Tearing your ACL sucks. There's no nice way to say it. Everything about it sucks. Therapy sucks, surgery sucks, and being a spectator instead of player sucks. I wish I could say it was a good experience but really it sucks. Some positive notes, I'm stronger. I grew up through this process. I've also learned the game by watching. Don't get me wrong, I would have much rather been playing. But after six months of riding the bench next to the coaches, I feel like I would have no problem coaching a team.
Today, I was cleared to finally play again. My doctor said to "wean" myself back into the game. By this, he means playing less than the whole game and building up to playing more and more. I play in my first game on January 11th. Am I scared? Not of my knee, more so of failure. The team I play for is good. The five starters and especially our freshman point guard (the position I play) are good. I'm not expecting to be in the first five the day I come back or even the rest of the season. That's completely out of my control. I'm just a little worried about expectations of my peers and of our school's fans. I don't want to disappoint them or myself if I am a step behind at first.
Placing the negative thoughts aside, I am the happiest I have ever been. I want to thank all of my friends, my teammates, and my family members for being so supportive through all of this. A huge thanks to my "people" at therapy for pushing and pushing to get the quad strength back. And I especially want to thank my parents who were truly perfect with everything through all of this. In some ways, I think it was harder on them than me. Most importantly, I thank God for helping me recover in the least time possible and allowing my surgery to go well. It's really all thanks to him.
Thanks for Reading! Hopefully for the last time.
And if you've torn your ACL, just think about this day. The day when you finally hear the news that you can play again. I promise it will be the best day of your life. When therapy is hard and your knee hurts, just think of this day.
