About this time last year my wife and I were finalizing our move into the new apartment and spent the final few nights in the old place sleeping on a blanket on the hard floor. Sometime in the morning I was still mostly asleep (though conscious of my surroundings) and I rolled over onto my stomach. In an instant I was waked by the most blinding pain I've ever felt and looked down at my extended leg to see something under the skin slide OVER my right kneecap from right to left. The pain was so intense I immediately burst into tears and attempted to get up in a panic. Then my leg contracted a bit and I found I couldn't fully extend or close it anymore...

...my wife was going to call for an ambulance because I couldn't move...but I begged her not to and mustered up the strength to hop down 2 flights of stairs on one leg (practically screaming all the while). Somehow I managed to fit myself into the car and we sped off to the hospital.

I was examined (and tortured) by a number of doctors, subjected to X-Rays, and an MRI, but no one could confirm what had happened nor what I saw with my own eyes. They did however tell me that the ligaments in my knees are abnormally 'loose'...and I am convinced that somehow the pressure I put on the hard floor while rolling over somehow forced that loose ligament over the kneecap like a rubber band.

Anyway...I went home to rest (there was nothing the doctors could do for me) and was left alone while everyone else went off to work. So there I laid in a real bed, slowly forcing my leg straight (per doctor's orders), a few degrees at a time every 15 minutes or so...

...after hours had passed I nearly had it straight...and after one more intense stretch...I saw that same ligament slide itself back to the right side and into it's original position. Instantly most of the pain subsided and I was left with a dull ache and some dried out eyes.

This experience left me in something of a state of shock, similar to post traumatic stress. A year later and I still cringe every time I bend my knee and I haven't gotten a full night's sleep because I am terrified of it happening again.

Why have I brought this up? Because my knee is starting to ache again...and the doctor's last words to me were if the aching comes back it's time for surgery. I have an uncle that went in for routine knee surgery a few years back and died on the operating table after an allergic reaction to the (can't remember the word in English...) sleeping medicine?

Needless to say I am terrified of the surgery but I may need it in coming years if this worsens...my knee aches all the time now and it's getting really frustrating not being able to stay healthy...

Has anyone had any experience with something like this...?