Thanks for the update, Kit. Your recent silence had me fearing the worst regarding you knee. It's not as bad as I was imagining but a setback nonetheless.

Fwiw, years ago I experienced something similar with my knees, only the doctor called it "softened cartilage" which, as I think about it now, probably meant some sort of degeneration. I was about 21 at the time and my problems stemmed from 10+ years as a catcher; my passion growing up was baseball. Anyway, the doctor went in with a scope, which was cutting edge stuff back then, and afterwards told me about the cartilege. He said he didn't want to operate and if I could keep the cartilege intact for another five years before surgery I would avoid arthritis when I hit age 50. I asked him what excercises I could do to help the knees and he said leg lifts. That was it. I asked for more detail and he said, "More leg lifts." He was talking about the lay-on-your-back-with-hands-under-your-butt-straight-leg-lifts. Raise the legs about 6 inches, up, out, together, down. Repeat. And again. So that's what I did. Obsessively. I got so I could keep my legs up until I got bored. But over time the knees improved and I have yet to go under the knife. So, maybe leg lifts ???

Hang in there, this sucks. All good thoughts coming your way.