Personal Narrative: My Fourth Knee Surgery

As a young adolescent I use to play softball games all the time with my friends just for fun during the summer. During one particular summer day with my friends my first injury occurred while sliding into 2nd base. At first I did not think nothing of the injury to my ankle but when I tried to proceed to get up the throbbing began badly. The first step was to call my parents and proceed to get it checked out by my local doctor. My doctor told me I was lucky to only have sprain my ankle and not broke it. Also, he proceeds to tell me that it will take about 5-14 days for me to recover from my sprain. The way I moved forward to treat my injury would determine how long it took to heal by keeping my ankle elevated and staying off

My mom told me that as soon as I was out of the hospital as a baby, I was riding a horse, and my whole family has had horses since before I was born, so I have been riding horses since before I could walk. I have ridden horses forever, but I never expected something like this to happen to me.

My mother got a surgery 2 years ago. It was a pretty difficult time, but she really needed it. Everything would always bring consequences, and the fights that my parents had everyday was one of them. They would fight for everything, it didn't matter how small the problem was, my parents would always complain to each other. My parents didn't solve their problems and, consequently, my mother fell under depression. She had to go to the psychologist so she could get out of depression someway. at the beginning I just couldn't cope with all this pressure, so I had to just ignore it. This day I got tired and I decided to talk to my father about what was happening. He calm down, and help my mother get through her depression. My mother told me not give

Growing up as an athlete wasn’t always easy, but it taught me how to overcome obstacles, and persevere through pain. Sophomore year, I played an entire season of club ball with a sharp pain in my calf, and was too scared to say anything about it because I knew that an injury meant falling behind. The pain started off small, but each time I played it became less and less bearable. There came a point when I would look at my mom on the sidelines in tears and tell her that I couldn't do it anymore. I remember the frustration I felt when I finally went to the doctor and they couldn't tell me what was wrong, but ended up putting me in a boot anyways. I was going to miss my last few games and the next seasons tryouts. I was devastated. The pain and

On March 21th 2017 I had went to the hospital for very bad stomach pains that has been happening for 2 years now. No doctor have figured out what was wrong with me. So that day when I got to the hospital they did a whole lot of testing on me. They had kept me overnight to do more testing the next day. So on March 22nd 2017, They had found out from the testing that my intestines were twisted and needed surgery. On March 24th 2017 I had my very first surgery. I was so scared since it was my first surgery and of course my first one had to be an emergency surgery. When the doctors came in to tell me to say goodbyes because I was about to go back, my heart just started to race because I was scared that something was gonna happen to me and I

In the middle of my freshman year I was taken out of school for two months because I needed spinal surgery for severe scoliosis. Because of my spinal deficiencies, it was very difficult for me to do everyday activities like running, carrying a backpack, sleeping, and at times even breathing became a challenge. This surgery is very delicate and took about eight hours to complete. I knew this surgery was crucial and risky, but I was not afraid to have it. In fact, I was more excited than scared to have the procedure because I was tired of being in pain and having my condition continue to worsen. I went into the surgery room brave, without any other thoughts than coming out of surgery with a positive result. My doctor put two metal rods permanently

“Unfortunately her curvature degree is going up which means we will have to put her in a brace.” This was the third time my mom would hear the doctor say that another child of hers has scoliosis. I was disappointed. I thought I would be the lucky child that I would not have to go through this, unlike my sister and brother. It is not the end of the world or life threatening, but it is aggravating. My mom had it when she was young, my sister, and my brother have it as well. When the doctor gave me a brace I knew that one day I would get surgery eventually but they never told me that.

I stand awkwardly as a scrub nurse dresses me in a cap, gown, and booties in a hallway. At seventeen years old, it is a dream come true to have the opportunity to shadow an orthopedic surgeon for a day. Standing outside of the operating room, I pause to take a few deep breaths and remind myself to keep it together. I enter the room and stand behind the surgeon, wide-eyed and silently taking in the sights of the staff, the patient, and the assortment of astounding medical equipment in the room. The surgeon goes in for the first cut and opens up the patient’s right arm. In that moment, the room begins to spin slightly and a ringing overcomes my ears. Horrified, I sway over to the corner of the room and find my way to the floor. Convinced that I have completely humiliated myself, I sit there wishing for a way to disappear and escape from this embarrassment.

It was a brisk cold morning in Alaska. Three of my cousin and I woke up to the birds chirping. It was a little before church services began. My cousins and I asked our parents if we could ride our bikes and scooter down to the Metro Cafe to get hot chocolate topped with whip cream and sprinkles. They said, ” yes just watch for cars.” Then we left the house, we could hear the faint sounds of the children playing at the park that was across the street from the church. Once we got moving one of my cousins had to pee so we stopped in at the church where her mother volunteered, so she could use the bathroom. While she was in the bathroom my other cousins and I traded what we were riding. I, unfortunately, was stuck with

Two years ago I broke my clavicle, I bruised my right foot and bruised my knee in one football season. I was injured for four months, but did I stop? No. I kept playing and I am still enjoying every minute of the game.

For as long as I can remember, my mother has been a loving and caring person. But, also for that time, she was constantly in chronic pain. Even when she could barely get out of bed, she would put up her best foot and still care for me and my little sister. But, in the last couple of years, this has lead to surgery after surgery. Usually with little to no results (because she's diabetic, most of the time her body rejects whatever was put in to help her).

My first exposure to Orthopaedic Surgery started somewhat serendipitously when I was assigned to the Sports Medicine service as an elective at the end of my third year clinical rotations. I vividly remember the patient encounter that initially peaked my interest in the field. We were about halfway through a busy clinic day when the attending asked me to start interviewing the next patient. She was a retired woman in her early 70s who had undergone a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty approximately six-months prior after sustaining a comminuted proximal humerus fracture and massive rotator cuff tear. Prior to her injury, she had enjoyed painting vibrant landscapes in her free time, and her sole request was that she be able to return to this beloved hobby. As I discussed with her how her recovery was going, it was clear that she was incredibly pleased. She proudly exclaimed, “Look what I started last week!” as she showed me a picture of a half-finished canvas on her cell phone. Her pure joy and excitement was electric, and I was struck by the way the procedure was able to influence her quality of life. This ability to provide a tangible and perceptible impact on a patient’s life was extremely compelling and by the end of the two-week elective, I

One day i came home from school .Then i hear a big THUMP .I know that my stepfather is working in my room.What oh what is he doing.

My friend and I were hanging out in her garage, we were making something for her dad. Then out of nowhere, she said “you should get your ears pierced”. So I said ok, I called my brother to come pick us up so about twenty minutes later he showed up. I started to think about me getting my ears pierced so we went out to Ricke Hogamen’s place and drove down his riding trails and there was a big drop off for dirt bikes and four-wheelers.

I was in the fifth grade and had just undergone my first surgery to have my tonsils removed. As I laid on the couch the lights began to blur, the voices began to fade, and the fluid that ran through my veins started to flood out of my mouth like water cascading over an edge.