The Sound of an ACL Tear.

by basketball_girl
(Indiana)

This long emotional journey all started on a cold Monday afternoon in January. I had basketball practice right after school. The practice started off pretty slow. We were all lining up on the baseline getting ready to do a three man weave. My coach yells out, "Let's crank this up." Which in my words it means lets go harder. I was up on the baseline with two other teammates on my team. I hear my coach yell go. I start sprinting down the baseline with my eyes on the ball. My teammate which is also my close friend throws the ball way above my head. I jump up for the ball and all of a sudden I fall on my leg awkwardly and hear this pop. I started rolling around on the ground holding my knee and crying. It was by far the worst pain I have ever encountered. My coach runs over to me and tries to calm me down as our athletic trainer makes his way over to me. He starts asking me all kinds of questions but I just couldn't answer him because I was in so much pain. They help me over to the bench and the athletic trainer tells me that I probably tore my meniscus.
The next day I went to the doctor. I was so scared because one of the teammates on my team had tore her ACL right before this happened to me. I just prayed it wasn't my ACL. I walk into the doctors office and sit down on the table. The doctor walks in and just looks at my knee and says this doesn't look good. He starts touching it and moving it and finally he looks at me and says " I am pretty sure you tore your ACL." I never wanted to hear those words. Later that day I had to get a MRI on my knee just to see whats all wrong. The next day I go back to the doctor, he has my results. He was right I tore my ACL. We scheduled my surgery two weeks later so that I had time to get some motion back in my knee. Those two weeks went by so fast.
It was the morning of my surgery, I was so nervous. I really didn't know what to expect cause I have never had surgery before. The nurse takes me back and I change my clothes. Then I layed down in this bed and the nurse put the IV in me. Then a few minutes later they gave me a shot in my leg to numb my leg. I waited and waited and waited. They were running really far behind. Finally they wheeled me back into this room and all I remember is this guy talking to me then I just fell asleep. The surgery lasted a little over an hour. I woke up not knowing where I was at. I wasn't in any pain which was a good thing. The nurses helped me into a wheelchair and took me to our car.
The next couple of days were alright. I didn't have much pain but when I did get up to do something my leg felt like it was hundred pounds. I wasn't allowed to take a shower until I got the dressing off. My incision looked great. The next couple of weeks were crazy. I attended physical theraphy two days a week and on top of that I had to go to school. I was in a knee brace that extended from the top of my thigh all the way to my ankle. I couldn't move my leg in it. A move or so after surgery I received a smaller brace from my doctor. He also showed me pictures of my new ACL which was really cool. He also told me that during surgery they had to repair my meniscus cause I had torn that too. I was on crutches for about three months and I attended physical theraphy for seven months.
This is the hardest thing I have done. Looking back I think this journey has made me a stronger person. I realized how much I love the game of basketball. Sitting out and watching my team play this summer was really hard for me to do. These last eight months have been a huge emotional ride. I can't wait for this fall to put on my basketball shoes and walk out on that court for the first time in a very long time. I know its going to be so hard to just go out there and play and not think about my knee but I just gotta go out there and play the game that I cherish so much. For people that are going through this experience all I have to say is stay positive and work hard in physical therapy. I know physical therapy is really hard but in the long run it really is going to help you.