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Check out the book https://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Workbook-Self-Treatment/dp/1608824942 As a former Starcraft player with pain, it was very helpful.
IANAD and I'm not discounting anything the doctor said. That being said, I suggest you learn about trigger point therapy, because trigger points from repetitive movements can cause the sensations you are describing, including the sudden weakness. This happened to me not for my knee, but my elbow actually. I was bench pressing and felt a sudden weakness in my elbow that made me feel like the arm would give out. I later found out that a specific movement in the gym (low bar back squat) was causing a trigger point to build up in my back and shoulder, which was causing strange sensations to refer to my elbow. Once I worked on releasing the trigger point, the problem in my elbow completely went away, and then I worked on changing my movement patterns so it wouldn't develop again. It was a "lightbulb turning on" moment when I was digging into my back with a massage tool, and as soon as I hit the trigger point I immediately felt the sensation in my elbow, which made me understand immediately how the two spots were connected. Similarly, there are many trigger points that can refer pain or weakness or other sensations to the knee area. I suggest this book on the topic. It helped me figure out where the trigger point was located. https://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Workbook-Self-Treatment/dp/1608824942 Note that this is backed in science, not woo woo junk. Generally my stance on "pain/sensations caused by barefoot shoes" is that the barefoot shoes are just exposing movement pattern issues, not actually "causing pain" in the way the doctor was implying.
Just my two cents as an LMT who specializes in trigger point therapy/deep tissue massage: you must be aware of the knots that affect a client who has certain conditions like sciatica. The knots in the muscles that affect the client must either be gently massaged to not disturb the TP’s, or the actual knots need to ALL be addressed with proper deep tissue techniques in session to relieve and release said TP knots. Proper knowledge of the knots and the techniques/protocols to release them is necessary to avoid activating TP’s in session and leaving them activated and sore. This has happened to me twice in my career and I felt awful afterwards. I worked on the glute muscles and released them partially but left key knots unworked on which caused the sciatica to flair. I felt awful too and apologized profusely, but I went back to my book and studied up on all the knots that affect sciatica and now make sure to intake the client on their expectations of the massage and assess whether or not it’s worth working the actual knots deeply or just giving relaxation level massage to keep the client happy. Some clients do self care massage too and welcome actual deep tissue massage to relieve their Trigger Point knots. Some clients just want to feel good. It’s our job to assess this and perform appropriately.She’s going to be fine. You will be fine. The book that taught me what I know (the Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Clare Davies) is here if you wanna know these things for yourself: https://a.co/d/09PtSUl6