once your knees are gone, there’s no going back so don’t overexert
Damnation. Ordered knee sleeves and lifting chalk from Jackal’s gym. USPS took two weeks to deliver it, and when it got here it had been beat to hell: the boxes inside the package were busted open, and chalk was all over the place.
To top it off, Jackal’s sent me the wrong sleeve size. This isn’t a dig against them; I e-mailed them with the problem in the wee hours of the morning, and I’m waiting for a response today. They seem to have a good rep, so I’m sure that they’ll fix the order error.
I’m just frustrated as Hell that it seems like I’ll be waiting a month between ordering them and getting to use them.
Don’t overlook leg extensions and leg curls to help strengthen the smaller muscles that support the knee joint. I injured both knees over the years and had to have the right one scopped in '84. I do a set of 15 leg extensions and leg curls before squats or deads on ME lower days and 2 sets of each at the beginning of the session on active recovery days. That helped reduce my knee pain a lot.
This thread’s invaluable for tips. 
BTW, an update on Jackal’s Gym: they got back to me and have offered to replace the sleeves immediately along with offering up a free box of chalk in ways of apology for the shipping problems.