ACL - Far From Normal

by Matt Goodspeed
(Pittsburgh)

I tore my left ACL in 2003 (10th grade) playing basketball. I opted to skip having the full reconstruction and instead just went with the arthroscopic where they fixed my meniscus that i frey'd along with the ACL. Anyways, big mistake. I just recently went ahead and got the full recon July 28th 2010. After 6yrs of not being able to do normal things it starts to get to you. I went to college and wanted to work out with my friends, jog, lift weights, play basketball, i wanted it all. But after so much stress my knee got to the point that i literally could not even go down stairs. So anyways, I got the surgery and then it didnt go the way it was supposed to. I chose the patella tendon graft (def the best choice in my opinion). However, when the doc was putting it in (you will have to know a little bit about the process cuz i cant explain 100%) the graft was too long. So they screw it in the top left of your knee. Then the bottom right after it goes through your knee they screw it in there at the bottom as well. Well my graft was too long so they couldnt screw it in at the bottom. Instead they had to pull it down my tibia(shin bone) and drill a whole in it to screw it and staple it to the bone. From what I keep hearing from the doc is it is completely normal and does happen from time to time. Though I have searched the web and found no other stories like mine. Anyways, because I waited 6 years to get the surgery, rehab is going terrible. At least that is how i feel. The therapists say im doing fine. Though week 16 just rolled by and i just started a slow jog at 4.5mph. 6 years of being limited to your activities really has an impact on your body. You get into unconscious habits. Your body learns to displace weight in different ways so as to not aggravate the bad knee. Thus making therapy all the harder. If i can give any advice to others out there. Get the surgery done within the first 6 months after the tear. And research your doctor and to not be scared to ask about his infection rates etc.