5x knee surgeries in 26 months. Any advice?

[MkInfiniteTesseract]

Hey everyone, Im 38 yrs. Old, 5'11", 200lbs. I practice jiu jitsu, and I have had 5 knee surgeries in the last 26 months.
1st ACL reconstruction w/ hamstring autograft, meniscus repair done 3/11/23.
Retore 6/28/25 ACL revision reconstruction w/patella BtB graft, meniscus repair, and LET surgery done 11/20/24. 7 wks. Post op I suffered a slip down 4 steps, landing straight legged, 1 day after cleared from brace. Force fractured my patella ( kneecap) displacing bottom half, rupturing and tearing quad tendon off tibia. Suffered until 2/10/25 gor surgery waiting on MRI. 5/19/25 had a meniscectomy performed, lastly 6/20/25 had knee joint manipulation performed with scar tissue removal. This has been a fucking long road man and still a LONG way to go. Ive been active in gym with upper body the past 8 weeks. Tried to continue some calisthetics throughout the injuries. Currently high cruising on test cyp 250 every 3 days. .75ml.
Im looking for some advice to speed this recovery along, my right quad is severely atrophied. So leaning towards GH, BPC157, AND tren to build the muscle back quickly. But only issue I might run into is inflammation with the joint which will be counter effective. Ive been running test mostly on a cruise for the past 5 years. 2 cycles of tren 1 E, 1 A, 1 eq, the results of tren are undeniable but it effected my cardio as well as inflammation. Not worried about cardio rn though.
Anyways any specific training advice would be great. Looking to return to jitsu when cleared. Would love to talk though so any advice I appreciate. Thanks!

 

[Valdosta]

1st ACL reconstruction w/ hamstring autograft, meniscus repair done 3/11/23.
Retore 6/28/25 ACL revision reconstruction w/patella BtB graft, meniscus repair, and LET surgery done 11/20/24. 7 wks. Post op I suffered a slip down 4 steps, landing straight legged, 1 day after cleared from brace. Force fractured my patella ( kneecap) displacing bottom half, rupturing and tearing quad tendon off tibia.

i remember u from that spongebob episode

but from what i understand rushing it by blasting tren is likely gunna have u back on the operating table. it's never gunna be 100% again. youre gunna have to baby the hell out of it for a long time

 

[Wardamn]

Time is your friend.

Running tren and pushing training would be a dumb idea. Just asking for another injury.

 

[HFO3]

In zero ways is AAS usage going to help you, TRT if your already a TRT lifer. The best, safest way to heal is naturally and with time and with proper PT. The human body does miracles on its own

 

[Jakesnake007]

i remember u from that spongebob episode

but from what i understand rushing it by blasting tren is likely gunna have u back on the operating table. it's never gunna be 100% again. youre gunna have to baby the hell out of it for a long time

Hahaha

 

[MkInfiniteTesseract]

i remember u from that spongebob episode

but from what i understand rushing it by blasting tren is likely gunna have u back on the operating table. it's never gunna be 100% again. youre gunna have to baby the hell out of it for a long time

Lol, yeah if I was running tren and blasting away at my legs, I think id be fucked. I cant even squat 1/3 down with bodyweight lol. My range of motion just hit 100°. So whatever I run on the AAS side is more for the rest of my body and to help stop atrophy, maye put some raster muscle recovery

i remember u from that spongebob episode

but from what i understand rushing it by blasting tren is likely gunna have u back on the operating table. it's never gunna be 100% again. youre gunna have to baby the hell out of it for a long time

Lol. Right thats basically what my wife and mother in law say and think in regards to the big injured purple guy and me. Jiu jitsu can be a bitch, 1st time all on me and my ego. 2nd one, still on me but because I didnt know my training partner, he was informed about my knee prior though. And the patella break...that was just wild and some bad luck. Day 1 out of brace going to walk down stairs and as my weight shifted feet my quad just has no reaction time or muscle fibers to even react, which is what a hyper extension is, and then because I had a patella bone tendon bone graft, its like they had scored my bone like sheet rock or tile, it just snapped and broke off along that line. What a shit show though. Patience it is i guess.
Tha ks

 

[Valdosta]

im kinda autistic about always grabbing a handrail on stairs. i even subconsciously tell all of my friends to do it if i see them not doing it. just forced it to become second nature to prevent possible injury or death as i age. coulda helped there maybe

 

[JJB1]

im kinda autistic about always grabbing a handrail on stairs. i even subconsciously tell all of my friends to do it if i see them not doing it. just forced it to become second nature to prevent possible injury or death as i age. coulda helped there maybe

100%!
I knew two people who fell down their home stairs and died!

 

[Valdosta]

100%!
I knew two people who fell down their home stairs and died!

exactly. falling has a large risk of death and broken bones at an older age. on stairs and in bathtubs/showers.

 

[nightwing]

I'm 54 and had both knees done. Went down the same road you did w acl reconstruction. If you have any cartilage left take the time to heal. I'm doing great but was a fuckin mess until I got the 2nd done 3 years ago. Wish I had taken better care.

 

[JJB1]

exactly. falling has a large risk of death and broken bones at an older age. on stairs and in bathtubs/showers.

I’ve got heavy duty rails everywhere that have saved my ass from falling a lot lately. I highly recommend them:

 

[MkInfiniteTesseract]

Lol, whats crazy is I was already real paranoid about stairs to begin with with it being my 2nd ACL reconstruction. It was the day after getting cleared from ROM brace, 7 wks since the surgery. I hadn't even really started my decent down the stairs, I was still on the top landing but standing with my heel on the edge and my knee just hyper extended/ buckled. And the slip was only 4 steps by the time I planted foot and grabbed rail. But those 4 were enough I guess to completely snap the bottom 1/4 of the knee cap/patella bone and when that happened it tore the patella tendon off of the tibia.
I knee immediately something wasnt right, the pain was like nothing Ive ever felt. I had my 2 and 3 yr. Olds standing at bottom of steps watching as I screamed "fucking cunt, Bitch, cunt". Ive never screamed in pain before. I crawled back up and dragged myself in my room as my 3 yr. Old followed asking if I was OK and saying dont worry daddy I'll help! you'll be OK. Lol he's the best. But yeah immediately major swelling a large lump where the patella piece now was. Just a complete shit show.

And yes im sure everyone is correct about running gear during recovery. I dropped the idea of running low dose tren to build the quad back. I dont think id be able to stay the course that long. I ran my test prior during and after so that'll stay. I just dont know the information on the newer strands of peptides and their benefits. BPC-157 and test cruise is where I'll probably remain. Besides regular PT exercises does anyone know of anything that was a real turning the page exercise for them?
Ive found using the BFR pump strap has been great in actually getting a hard strenuous set.
Thanks everyone. Tried to upload pics but no go.

 

[MkInfiniteTesseract]

And I've gotta say...at 38 I dont personally think I fall under the group of older people dying by fall in showers or stairs but I can say I've moved closer considering the knee cap breaking with no impact to it just pure force and having the acl graft be a patella graft and harvest

 

[REHH]

The only AAS I would suggest that could help is deca which is prescribed to heal injuries in some cases. 100-200mg a week is prescribed dose. I took some after one my knee surgeries

 

[tommygunz]

Lol, whats crazy is I was already real paranoid about stairs to begin with with it being my 2nd ACL reconstruction. It was the day after getting cleared from ROM brace, 7 wks since the surgery. I hadn't even really started my decent down the stairs, I was still on the top landing but standing with my heel on the edge and my knee just hyper extended/ buckled. And the slip was only 4 steps by the time I planted foot and grabbed rail. But those 4 were enough I guess to completely snap the bottom 1/4 of the knee cap/patella bone and when that happened it tore the patella tendon off of the tibia.
I knee immediately something wasnt right, the pain was like nothing Ive ever felt. I had my 2 and 3 yr. Olds standing at bottom of steps watching as I screamed "fucking cunt, Bitch, cunt". Ive never screamed in pain before. I crawled back up and dragged myself in my room as my 3 yr. Old followed asking if I was OK and saying dont worry daddy I'll help! you'll be OK. Lol he's the best. But yeah immediately major swelling a large lump where the patella piece now was. Just a complete shit show.

And yes im sure everyone is correct about running gear during recovery. I dropped the idea of running low dose tren to build the quad back. I dont think id be able to stay the course that long. I ran my test prior during and after so that'll stay. I just dont know the information on the newer strands of peptides and their benefits. BPC-157 and test cruise is where I'll probably remain. Besides regular PT exercises does anyone know of anything that was a real turning the page exercise for them?
Ive found using the BFR pump strap has been great in actually getting a hard strenuous set.
Thanks everyone. Tried to upload pics but no go.

Once you have your knee replacement you won’t notice any of that.

 

[Moya Squats]

I fully ruptured my left quad tendon almost 10 years ago and recently set the State Record USPA Total in my Masters 45-59 division weight class of 181

Back then I ran BPC 157 500mcg and TB 500 ??mg right into my quad tendon and followed physical therapy with a vengeance. Also took collagen and ran TRT + but nothing crazy. It got up to 90% after about 8-9 months.

Now days I also like to add low dose NPP year round. Will be trying some EQ with it as well as that's supposed to promote collagen synthesis, I've just never fucked with it much.

IMO it really comes down to taking not easy and injuring it again by progressing too fast. But you still want to work it enough to stretch, get blood flow and not allow for atrophy from lack of use.

 

[dcdogz]

was it the bjj that did all this knee damage? id personally say theres nothing wrong with training bjj ( i do)
but id improve on partner selection, and no competing.

I do compete every so often but I do GI only masters 2 to avoid knee issues.

im 38 as well and I dont really roll with anyone i dont trust at all.

invest in anacondas they work for me at least.

ive started tapering off the competitions I do as well, since I almost always end up getting an injury, however slight, and it really ends up not being worth it for the temu medal lol.

as far as recovery you got a lot of good advice here, but it wont do you any good if you get hurt again.

 

[dcdogz]

And I've gotta say...at 38 I dont personally think I fall under the group of older people dying by fall in showers or stairs but I can say I've moved closer considering the knee cap breaking with no impact to it just pure force and having the acl graft be a patella graft and harvest

bruh im 38 too and just an fyi middle age is 36. we are old buddy even if you dont feel like it.
if i get hurt, literally anything, it takes a month to heal minimum.

 

[Bolan]

The whole problem is....


Learn to tap.