Kenzie's ACL/Meniscus Surgery

by Mackenzie

I tore my ACL when I was barley 14 playing at a high level of travel girls soccer. I had overworked myself by playing high school and on my travel team at the same time, and I heard the snap loud and clear and after that it was all a blur. The first doctor I went to didn't want to perform surgery until a year out, and it took my family and I 2 months to find the right pediactric surgeon. The ACL surgery I had was the most pain I've ever had in my whole life, and the road was long. It took about 7 months until I was released. This was after numerous straight leg raises and tons of other theraputic techniques. My second game back on the feild I knew something was wrong when my knee swelled the size of a balloon. I let it go and kept practicing for about a month until my doctor told me I had torn my meniscus. It was pre-existing from the ACL tear, but there was damage at the time and not a tear. The damage resulted in the tear. The meniscus surgery was a simple walk in the park compared to the ACL, but I was still faced dealing with the loss of the thing I loved, soccer. After three months of everyday rehab, I was cleared. The idea of getting hurt again haunts me, but what should I choose? The risk of getting hurt again, or doing the thing I love?