I have an incomplete T6 spinal cord injury and needed to have knee surgery to decrease pain and help with ease of transfers, general mobility, strength building, and ambulation (walking). The MACI surgery takes your own harvested cartilage cells, regenerated in a lab, and implants them into the defect or “pothole” as my surgeon referred to it. The tibial tubercle osteotomy is where they cut off the top part of your tibia where the tendon is connected and slightly move it over and screw it back in. This offsets the weight and pressure in your knee to hopefully protect the knee cartilage from getting constant pressure applied to it. The recovery is 6-8 weeks in a straight-leg brace with 2-3 weekly PT sessions. Technical recovery time is 6-12 months 🙃 for an able-bodied person which, unfortunately, I am not. In March of 2022, I suffered an unprovoked burst fistula (weak artery) that compressed my spinal cord causing a T6 incomplete spinal cord injury. It is considered incomplete because I do have some sensation and muscle return in my legs. My left leg has less return and is significantly weaker than my right. 6 months after my SCI and rehabilitation, I had a fall after pool therapy causing a Grade 4 tear in my cartilage. I had that scoped in Dec 2022 and they harvested cartilage knowing I’d most likely need a MACI implant repair surgery.
#macisurgeryrecovery #tibialtubercleosteotomy #kneesurgery #kneepain #spinalcordinjury #ambulatorywheelchairuser