Will I need surgery?

I don't mean to sound smarty or anything, but this is something to discuss with your orthopedic specialist. Even if you do end up having surgery, the techniques nowadays are so much better than ever that in most cases an uncomplicated surgery shouldn't keep you down as long as if it was happening even 10 years ago.

I just had my fourth knee surgery, this time to trim out part of a torn meniscus. I had the same surgery done 35 years ago, and I was in the hospital for 3 days, not allowed to walk for 4 weeks, then assisted weight bearing for a couple more weeks, and lots of therapy after all that. This time, it was day surgery. I was on the table at 10:30 am, and home on my sofa by 2:15 that afternoon. Same kind of repair. This time, I walked up to my front door keeping the crutches in my hand just as a safety measure in case I was groggy. But, I wasn't-- and I actually took a walk, a REAL walk and not a hop, around my block at 4 pm. That was one week ago and now I can squat to 90 degrees, walk perfectly normally, and flex and straighten that knee with complete range of motion just like I could before my injury with very little pain other than the pre-existing arthritis. It's completely different now, since so many people have knee surgery these days. Of course, your mileage may vary. I was simply making the comparison between 'then' and 'now', and I'm also not a teenager anymore, ha ha!

Talk with your specialist, as s/he will have the best information regarding your case.

If it's the only option you see, perhaps you can pay your local butcher to preform the operation for you?

If you'd like, I'll give the number for my friend, he's a doctor of sorts. He holds a doctoral degree in fine arts.