If you are scheduled for elective meniscus repair or a partial meniscectomy, the medical part is already in motion. The part that usually falls apart is everything around it.

Who is driving you. Which papers you were told to bring. What work coverage looks like. What you are supposed to eat. Who is handling the dog, the kids, the stairs. Which number to call if swelling looks wrong at 10pm.

People keep that in texts, a hospital printout, a notes app, and a conversation they half remember. Then the week of surgery arrives and they are reconstructing it under stress.

The main file is Meniscus Surgery Prep File. Procedure details, records, care team instructions, questions, contacts, transport, work, meals, household help, supplies, follow-up. Written down before the week of surgery, not the night before.

Two files are also available separately:

• The 14 Day Surgery Support Checklist — a printable, fillable checklist for the two weeks around surgery.

• The Shareable Supporter Summary — a one-page fillable summary to share with the people helping you.

You do not need the main prep file to buy either one.