Tonight is the night before our team's first game. I think I'm going through the stages of depression. Before the first practice this season, I cried myself to sleep, but right now, I have so much energy I feel like I could go run seventeen miles. I know that tomorrow is going to be a really tough day and honestly, I'm dreading it. I've had this dilemma all year. Do I want one of my few years of high school to go by fast? The answer is yes. I have never been more ready to play in a basketball game in my whole life.
The team we play tomorrow is basically our biggest rival. They've knocked us out of the Overall State Tournament two years in a row. They've ended our season every year that I have been on varsity. I know that it's going to be hard to watch, but I am going to learn and I'll know what to do when we match up with them in post season play.
There's some quote somewhere about how you do not realize how much you love something till it's gone; this is the truest statement ever written. I loved playing sports. I love running. I loved just being able to go outside and play tennis. The bottom line is that I'm ready to be back. I'm four months in as of tomorrow. I've been running and tomorrow I start jumping again. All I can say is, everyone better watch out on January 15th because I'm taking this irritation out on some poor team.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
A Test of Faith
*Recently, we had to write a story to enter into the fair in my town for a writing competition. I haven't been able to write lately and I hope to be able to sit down and write about watching my first team practice soon. Until then, here's a brief narrative.
It was July 7th in a
Wendy’s when my world came crashing down.
I will always remember that day.
I will always remember that look on my dad’s face and how his voice
quivered when he said the two dreadful words, “It’s torn.”
I had never been so angry at
God. I did not understand why I had to
be the one to sustain a major injury. I
was not the girl who thinks she is better than everyone in school. I was not the girl who drinks and smokes
every weekend. I was the athlete who is
humble and goes to church, so why did I have to tear my ACL? Why did I have to be the one to sit out for
six months? Why did I have to be the subject of pain?
After my family and I found out I
had a torn ACL and meniscus, I had one week to prepare for surgery. During that week, I tried to push all of my
thoughts of anger and fear out of my head.
That whole week, I tried to pray for a safe surgery and a speedy
recovery, but I felt disconnected. I
felt like God was not listening to me. I
almost thought he just did not care. The
night before my surgery was when I let all of my emotions spill out of the
little box I had been hiding them inside.
I wept and wept until it was time for my parents and me to leave for the
hospital.
Before I went in for surgery, my
pastor came to pray with me. I might
sound like I had, but I truly had not given up on God. I was just full of rage with no one to blame. The pastor, my parents, and I all prayed for
a safe surgery and for my anesthesia to work correctly. Making bargains with God is not the best
thing to do, but I was desperate. I
prayed to Him and said that if everything went well, I would tell my story to
others.
This would be a great ending to a
sweet story, but unfortunately, my anger did not stop after I came out of
surgery. For about a week after surgery,
I was indifferent. I was thankful that
my surgery went well and that my meniscus, after a closer look, was not
torn. One night after another day of
depending on my parents to do everything for me, I started to cry. At this point, I was still sleeping with my
mom because I could not get out of bed easily.
My mom started to cry with me.
She kept telling me that there was a reason that this happened to
me. Honestly, I could see no reason why
I should not be able to play the sport that I loved for six months. What could possibly be the reason for that?
Two months later, on September
sixteenth, I can finally say that I know the reason I tor my ACL. After an ACL reconstruction surgery, a
patient has to attend physical therapy for six months. Once I went to about my fifteenth therapy
session, I knew physical therapy was my calling. During this experience, I was led far away
from God. After finding my way back, I
am now a stronger Christian than before.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
School: Day 1, Therapy: Stage 2
As most of you probably know, every school in Washington Parish has started. Yes, I did have to wear my beautiful knee brace to school. No, I couldn't fit my school pants around it or my school shorts. Skirt? I can't cross my legs to wear one of those things, but I'm definitely not complaining (not really a skirt person). If you've met the principal at the school, you'd know she runs a tight ship. There was no chance of her letting me wear the cute running shorts that I'm used to wearing! First day of school? I showed up in my crazy long basketball shorts and a collard shirt. Let's just say my first day of school pic wasn't what my mom's friends on Facebook were expecting, but I'm loving it. Basketball shorts=the most confortable things invented!
One thing I realized at school was how lucky I am to attend my school! I'm walking extremely well now with my brace unlocked, but I still cannot walk at a normal pace yet. Since Bowling Green is so small, I never have to worry about being too slow to make it to my classes. They're pretty much all in one hall. Everyone for the most part knew about my knee. No one was really suprised to see me in the brace and out of uniform except for the new kids. A couple of the new kids in my class gave me some pretty strange looks. Oh and one kid told me that if I was a superhero, my name would be Bionic Knee.
Therapy
At the four week mark, you start really hitting the grinding point in therapy. That's how I feel at least. My pain is mostly gone at this point, and I'm just ready for this to be over (yes, I know that I still have more than five months left). I can now walk on the treadmill and do wall sits. Walking on the treadmill is about my favorite thing to do even though I still have to wear my brace. On the bright side, I can walk around my house without it. Anyways, I'm able to bend my knee to 145 degrees at the moment! That means I am ahead of schedule!
Since, I can stand now without any pain, I've been going up to the gym while my teammates practice. It's hard to watch everyone playing pick up games. I honestly have no idea how much it is going to kill me during the season. I want to be playing so badly. I think November and December won't be the easiest months for me.
One thing I realized at school was how lucky I am to attend my school! I'm walking extremely well now with my brace unlocked, but I still cannot walk at a normal pace yet. Since Bowling Green is so small, I never have to worry about being too slow to make it to my classes. They're pretty much all in one hall. Everyone for the most part knew about my knee. No one was really suprised to see me in the brace and out of uniform except for the new kids. A couple of the new kids in my class gave me some pretty strange looks. Oh and one kid told me that if I was a superhero, my name would be Bionic Knee.
Therapy
At the four week mark, you start really hitting the grinding point in therapy. That's how I feel at least. My pain is mostly gone at this point, and I'm just ready for this to be over (yes, I know that I still have more than five months left). I can now walk on the treadmill and do wall sits. Walking on the treadmill is about my favorite thing to do even though I still have to wear my brace. On the bright side, I can walk around my house without it. Anyways, I'm able to bend my knee to 145 degrees at the moment! That means I am ahead of schedule!
Since, I can stand now without any pain, I've been going up to the gym while my teammates practice. It's hard to watch everyone playing pick up games. I honestly have no idea how much it is going to kill me during the season. I want to be playing so badly. I think November and December won't be the easiest months for me.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Sorry, Sorry, Sorry!
I just want to say that I'm really sorry to my physical therapist for not writing in a few days! She's been having to dodge questions from her friends about how I'm doing since I haven't written anything lately! Even though she is my best friend's mom and I am pretty open about everything, she can't tell anyone what is going on because of patient/therapist confidentiality. Anyway, I haven't been writing much recently for many reasons. The first one would have to be the fact that it's Shark Week on Discovery Channel (it's my favorite week of the year). Also cheerleading - I'm having to make 30 locker signs (much easier said than done). And finally, I went on a beach trip this past weekend which is what I'm mainly going to talk about.
If you've ever met me, you would know that playing the "Damsel in Distress" role is NOT my style. I can't stand crying, laziness, or whining. So having to have someone help me put on my shoes and shorts at home is not the most fun thing. The whole thing sounds pretty silly now that I am writing it all down, but the day before we left for the beach, I didn't want to go. I was worried about having to have my friends put on my shoes and help me get out of the bath tub. Don't get me wrong, I have the best friends in the world. They would do anything in the world for me.
I had decided I wasn't going to go because I didn't want to ruin anyone's vacation when I got to physical therapy on Thursday. Mrs. Brooke, the lady I talked about above, basically forced me into going! She kept saying how good it would be for me to get out of the parish for a little bit. I'm so glad I went.
The big drawback of going was the fact that I had to walk around with this big old black brace. The first day we were there (we only stayed for two), I was walking around in the sand with a bikini and a leg brace on! I can't even begin to tell you how many people asked me what had happened and how many crazy stares I received! One teenage guy yelled "Get it girl" at me when we were walking! I wish I had a picture of what I looked like!
On the second day, I decided not to go down to the beach. Walking in sand is tiring for someone who hasn't had any knee surgery! Anyways, later that day before we left, we stopped by to see my friend's aunt and uncle. They have a boat, so of course I rode on it. Getting on that boat was horrifying. As I was getting on, I pictured slipping, hitting my head and never breathing again (I was just a tad paranoid).
Once we were on the boat, Shaye's drove like a mad man! I wanted to wear a life jacket I was so freaked out! We hit bump after bump. I didn't really hurt my leg too much, but I did feel like my knee was going to dislocate at any moment.
All in all, I had a really fun trip.
My advice to someone going through this: Do what you want to do, just be smart about how you do it!
Here's a couple of recent pictures! The first is of my cantaloupe sized knee compared to my right knee! The second is of my friends and I on the beach with Black Beauty (my leg brace's name)!
If you've ever met me, you would know that playing the "Damsel in Distress" role is NOT my style. I can't stand crying, laziness, or whining. So having to have someone help me put on my shoes and shorts at home is not the most fun thing. The whole thing sounds pretty silly now that I am writing it all down, but the day before we left for the beach, I didn't want to go. I was worried about having to have my friends put on my shoes and help me get out of the bath tub. Don't get me wrong, I have the best friends in the world. They would do anything in the world for me.
I had decided I wasn't going to go because I didn't want to ruin anyone's vacation when I got to physical therapy on Thursday. Mrs. Brooke, the lady I talked about above, basically forced me into going! She kept saying how good it would be for me to get out of the parish for a little bit. I'm so glad I went.
The big drawback of going was the fact that I had to walk around with this big old black brace. The first day we were there (we only stayed for two), I was walking around in the sand with a bikini and a leg brace on! I can't even begin to tell you how many people asked me what had happened and how many crazy stares I received! One teenage guy yelled "Get it girl" at me when we were walking! I wish I had a picture of what I looked like!
On the second day, I decided not to go down to the beach. Walking in sand is tiring for someone who hasn't had any knee surgery! Anyways, later that day before we left, we stopped by to see my friend's aunt and uncle. They have a boat, so of course I rode on it. Getting on that boat was horrifying. As I was getting on, I pictured slipping, hitting my head and never breathing again (I was just a tad paranoid).
Once we were on the boat, Shaye's drove like a mad man! I wanted to wear a life jacket I was so freaked out! We hit bump after bump. I didn't really hurt my leg too much, but I did feel like my knee was going to dislocate at any moment.
All in all, I had a really fun trip.
My advice to someone going through this: Do what you want to do, just be smart about how you do it!
Here's a couple of recent pictures! The first is of my cantaloupe sized knee compared to my right knee! The second is of my friends and I on the beach with Black Beauty (my leg brace's name)!
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Sunday Funday.....Just Kidding
I've learned a lot since my surgery, but one really important thing is that I will not ever be addicted to pain killers. As I mentioned in an entry below, the pills I've been having to take for pain make me sick. I usually take an anti-nausea pill along with my pain pill, but for some reason, on Sunday morning I forgot.
Everyone in my church has been extremely supportive and helpful since we found out that I was going to have surgery. My parents both wanted me to go to church on Sunday to thank everyone for their prayers (and of course to thank God for how well the surgery went).
When I arrived at church, my stomach started to hurt a little bit, but it usually did if I did not take the anti-nausea pill. The medicine I was on never actually made me throw up, so I did not think too much about the nausea. Anyway, I was really happy to see all of my church family and I think/hope they were excited to see me too! Someone in our congregation mentioned my presence in church that day as a praise, and my pastor even mentioned me by name in our opening prayer.
As you can tell, I had a lot of attention on me, but I just was not feeling good. The nausea was getting worse, and my mom said I was as white as a ghost. I finally told my parents that we needed to leave. Unfortunately we picked a really awkward time to depart. At my church, unless you've graduated from high school, you're expected to go to the front of the church for the children's sermon. We decided we would leave during this part. It's too bad that when I got up to leave, our preacher's wife (she's in charge of the children sermon) thought I was trying to come down to the kid's sermon. She called my name. I had to awkwardly hurry out the door with my parents following.
Once we were on the front church steps, I started to gag. Mom rushed back in to get a garbage can. The garbage can arrived in time, but I missed it once, leaving throw up all over the front step of the church.
After I stopped vomiting, Dad had to clean my breakfast up off the steps! It was really really really not a fun experience. Thank goodness it rained before church let out cleaning up any remain debris.
My advice for people going through this: DON'T BE LIKE ME!! Take all of your medicine! Especially the anti-nausea pill right before church!
Everyone in my church has been extremely supportive and helpful since we found out that I was going to have surgery. My parents both wanted me to go to church on Sunday to thank everyone for their prayers (and of course to thank God for how well the surgery went).
When I arrived at church, my stomach started to hurt a little bit, but it usually did if I did not take the anti-nausea pill. The medicine I was on never actually made me throw up, so I did not think too much about the nausea. Anyway, I was really happy to see all of my church family and I think/hope they were excited to see me too! Someone in our congregation mentioned my presence in church that day as a praise, and my pastor even mentioned me by name in our opening prayer.
As you can tell, I had a lot of attention on me, but I just was not feeling good. The nausea was getting worse, and my mom said I was as white as a ghost. I finally told my parents that we needed to leave. Unfortunately we picked a really awkward time to depart. At my church, unless you've graduated from high school, you're expected to go to the front of the church for the children's sermon. We decided we would leave during this part. It's too bad that when I got up to leave, our preacher's wife (she's in charge of the children sermon) thought I was trying to come down to the kid's sermon. She called my name. I had to awkwardly hurry out the door with my parents following.
Once we were on the front church steps, I started to gag. Mom rushed back in to get a garbage can. The garbage can arrived in time, but I missed it once, leaving throw up all over the front step of the church.
After I stopped vomiting, Dad had to clean my breakfast up off the steps! It was really really really not a fun experience. Thank goodness it rained before church let out cleaning up any remain debris.
My advice for people going through this: DON'T BE LIKE ME!! Take all of your medicine! Especially the anti-nausea pill right before church!
Friday, July 19, 2013
Physical Therapy
Day 1 (Wednesday)
I'm one of those odd people who loves to exercise, so I was pretty dang excited to go to rehab on Wednesday (the second day after my surgery). I was pumped. I was feeling better. I had gotten much more sleep than the night before, and I was ready to get out of the bed! Changing clothes and showering were only minor obstacles I had to face. I had been doing quad lifts in bed. I was going to take physical therapy by storm.
Once I got to therapy, my therapist Jessie took of my brace and other bandages off for the first time. Not going to lie - I was pretty disappointed. I went through a good deal of pain, and most my stitches are on the inside. This makes them not even look tough. Anyway, I got to see how truly swollen my knee and ankle were. My knee reminded me of something like a cantaloupe. My ankle was huge, and I still did not have feeling in my foot. Plus, some of my swelling was pushed to the left side of my leg. It looks like I have a bone out of place!!
The first exercise Jessie did with me was knee bends. I was confused because I thought this would tear my ACL again, but Jessie obviously knew what she was doing so I kept my mouth shut. I could not bend it on my own that day at all, but with Jessie helping me, I could bend it to 82 degrees. She told me that I was doing good because most doctors do not even allow their patients to go to therapy until a week after their surgery. That's one reason why I really liked my doctor. Everyone says he is more aggressive than most surgeons. Back to the knee bends, we made the goal that I would have 90 degrees with no help by Friday. I must have agreed to this while my knee was bent. Once she started helping my straighten it back out, I was in more pain than I had ever felt in my life. We had to do knee bends three more times, and it was MISERABLE. I think if I'm ever in agony, I'll think back to that day and I'll just be thankful that I'm not going through the first day of rehab after surgery again.
Day 2 (Thursday)
I was dreading going back to that awful place that I had to call physical therapy. I love Jessie and all the other ladies there, but I am a tough chick. Yet I wanted to cry like a baby when I had to straighten my leg after bending it. There really wasn't a chance that I was going to skip or complain to my parents. I just kept the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach to myself.
We did the same things we did on day one: quad exercises, muscle stem machine, and knee bends. I improved on every exercise that day. On day one, I couldn't do all my quad exercises by myself. I finished them all that day. My therapist even raised the amps on my muscle stem machine too.
In therapy, the amount of degrees you can bend your knee to is a really big deal. Like I said earlier, our goal was to get my leg to 90 degrees by myself by Friday. Jessie told me I had to do ten knee bends (keep in mind knee bends are what killed me the day before). I went up for my first one pretty hesitant. Surprisingly, when I went down to straighten it, the pain was hardly noticeable! I wanted to start screaming with excitement because that meant I wasn't going to have to feel what I felt Wednesday anymore! After doing knee bends ten times, I passed my goal a day early. I got to 96 degrees by myself and 106 degrees with Jessie's help!
Day 3 (Friday/Today)
Today I was back to my usual excited to be at therapy self! We had already passed our goal for the week. Jessie and I decided that I would get to 115 degrees by myself and 120 with her help. It was a little painful, but we reached my goal!
When Jessie said I would get to ride on the bike today, I was pumped. I got to ride it for three minutes today. It wasn't the easiest thing I'd ever done, but it wasn't even close to the hardest. Riding on the bike involves moving your knee to 105 degrees. I can do this but I can't do it fluently or without pain yet. I might be getting too eager, but I'm thinking once I can bend my knee to 105 degrees easily, I can start using the bike as a way to get back in shape. Fingers crossed!
Overall, I had a really good few days at physical therpy. My advice to anyone who goes through this surgery would be: Don't get discouraged on your first day. It only gets easier, and its only going to make you stronger.
I'm one of those odd people who loves to exercise, so I was pretty dang excited to go to rehab on Wednesday (the second day after my surgery). I was pumped. I was feeling better. I had gotten much more sleep than the night before, and I was ready to get out of the bed! Changing clothes and showering were only minor obstacles I had to face. I had been doing quad lifts in bed. I was going to take physical therapy by storm.
Once I got to therapy, my therapist Jessie took of my brace and other bandages off for the first time. Not going to lie - I was pretty disappointed. I went through a good deal of pain, and most my stitches are on the inside. This makes them not even look tough. Anyway, I got to see how truly swollen my knee and ankle were. My knee reminded me of something like a cantaloupe. My ankle was huge, and I still did not have feeling in my foot. Plus, some of my swelling was pushed to the left side of my leg. It looks like I have a bone out of place!!
The first exercise Jessie did with me was knee bends. I was confused because I thought this would tear my ACL again, but Jessie obviously knew what she was doing so I kept my mouth shut. I could not bend it on my own that day at all, but with Jessie helping me, I could bend it to 82 degrees. She told me that I was doing good because most doctors do not even allow their patients to go to therapy until a week after their surgery. That's one reason why I really liked my doctor. Everyone says he is more aggressive than most surgeons. Back to the knee bends, we made the goal that I would have 90 degrees with no help by Friday. I must have agreed to this while my knee was bent. Once she started helping my straighten it back out, I was in more pain than I had ever felt in my life. We had to do knee bends three more times, and it was MISERABLE. I think if I'm ever in agony, I'll think back to that day and I'll just be thankful that I'm not going through the first day of rehab after surgery again.
Day 2 (Thursday)
I was dreading going back to that awful place that I had to call physical therapy. I love Jessie and all the other ladies there, but I am a tough chick. Yet I wanted to cry like a baby when I had to straighten my leg after bending it. There really wasn't a chance that I was going to skip or complain to my parents. I just kept the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach to myself.
We did the same things we did on day one: quad exercises, muscle stem machine, and knee bends. I improved on every exercise that day. On day one, I couldn't do all my quad exercises by myself. I finished them all that day. My therapist even raised the amps on my muscle stem machine too.
In therapy, the amount of degrees you can bend your knee to is a really big deal. Like I said earlier, our goal was to get my leg to 90 degrees by myself by Friday. Jessie told me I had to do ten knee bends (keep in mind knee bends are what killed me the day before). I went up for my first one pretty hesitant. Surprisingly, when I went down to straighten it, the pain was hardly noticeable! I wanted to start screaming with excitement because that meant I wasn't going to have to feel what I felt Wednesday anymore! After doing knee bends ten times, I passed my goal a day early. I got to 96 degrees by myself and 106 degrees with Jessie's help!
Day 3 (Friday/Today)
Today I was back to my usual excited to be at therapy self! We had already passed our goal for the week. Jessie and I decided that I would get to 115 degrees by myself and 120 with her help. It was a little painful, but we reached my goal!
When Jessie said I would get to ride on the bike today, I was pumped. I got to ride it for three minutes today. It wasn't the easiest thing I'd ever done, but it wasn't even close to the hardest. Riding on the bike involves moving your knee to 105 degrees. I can do this but I can't do it fluently or without pain yet. I might be getting too eager, but I'm thinking once I can bend my knee to 105 degrees easily, I can start using the bike as a way to get back in shape. Fingers crossed!
Overall, I had a really good few days at physical therpy. My advice to anyone who goes through this surgery would be: Don't get discouraged on your first day. It only gets easier, and its only going to make you stronger.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Hospital Stay
Oddly enough, staying in the hospital was very enjoyable for me. The nurses waited on me hand and foot and the bed was extremely comfortable. The food was pretty good when I got to eat. I only had a bite of anything that was not a fruit cup because my pain medicine that went through my IV would make me nauseous. The IV system was really what caused my mother and me the most problems. If I was reading this blog before I had ACL surgery, I would want someone to be honest with me, so I am not going to leave out the bad stuff.
After surgery, I was taken to a post-op room until the hospital has an available room for me. I wrote earlier about what happened when I first woke up. The second time I woke up, I thought my ankle was broken. I had no pain in my knee, surprisingly, but my ankle was a whole other story. It felt on fire. They had to give me extra numbing medicine, which still two days after surgery hasn't completely worn off. The nurse thinks that I had such bad ankle pain because during my surgery, the doctors had to manipulate my foot into odd positions during the surgery.
Once I got into my room after surgery, of course I had to pee. My nurse (another one of my favorite people) told me I could either use a bed pan or crutches. There was no way in heck that I was going to use a bed pan. I mean those things are for old people. I'm only fifteen! Anyway, getting out of the bed for the first time was flat out hard. My physical therapist did a good job with causing me the least amount of pain, but there was only so much she could do. Walking on crutches did not hurt, but sitting down, standing up and moving my knee even the littlest bit felt like wildfire.
Unfortunately for my mom (someone had to help me get out of bed), the IV made me have to pee every hour! I felt so bad for her. She was already sleeping in a chair and then she litterally had to get up every sixty minutes to help me get out of bed. My whole night and day just went in this cycle: use all my energy walking to the bathroom, take an hour nap, and repeat. On the bright side, later on into the night, I was able to lift my leg into and out of the bed all by myself. This seams really simple but it was a HUGE deal for me! I was tired of feeling so helpless!
After surgery, I was taken to a post-op room until the hospital has an available room for me. I wrote earlier about what happened when I first woke up. The second time I woke up, I thought my ankle was broken. I had no pain in my knee, surprisingly, but my ankle was a whole other story. It felt on fire. They had to give me extra numbing medicine, which still two days after surgery hasn't completely worn off. The nurse thinks that I had such bad ankle pain because during my surgery, the doctors had to manipulate my foot into odd positions during the surgery.
Once I got into my room after surgery, of course I had to pee. My nurse (another one of my favorite people) told me I could either use a bed pan or crutches. There was no way in heck that I was going to use a bed pan. I mean those things are for old people. I'm only fifteen! Anyway, getting out of the bed for the first time was flat out hard. My physical therapist did a good job with causing me the least amount of pain, but there was only so much she could do. Walking on crutches did not hurt, but sitting down, standing up and moving my knee even the littlest bit felt like wildfire.
Unfortunately for my mom (someone had to help me get out of bed), the IV made me have to pee every hour! I felt so bad for her. She was already sleeping in a chair and then she litterally had to get up every sixty minutes to help me get out of bed. My whole night and day just went in this cycle: use all my energy walking to the bathroom, take an hour nap, and repeat. On the bright side, later on into the night, I was able to lift my leg into and out of the bed all by myself. This seams really simple but it was a HUGE deal for me! I was tired of feeling so helpless!
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Surgery 7/15/13
Yesterday morning at 4:20 a.m., I got out of bed with the fear that I would not wake up after my ACL and meniscus surgery. I was scared up until I was given an IV which my nurse told me would make him look like Johnny Depp. Before I was given the IV, my preacher, my parents, and I all bowed our heads and prayed to God asking him for my safety during surgery and a speedy recovery. This was probably about the ninth time I had prayed in the last five hours (I did not sleep the night before), but I am so glad I kept praying.
Once I awakened after surgery, I tried to remember what had happened before I had been put to sleep. However, all I could recall was telling the doctor "This isn't how it looks on Grey's Anatomy!" After I collected my thoughts and realized that I had in fact woken up from surgery, I asked the nurse how it went. You can only imagine how extremely excited I was when the nurse (who was my favorite person in the world at that moment), told me that my meniscus was not torn when they took a closer look! That basically means that my rehabilitation can go much smoother than we originally anticipated! I honestly don't think that I had ever felt as blessed as I had that very moment.
I just thought I should share with everyone what I wrote on my leg before surgery! Unfortunately, my doctor did not find it as funny as all my friends did! I really did not want them to cut into my good leg too!
Once I awakened after surgery, I tried to remember what had happened before I had been put to sleep. However, all I could recall was telling the doctor "This isn't how it looks on Grey's Anatomy!" After I collected my thoughts and realized that I had in fact woken up from surgery, I asked the nurse how it went. You can only imagine how extremely excited I was when the nurse (who was my favorite person in the world at that moment), told me that my meniscus was not torn when they took a closer look! That basically means that my rehabilitation can go much smoother than we originally anticipated! I honestly don't think that I had ever felt as blessed as I had that very moment.
I just thought I should share with everyone what I wrote on my leg before surgery! Unfortunately, my doctor did not find it as funny as all my friends did! I really did not want them to cut into my good leg too!
Sunday, July 14, 2013
How It Happened
I am one of those players who never gets hurt. The worst injury I have ever had was a sprained ankle. I never really thought I would ever get hurt because I had gone so long without a broken bone or any serious accidents. Because I had this mind set, I might have been a little blind to realizing that I had torn my ACL. When it happened, my high school team and I were at the Southeastern Louisiana University Team Camp. As a whole, our team had played around eleven games in two days. Unfortunately, the competition at the camp did not even come close to competing with our team, with the exception of the last team we played. I was excited for that game. We were finally getting to play a really good team - they have a girl who is being recruited by Stanford. We hung with them for a little bit too! Anyway, we were within the first two or three minutes of the game when I went for a steal and jump stopped. I am not too sure how it happened, but I think one of the opposing teams players hit my leg or my knee just kept going when I stopped. I fell to the ground, not necessarily because of how much pain I was in, but more because of how scared I was. I had never had knee problems before. After I walked off the court (without any tears I might add), I sat on the bench then tried to go back in the game. Unfortunately, my knee didn't agree with that idea. Our football coach then took me to the trainer, who told me I had an LCL sprain. He was way off, but it's really hard to tell without an MRI. I rehabbed my "LCL sprain" for two weeks. After those weeks were up, I went with my AAU team to play in Dallas. The first play of the first game, I went to cut and my knee made an awful crunching sound. After hobbling off the court, I went back in during the next time out. I played for a couple of minutes and did some positive things. Next thing I know, my knee has buckled and I've fallen on the floor. After that, my dad and I went to visit the trainer. He told us I could have possibly torn my ACL even though I had no swelling around that area. That was the first time I really realized that this could be happening.
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