What's wrong with my knee?

[Clodfobble]

The dwellar community has proven to be very adept at identifying medical conditions, so I'm hoping the body of orthopedic knowledge is just as extensive.

I've had knee problems ever since I was maybe 10. It took very little for me to overexert them and have general pain or soreness for a few days. But it always cleared up. At one point my mother actually took me to an orthopedist, and he told me I just needed to correct my walk (I had apparently been pointing my toes slightly outward.) I did, and it seemed to help at the time, but they were still weak and easy-to-injure.

Nowadays, the tendons in my right knee pop and snap every time I go up or down stairs. I guess it started sometime around when I was having the initial problems as a teen, but I really can't remember when, they've just always done it. There are times when it's better or worse, but with every step you can literally hear the gooey joint noises in my right knee. (At one place I used to work, a coworker was unable to be in the stairwell with me, because she was grossed out by that sort of thing.) It definitely doesn't hurt, but I guess you could say it's uncomfortable. I do feel like I have to favor that knee and take stairs carefully.

We used to joke about how I was so creaky I would be in a wheelchair by the time I was 30, but it was never bad enough to bother seeing a doctor. But a year ago, we moved into a two-story house, and then I started carrying an extra 35 pounds up and down while I was pregnant, and now I'm still carrying a 14-lb. baby most of the time, which is actually the worst because it's on one side and I'm unbalanced. And... my left knee tendons have started snapping. Not as bad as the right knee yet, but it's not going away either.

I'm pretty sure it's going to require surgery someday, but the question is how soon? I've heard of torn ACLs, and a torn miniscus, but this doesn't hurt like either of those are supposed to. I guess it's possible that was what the pain was way back as a teen, and now it's sort of healed-but-not-really. I'm inclined to keep ignoring it--I suppose I may be making it worse by waiting, but at the same time it's been like this for over a decade, and I can't take care of four kids if I'm laid-up in bed recovering from knee surgery. I guess I might be able to schedule it over the holidays or something when Mr. Clod could take time off work, but we also really can't afford 20% of another surgical procedure right now anyway.

Any idea what the malady is, so I can at least research what kind of risks I'm taking by waiting?