Physical Therapy: The Journey That Changed My Life

The second half of the game came and I wanted to go back in despite my strained leg, I told my coach I was ready to go in. As the season went on I kept playing on it I was not performing to my true potential I tried to play over the pain but that was not working out. Half way through the season I finally started going to physical therapy. I was going to physical therapy but I was still able to practice and play I only had to sit out one game and the practices prior to that game.

The most vivid injury in my mind is one that still shows today on my right ankle.

Last September, my injury never fully got better from ballet. So, in March I heard my knee “pop” and, I could not walk on it. I was on crutches for 5 days due to the pain. I had to wear an ugly knee brace everyday and used a lot of ice. The physical therapist thought I might have torn something in my knee. I was happy to find out that nothing was torn in my knee after all.

After lying on the ground for several minutes thinking it was going to be okay, you are going to get up and be fine in a few minutes. A few minutes went by and I attempted to walk. I felt the most searing pain that I have ever felt in my knee. Feeling the intense pain, I immediately collapsed back onto the ground. Later that weekend I received an MRI to see for sure that my injury was as bad as it felt. A couple hours after the MRI I received a phone call from my doctor. “Noah, I am sorry to tell you, but you not only tore your anterior cruciate ligament, but also your lateral meniscus.” My larynx sank deep into the depths of my stomach. I was

This time, unfortunately with time the pains in my leg got worse and I could not go on and keep pushing myself anymore because it hurt so bad with every step I took, on and off the court. I went to the trainer's room one day after practice to get it checked out, and he told me some stretches to do for shin splints. I did them for a week or two but noticed that the pain continued to get worse. So finally my mom made a doctors appointment to see a orthopedic doctor. When I went to the doctor, I had to get an XRay to see if they could tell if anything was broken in my leg. Meanwhile after I left the X Ray room the doctor talked to me and was asking questions and said I can’t play until we find out what is wrong. A few days later the X ray came back and nothing showed any type of break on it. So they made me an appointment to get a MRI a week later. When they got the MRI results back, turns out I had a stress fracture in my tibia. That meant I was out for a

The next day my knee is feeling better so we assumed nothing was wrong but a few days after that I had been running around and playing with friends. As we were playing, one of my friends dared me to jump off of a slide, so I did and boom there goes my knee again numb and hurting a little so I went home to my parents. We realized it was the same sort of thing but we all assumed it was a minor sprain so we iced it and elevated it. The next day it was gone and then it happened one other time a few days later and we finally started to realize something was wrong but we still put it off. The last and final time was when I was at jujitsu and I was doing the usual warm up. At the time I was doing burpees and as I got up to jump from the pushup position I pulled my legs into me chest and “SNAP” my knee had completely given out and I was in the worst pain I had ever experienced to this day. My knee could not and would not move so my Jujitsu

I didn’t really have any pain, however, I was healthy that season. I made freshman basketball and my leg wasn’t bothering me until I went for a layup and the defender’s knee hit my upper thigh which hurt through the entire

I decided from the help of my family and counselor to still partake in rigorous courses of my junior year. Achieving the grades that I wanted in those courses was a struggle because therapy was taking up time either during or after school. Also, the pain was unbearable that sometimes I would not go to school. If I did go to school, I would sometimes take anti-inflammatory drugs, so I could not feel the sensation of the pain. During that year, I had to be cautious of how I was picking up objects and could only sit and sleep on firm cushioning. If I sat on a soft seat then it would send lightning pain through my left leg. Soon, my grades started to drop and junior year, which was supposed to be one of the most important year in my high school career, had ended along with my therapeutical

I was torn. On one hand, I had hope that maybe if I saw a doctor, they could fix it and ease the pain. On the other, I was scared. The risk that they would pull me out of dance and not let me compete at nationals seemed to outweigh the benefits. It was my dance teacher that finally convinced me to see a doctor.

I was scared out of my mind when I saw the words “Hamstring tendon avulsion injury accompanied by 4mm of fluid present between bone and tendon.” I had no medical history and was unaware of what these words were supposed to mean for my future in playing soccer but I know it wasn’t good. I had torn my hamstring tendon straight clean off the bone and the sensation traveled all the way down my leg and on the back of my upper leg all I could feel was a ball of torn and jumbled tissue and muscle. The only thing that I remember is the doctor looking me straight in the eyes and telling me “ You may never run again let alone play soccer without surgery which still isn’t guaranteed to help you”. In that moment everything froze I was going a million miles an hour but everything was dead and I lost it, I had every emotion in the book exploding from my brain and my heart. From that moment forward I was put into six grueling months of physical therapy. I was determined to be back playing in my first club game in August no matter what the Doctor said; he was wrong. I was pushed physically and emotionally by my physical therapist 4 days a week for six long months. If she wasn’t painfully digging her strong hands into the targeted pain spot, then we were outside attached to a bungee and she was holding me back while I ran along the street. I took time and commitment every day whether I was doing exercises

Proceeding the visit, my MRI scan revealed I had torn my Anterior Cruciate Ligament and Medial Meniscus. I remember my father’s head drop into his hands as if he had lost all the muscles in his neck at once. Seeing such a strong man in this state left me faint at heart. The road to recovery was winding, and I, with a faulty limb, was afraid to take that first step.

ended up fracturing my tibia and breaking my ankle. I had to have a cast for a total of about

When I arrived, the physical therapists were extremely friendly and asked me how I injured myself. I explained with a smile, “I was playing basketball, and I went up for a pass and came down wrong on my knee.” Time went by, and they continued to chat with me, as well as, do some painless exercises to help my range of motion; likewise, they were very gentle, because it was my first day after surgery. When doing different exercises, I had to take my brace off, so I could move my knee better. Since it was my first time, I was extremely panicked, because it was all so new for me, and I didn’t want anything to go wrong. The therapist saw the worry on my face and said, “Don’t worry, everything will be fine, I won’t hurt you.” With that being said, I felt more comfortable and took off my brace and began doing the different exercises with the guidance of the therapist, and as soon as I was done doing a various amount of different activities; the therapists gave me ice to ice my knee for a certain amount of time. Going to therapy three times a week, helped me strengthen my knee and also encouraged me to get back out on the basketball

Now the emergency room tells you nothing is broken and the orthopaedic specialist tells you that the MRI he ordered comes back inconclusive but yet, you still cant run or kneel or cross your legs. Now, at 18, you still can’t do those things and you are still in excruciating pain, so what do you do when every other doctor tells you nothing is wrong? I sought out the help of Dr. Galea, and was I ever glad that I did. After spending 15 minutes with him in his office I knew that I had made the right decision. Dr. Galea promised me that he would find out what was wrong and that he would fix it. Through his determination 3 months later I was able to run, kneel and cross my legs. He found that I had several micro-tears in several different tendons in my knee, if it were not for his constant drive to help me become healthy again I would not have reached the level of sport that I am currently competing at. However, I am not the only athlete he has devoted his time and attention

It all started one day with my first high school tryouts. I had thought something was wrong with my knee for a while however never took any interest in it. We were playing a scrimmage against each other so that the coach could see our skill level. Not trying to brag or anything , but I was rocking it out there. After a few minutes my knee started to feel strange