So is that good news, or bad?

My MRI came back. It's not the meniscus. Great on that. However, apparently, apart from my cartilage being old and creaky, which I knew, and there isn't much I can do about right now except keep taking the Glucosamine, I have some additional issues. A fracture, a "bone island" (doesn't that sound like somewhere you'd find skeletons and buried treasure?), a sprain, and a small tear on the ACL.
The small tear and the old cranky cartilage I've known about for a long time. The tear has always been described as "small" and doesn't appear any bigger than before, so I know it alone won't stop me hiking. The cartilage thing, as descibed above, is just wear and tear, and possibly a little bit of genetics. I have my Dad's knees, and his have been replaced when he was in his late 60s. I hope mine last that long. The bone island is apparently a patch of non growing bone or cartilage in the midst of normal bone. It is basically benign, and shows up as a light spot on xrays and MRI's and as long as it's small and stays that way and exhibits no other symptoms it can just be left alone.

So the additional issues are the fracture and the sprain. The recent injury happened while taking a gentle evening run, there was no impact or sudden onset of pain, just a "not quite right" feeling, so I can't imagine that the fracture occurred then. I suspect it occurred when I made a spectacular fall in Ft Lauderdale airport on my way to Jamaica in February. I didn't get the knee looked at then, but went back to hiking a week later with no ill effects, though I now believe that was most likely when the fracture occurred.

So, the only recent injury seems to be the sprain and associated bruising, fluid, etc. The pain from this appears to have eased off as a sprain should, with rest, icing, etc.. This is definitely a different knee than the one I flew home with a couple of weeks ago.

The result of all this is that I'm even more determined to hike in real life conditions to test if I can really hike. The backpack for a week plan still stands. We're heading for the hills of NC next week. If I can hike pain free with a fully loaded pack for 10 or so miles a day, then I'm going on up to Maine to start hiking SOBO. If I can't, well, I'll have to return to Florida and cash in my Rx for an orthopedic consult. Lets hope it doesn't come to that.