It has been roughly 20 months since my surgery. At around 14 months I really started to feel good. Now, 6 months later, I feel like I am back to pre-surgery abilities.
I suppose the kicker is that I am a little older, so I can’t expect to be a lot better… or I should water down my performance expectations.
Even up through 12-14 months, I was still prone to a lot of pain and swelling. Over the past 3-4 months, I’ve actually been able to increase my effort and mileage. I’ve been doing both intervals (very hard for a few minutes, then easy, then hard…) and a lot more climbing. I can absolutely feel that I am out of cycling shape, but my knee is responding very well.
I am riding distances consistent with where I was riding two and a half years ago, right before my knee started to get bad. I am kicking a soccer ball around with the girls a bit. I am chasing them more. I am walking around and exploring more without needing a rest. I don’t feel a lot of sore muscles after a day of fishing in the boat.
Was it a long hard road to get here? Yes. There was a lot of pain too. I am very happy to say that I am feeling better and for the first time in a long time I am not using my knee as an excuse.
Good luck! The road ahead is long. Those with more patients will probably do better, but I am typing this with the good kind of sore muscles from using them! My knee isn’t holding me back anymore.
And as long as I can say that; I am happy.
Hey, thanks so much for posting your progress updates. I had microfracture surgery 3 weeks ago, and it is really encouraging to read about your recovery!