Today, I learned a new term related to the knee - SONK. Before I get to what SONK is and how it relates to me, let me briefly update what has taken place the last few weeks.
Over the past few weeks following the initial MRI results I have visited or have been in touch with five different orthopedic doctors concerning my case. Which led me to my sixth doctor that I visited yesterday. Why so many? It has been hard to get both a solid perspective of what the next step should be and to find someone that seemed ready to dive into my case (or had the expertise to dive in).
The first words that doc #6 had to say when he walked in the room was, "Lee, you have one challenging knee." After stating what I took as obvious...lol...he began to ask questions about the last year, we talked through the last few surgical reports, and then he did some pushing and moving of the knee. Coming out of that appointment we decided to schedule a scope of the knee to get eyes on what is really going on inside...with two possible plans of action based on what we found: 1) Osteochondral allograft or 2) Artificial fix.
Melissa and I left feeling like we had a plan of action that both of us were very comfortable in exploring. Then the phone rang. Dr. #6 was on the other end of the phone. He began to explain that he decided to dive into my MRI a little more and so he called his favorite radiologist to give an opinion on my films and together they came to a conclusion that I might have a SONK lesion. You can click on the link below to read into the detail of what a SONK lesion is.
SONK Lesion or (Spontaneous Osteonecrosis of the Knee)
What does this mean and where do we go from here? Basically our plan of action at this point is that my doc told me to put the unloader brace back on, walk with a cane, and to take it easy. There is a small chance that the damage to the knee (what seems to be a SONK lesion) could reverse itself if given to rest (if it is small). However, to do a scope of my knee could cause my SONK lesion to get worse if indeed that is what it is.
From here the plan is to rest the knee for a month, at that time we will do another 3T-MRI of my knee and compare the images to my January MRI. If the area they are concerned about doesn't change or worsens...it is a SONK lesion. We haven't talked in detail at this point what we will do if indeed this turns out to be a SONK lesion...but from my research the only options seem to be a unicompartmental knee replacement or a TKR.
It is hard to explain the emotions of the current journey. I feel more numb to it all at this point...probably because I feel I have moved into survival mode or I am just tired of facing the emotions of the problem. At least, at this point, it looks like we will have more answers in a month. In the meantime, I am rocking my new Walgreens cane.
