn’t want to drop down I managed to finish the climb, and then the fact that I hurt my knee began to settle in.

Thankfully I had my trekking poles with me, and with the help of Kirsten and some friends I managed to hobble out of the woods and back to the car. A few doctor appoints and an MRI scan later it was confirmed: medial meniscus bucket handle tear. The same exact injury I had in March 2021 (and in December 2018 on my left knee). I was obviously disappointed to find out, but at least I knew what I was getting into.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a surgeon in Rapid City who specialized in meniscus repair surgeries. Prior to the surgery we discussed the possibility that my meniscus would be too damaged to repair due to this being the second time I’ve had this injury. If that were the case he would have to instead remove the meniscus which can lead to knee complications later in life (early knee replacement is likely).

I went into surgery on Feb 28th, and thankfully had no issues or complications. Fortunately the meniscus was in relatively good shape and my surgeon was able to repair the tear – though he did have to remove a small portion of the meniscus where the previous repair sutures had failed. Time for the long recovery process to begin!

At the time of writing I’m 6 weeks post-op and just started being able to put weight on my right leg again. I can walk while wearing my brace, and am slowly working towards getting back to normal. At a high level my timeline is looking like:

• End of April – Walking without my brace (2 months post-op)
• End of May- Start light jogging (3 months post-op)
• End of July – More or less return to all activity (5 months post-op)

In my previous experience I didn’t get back to absolute 100% knee function until closer to 8-9 months post-op, so we’ll see how things shake out. In the meantime I’ve been staying active by doing plenty of pushups, pull-ups, light weights, core and hangboarding. We’ll see if all this hangboarding pays off once I’m actually able to start climbing again.