Meniscus Tear and chondromalacia patella - anyone suffering from these?

Hi ladies,

I am new to this forum and really need some advise. Please help.

I'm 36 years old. About 6 weeks ago i started getting mild pain around both knees especially when going up the stairs etc. With certain movements there is also a clicking sound in the knees. I have a very sedentary lifestyle with 0 activity so not sure how I started getting the pain. I went to the docs, especially as my mum suffers from arthritis and osteoporosis. I was told to do a xray and the doc did some general checks and diagnosed me with the above. Very worried and scared as the pain seems to be getting worse. I have a desk job and if i sit for too long, my knees get stiff and the pain gets worse by the end of the day. Also the AC (cold temperature) seems to cause pain in my knees - not sure how or why.. :(

He recommended me physiotherapy but as I was not happy with the hospital or the doctor, Im scared to go to back there or to the wrong people for physiotherapy.

I was also advised to have a MRI by others as they xray does not give full extent of the damage.

*Does anyone suffer from the above and can recommend me a good, well qualified physio and doc (ideally trained in the west) who specialises in this area.
*Im scared of the effects of MRI scans - should I go for this scan?
*Anything I should avoid (exercise) or eat and also any vitamins supplements that can help
*If your medical insurance covers this, how many physiotherapy sessions does it cover? Mine is apparently only 6 and apparently I will need more - minimum 2 times a week is what is recommended to me.
*I have started exercising as the dr. said that i need to strengthen my leg muscles. I dont know what to avoid in the gym - swimming is meant to be the best but I dont have access to a pool. If there are any good websites that can tell me what to avoid and what to do in the gym it would really help. I have googled but keep getting varying opinions.

Ive also had blood tests to include vitamin d and d3 and waiting for results. Fingers crossed!

Sorry I have lots of questions, but i am so worried - Hope to hear from someone soon.