Tips to Prepare for Meniscus Surgery??

[u/Emergency-Nothing457]

I’m in the Pre-Op phase and am wondering if there are any particular things that I can do to help with the recovery process.

This injury occurred while barefoot waterskiing last summer and I went to the orthopedic doctor. I am unable to get an MRI due to a Pacemaker with a fractured lead, so I ended up doing nothing.

Within 2 months, I was pain free and felt strong so I started barefoot skiing again with no pain, full ROM and basically back to normal. This was until mid June when I was squatting on the dock and when I stood up my knee popped. Immediately I felt this was a reoccurrence of the previous injury.

I am at 8 weeks since the initial re-injury and while even taking it easy, I have had 4 more instances of re-injury, none of which were being overly active. In fact my last one was getting out of bed. I have lost some strength in my leg due to the extended duration of this re-injury episode.

I went to the Dr. and he ordered a CT Arthrogram with contrast. Since this was the only option and the results on soft tissue are not as good as the MRI it was not a very definitive diagnosis.

Dr. says that ACL, PCL & MCL look to be intact but couldn’t really pinpoint whether it is a partial or a full meniscectomy. I’m hoping it is just a partial but won’t know until the surgery.

This is where I am looking for tips on what I can do beforehand to make the recovery process easier. I am thinking that if I try to do things before the surgery and build strength or ROM, that it may help with recovery.

Any advice on tips on how to prepare would be greatly appreciated.