It’s a new blog. My other site is dedicated to training and
racing and other fun stuff so I thought it would be good to start something
different to chronicle my recovery from a torn ACL and a return to racing and Kona (please, please, please) in October
2014 and skiing. BTW, thank you Troy for the blog name - perfect!
I’ve always heard that you know when you’ve torn your
ACL. It’s supposed to sound like a
“pop”. And anyone I have ever talked to
about it says…..you just know. Right
away…
After 37 years of skiing with only 2 minor injuries, I
finally did the BIG one. It was a
beautiful day and I was planning on skiing aggressively (like I ski any other
way) with a new ski friend. And, at one
of my favorite areas A-Basin. I had
skied 2 days before with my girls and was ready to just pound it!! I couldn’t wait!
3rd run of the day…..a few turns in and all of a
sudden I am in the middle of a fall.
Which is really strange since I NEVER EVER fall. Seriously, ask my
friends…..I just don’t fall. And then the
fall turns very bad and scary and I’m heading downhill backwards and I’m
gaining speed. And then I heard it. It wasn’t a pop. It was more of a tearing, pop-y kinda sound. But it wasn’t that distinct pop I had always
heard about (maybe it was) so my denial of what had actually happened kicked in – within 10
seconds. (OK, fine. It was a pop) Nice.
Of course, I stood up right away…..I’m with a new ski
friend!!! I don’t want the day to be
over let alone my season (ski and otherwise).
No, no, no! So I skied down. I skied OK but I felt the instability. At this point I think I’m probably in a state
of shock. This can’t possibly be
happening…..I really fucked up my knee.
I head up the stairs to the lodge and it’s already becoming stiff and
hard to move. And felt some more
instability walking to a table (think knee buckling on the inside).
I called my dad. I
called my ortho. I did not call
Sonja. I talked to ski patrol. And although everyone knows what has
happened, no one actuallty says those 3 ugly letters outloud. (shhhhh…..it’s
the ACL)
So yes, there have been tears. The inevitable why me? Poor me? Blah blah
blah. I’ll never ski again, I won’t be
able to go to Kona, no riding in France this summer. Not to mention, how am I going to manage my
Wildtree business if I’m on crutches??? (still working on this)
I spend New Year’s Eve at the doctor and then getting an
MRI. Dad read it (major advantage of
having a radiologist as my dad) and confirmed what we already knew it was. And then he said it out loud. The ACL is fully torn along with a beautiful
partial tear of the MCL and some major bone bruising. From one stupid fall.
AWESOME!!!
Friday I go in for the “official” diagnosis and treatment
plan. I shut down WebMD because the
recovery times seem to be far too long for me to keep my sanity. My doctor rocks (Dr. Phil Stull FYI) and I’m sure
I’ll be having surgery soon. And then another round of the “poor me’s”, “why me’s” blah blah
blah.
Here we go…..this should be quite an interesting journey. Fortunately, my Dr. does rock and understands the mindset of an athlete (TypeA, B, C….). He gave me permission to swim with a pull buoy and that's about it. Maybe I should enter the state swim meet in March???
DAMN! That truly sucks. :(((((( I hope you defy the odds and set a new record for how quickly one can recover from that kind of thing!
ReplyDeleteUGH! Yes, you should swim the State meet. I swear, the accidents are always the worse. I am so sorry! YOU will come back (of course), Michelle. Speedy recovery!!!
ReplyDelete(cringe) Been there. Same thing... Tore mine at a cyclocross camp August 2012. I too had to wait 6 weeks b4 the surgery because the MCL was sprained. I have about 4 blog entries starting with this one: http://trigirlpink.blogspot.com/2012/10/embrace-knees.html The recovery is nondiscriminatory. You can be athletic and fit (us) or out of shape and 50 pounds overweight. You can't rush the recovery. It's all about being patient. I'm sure you know who Cait Snow is. She gave me her advice after going thru the same thing. She kept reinforcing that you can't rush the recovery. You have to give the graft time to integrate into the bone. Good luck and email me anytime if you have any questions. I'll be glad to help! Elaine
ReplyDeleteForgot: I sprained my MCL, tore my meniscus and tore the ACL completely.
ReplyDeleteStupid ACL.....
ReplyDelete