Meniscus Transplant Journey

There isn’t a lot of information on this topic, so I wanted to document my journey.

For context, I had perfectly healthy knees & then when I was 23F, in early August 2025, I fell from olympic rings about 7 feet in the air onto my bent right knee and couldn’t walk. I went to the ER & they took x-rays which came back negative. Nothing broken or fractured, no liquid in my joints, & no tissue deformation. The ER doctors told me to see a PCP to get a MRI referral since they couldn’t give me one. The ER doctors gave me a knee wrap, acl brace, & crutches to use to walk. The soonest PCP appointment I could schedule was 10 days later. The PCP didn’t believe that I was in pain, I had to fight insurance to get a second opinion, etc. I didn’t end up getting a MRI until mid October. The results came in late October & then I saw a sports medicine doctor in early November 2025 who told me I had a lateral bucket handle meniscus tear and needed surgery. I had a surgery consultant in mid Nov and the surgeon and I agreed we wanted to repair my meniscus if possible. I had surgery in late Nov, but my meniscus was so thinned out by that point, that 80% of my meniscus had to be removed. I was recommended to get a lateral meniscus transplant because I was a good candidate for it at 24F, normal alignment, cartilage outer bridge score 0, etc. I switched surgeons so that I could get my procedure done by someone who specializes in this matter. She wanted me to do as much PT as possible prior to surgery so that I could go into surgery as strong as possible and have a shorter recovery. Studies show that if you wait more than 6 months post meniscectomy, the success rate for the meniscus transplant goes down, so she scheduled my surgery about 5.5 months out.

5/5: I had surgery. It went well & I had no pain. I was cleared for toe touch weight bearing when I was told pre-op that I wouldn’t be weight bearing at all for 12 weeks, so I’m very grateful for that. I spent the day resting, icing, & elevating my knee.

5/6: Started home PT. Doing ankle pumps, heel slides up to 30°, quad sets, & leg raises 3 times a day to start. Leg raises are the hardest for me to do.

I will provide updates for significant events as time goes on. Please comment and ask for updates if I forget to provide them & let me know if you have specific questions!