Knee surgery?

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Hi there, I'm going to be starting nursing classes in the fall (currently April)! I injured my knee last summer, but wanted to see if it would get better on it's own. It's gotten worse over time, and now is shifting out of place and swelling randomly and causing me a great deal of pain. My doctor referred me to an orthopedic surgeon because she's pretty sure I have a few tears in my knee. I haven't gone to the appointment yet, but I'm just thinking ahead. If they think that I need surgery, should I just get it done and over with? Or try physical therapy first, thereby pushing the surgery towards the middle of the summer and probably starting nursing school on crutches. All I know is is that there is no way I could do the manual labor that is required of nurses in this condition, so I need to get better. Advice?

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Specializes in Neuro.

Whatever you do, put your well being first, even if that might mean deferring a semester. I know, no one wants to do that ever, but your well being comes first. I know not what you want to hear, but, I wish the best!

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It honestly depends on the injury and type of surgery you need.

I had arthroscopic surgery on my knee and only used crutches for 4 days afterward. My knee was stiff for a while and needed PT, but I was fully recovered after about a month and a half. (this was 6 years ago so I'm fuzzy on the details, but I had surgery the first week of March, got a brand new puppy 2 weeks later, and moved across the country in may. I was also the sole caregiver for my 3 year old because my husband was deployed. The recovery from arthroscopic is not bad at all)

If you have tears in the cartilage (these can be diagnosed by MRI), PT will not do much to help without fixing the problem first. Just tell the ortho your concerns and your deadline to be back to normal.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

I would do it sooner rather than later.

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