I am just now 22 years old, and I have had knee problems for about the past 8 years. After countless doctors and surgeons told me that there was nothing that they could do for me and that I "needed to suck it up", I decided to get one last opinion before giving up. I met with an awesome surgeon in Quincy, IL, who told me that I have a very shallow trochlear groove (the groove where my patella sits), and this is what causes my knee to dislocate. After giving me a diagnosis, she referred me to one of the best surgeons in the country, who happens to be in Columbia, MO. After 8 long years of not having an answer as to what was wrong with me, I was finally feeling optimistic.
My initial appointment with the surgeon in Columbia was on January 8, 2016. He spent about 20 minutes looking at my previous scans and notes from the different surgeons and physical therapists before he told me that he could fix what was wrong with my knee. Yes, you read that right - after EIGHT YEARS of struggling with pain, not being able to do the things I love, seeing a million and one doctors... I was FINALLY going to get surgery to correct the problem. He explained to me that because my patella has dislocated so many times in the past, it has damaged my medial patellofemoral ligament (or MPFL) for short. The MPFL is the primary stabilizer that is meant to keep your patella in place.
My surgeon explained that he was going to clean out all of the damaged cartilage and debris that may or may not be floating around in my knee cap before he does anything else. The next step is reconstructing my MPFL. Since mine is so damaged, he thought that a donor ligament would be the best option for me. After he explained everything that he was going to do during my procedure, I signed all of my consent forms and set up a date - January 28, 2016. All I had left to do was wait..
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