Post-Surgery Is Affected By Athletes

It was my senior year of high school football and all I could do was sit on the bench with an injury. It was so frustrating because all I wanted to do was be on the field playing with my brothers like I have since freshman year. I was just so happy to be on the field on those Friday nights and just get to play the game made me so happy when I first started playing. Until I got a big head and started thinking about myself and what I was going do that game or how many touchdowns I was going to score that game. I stopped thinking about the team because of my success. I think this might be a lesson I needed to learn and if I did not, I would have had a big head my whole senior year and never would have saw the real reasons why I loved playing

I have played soccer continuously from age 3 to 18. Four years ago, I tore my right ACL. I endured surgery and 6 months of physical therapy, then almost 2 years later to the day, I was told the same fate again. I had torn the ACL in my left knee this time. Why did this awful injury have to strike me twice? Once again, I endured the months of rehabilitation and soon returned to the field. Having to go through this twice as a teen taught me that perseverance and determination will help you achieve what you want in life. Even though I spent almost 2 years away from the field, I still made every effort to be there for my teammates. Some days I didn’t want to get out of bed because of the pain, I didn’t want to go to therapy, and I wanted to quit.

In November of 2010, I was playing basketball in the fifth game of my senior season. It was just like any other game. However, I would soon find out otherwise. It was late in the game; I drove into the lane and got fouled hard. I was knocked so off-balance that I speared the floor with my knee. As soon as my knee hit the floor I heard a “snap” that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Little did I know at the time, that would be the last shot of my high school basketball career. Not long after my injury, I consulted a doctor. After getting an x-ray and an MRI, the doctor informed me that I had completely torn my ACL and would need to have surgery. An ACL tear can be a very devastating injury. The anterior cruciate

September 13, 2014, it was my fourth official varsity soccer game as a freshman and I was starting. I was put on outside wing, defending one of the strongest seniors Horseheads High School had and I was nothing but confident and motivated. All of the sudden I hear a few pops and a crack and I was on the ground and was unable to move my right leg. Complete shock filled my body and I did not know how to react; my older sister and my coach flashed in front of my eyes and I could not comprehend what was happening. Later that week I was told I had torn my ACL and I would be out of soccer for approximately six months.

It was the aftermath of the Friday night game that I’ve given any signs of an injury, and my family and close ones felt sorrow for me and the following Monday. Throughout my life, peers and elders engraved an image onto me being that sports held a bright future for me, and it will lead to the true path of greatness, and one single injury puts me an aggravating, melancholy rut. Viewing my teammates playing angered me since the injury forced me into a world of therapy for the rest of the season. All the promises I made for myself were undone, athletic scholarships, the path to greatness, and my only school pastime and passion flowed throughout my body and into a pipe dream.

Growing up as an athlete, I always feared of getting injured. I played basketball and ran track for six years and I experienced my first real injury while doing track at the collegiate level. I hyperextended my knee. When I say that freaked me out, it freaked me out. I never been injured prior to that. It happened as I was in the middle of long jump and it went downhill from there. As I went to complete my jump my leg glided off the board.

When I found out that I had a bad knee I was absolutely devastated. It took five doctors to find out what exactly was wrong and it turned out to be way worse than my family had anticipated.

Before the surgery, never have I ever believed in my abilities or my beauty. In other words, my confidence never shift above zero since I constantly compared myself to every other person borned in America. I empathize everybody problem, but never have I empathize my own troubles. The surgery numbness side-effects from the surgery and the intolerable pain made me realize being different and unique to myself is far more important than trying to compete with other people. Although my growth flourish later than others, self acceptance helped me to develop selfishness for I grow more confidence communicating with other people besides my family members.

As I sat there and let the doctor examine my knee and diagnosis me with a “left knee sprain”. I started to cry. I already knew the outcome that I had a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). I tried to continue to play on it until one time I was playing in a tournament, and I went up to block a girls shot and landed on my

When an ACL tears it can be one of the most painful injuries and experiences an athlete can have in their sports career and is one of the worst muscles to be torn. ACL injuries most often occur during sporting events that involve sudden stops, jumping, awkward landings, “out of control play”, and sharp cuts- such as basketball, soccer, football, tennis, downhill skiing, volleyball, lacrosse, and gymnastics. When an injury to the ACL occurs, most people hear or feel a popping sensation in the knee.”I landed with my left knee locked, only to hear something akin to the popping of a paper bag filled with air or the snapping of a large rubber band, a sound so weirdly powerful that I couldn’t believe it was coming from inside my body”, said Mike Swift in his article about ACL tears in the Hartford Courant newspaper, as he describes how it felt when he tore his ACL playing basketball. Along with the popping sensation the knee may also swell, and feel unstable and become too painful to bear weight on it. When an ACL tears it can bring an extreme amount of pain to the person. “Still, even after the swelling subsided, my knee didn’t feel right”, also said by Mike Swift in his article. When an ACL tears it can either be really painful right then and there or you won’t even feel pain at all. “I had felt the bones separate inside the joint in a way they never had before. But I wasn’t

I froze like a public speaker with stage fright. I had a lot of work ahead of me. The orthopedist went over the films and showed me the tear He was impressed that I had been able to get up and keep playing. He then muttered two devastating words: NINE MONTHS. I was going to be out of sports for nine months. This meant no softball in the spring or volleyball the following school year. Still, I did not cry. I vowed right then that I was not going to be halted for nine months. Less than a month later, I was being lifted onto an operating table with a stinging IV on the anterior surface of my hand. The plan was to undergo a full ACL repair from harvesting my own hamstring as the new

It was worse than the doctors thought. I ended up going into surgery about a month later. Every day I sat at home, surrounded by the unforgiving darkness and depression walking around my room, mocking me. I was never going to play football again… or so I thought.

I was twelve years old when I started to feel discomfort in my left knee. After every baseball game, my knee would swell up. The doctor said the tissues under my kneecap were hemorrhaging and required surgery. All I could remember was wanting to play with my teammates. However, my parents convinced me that surgery was the correct move. So the day came and I had surgery on my knee. The next step to my recovery was physical therapy. However, the only thought on my mind was returning as soon as possible. I was impatient, and sped through all the rehabilitation, not focusing on the healing process. I ended up returning to my team, but I realized that I still hadn’t recovered anywhere close to 100%. My knee was just as swollen as before and I picked up an awful limp.

We then set up the surgery for February seventh. After surgery they told me that i had a little fray on my meniscus too but they just shaved a little piece off. This sucked, I couldn't do anything for about a week and I have to go to physical therapy three times a week for three months. And I can't play any sports for 6-9 months. Know that you have the time line I'm going to tell you how this situation has impacted who I am today. Tearing my Acl makes me respect the time you have to do something and that even the little things that not many people think of can be life changing. For example I haven't ran in 3 months which is a big change to me because that's what I love to do and i never noticed how much I ran until I couldn't do it anymore. Before i had my surgery and I was just watching everyone at practice playing and doing what I love to do made me jealous and mad at myself. I learned that many people complain about stupid things that you don't even need to worry about. For example they only made one point in the game or that they hate practice and just keep complaining about things and in the back of my head I'm saying well I can't even run or even walk right, and at least

After I first found out I needed surgery I was angry. I talked to no one. I just wanted to give up and quit. The surgery date was November 1, 2016, just one week after districts. My team was competing so well that season, I didn’t want to let them down. In order for us to earn a trip to the state championships, they had to place top 5 in the district championship race as a team. I had no intention of competing in state, I was looking forward for us to compete at state and wanted to share the experience of competing at a high