Location: Field 51 in Randall's Island, NYC
Situation: Spring Co-ed Touch Football
My team, Jerkstore, has been playing co-ed touch football with Zogsports for about five years now. Amazingly, because the games get pretty physical, though it's supposed to be a charity-focused league, the team hasn't had any major injuries....until that Sunday.
I was playing defense and when the ball was thrown my direction, I locked knees with the girl I was guarding and she took my upper body one way but my left knee went the opposite way. My knee made a crunching sound and was immediately on the ground and in excruciating pain. Couldn't even talk for a good minute, and even though it was a pain I've never felt before, I was self-conscious enough to remind myself not to cry - I'm Cap'n Kitty, after all, and Cap'ns are tough guys.For the next week, I taped the knee and did the usual Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation until I could see my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. F, 2 weeks after the accident (he's a busy guy, apparently). The pain and the swelling reduced about a day after the accident, and was even able to put on some heels for work. So I was kind of unconvinced I had a real knee injury. In the meantime, I did a lot of online research on knee injuries, and each day I was convinced I had a different type of injury.
When I saw my ortho, he did the standard knee instability tests. He diagnosed an ACL tear but also sent me to get an MRI for confirmation. A week later when the MRI came back, you didn't have to know medical-speak to figure out I had an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tear--it was plain on the sheet.
I was devastated. I've been in denial of the injury. I
was routinely cycling (indoor spinning classes) and doing Pilates up to that point. I was wearing the highest of heels.I has a rolling-good time visiting the Capitol and drinking at Foxfields and even swing-danced at Adam's stepbrother's wedding.
So I needed a second opinion. In hindsight, the second ortho wouldn't have told me anything different from what the MRI said. But I got some X-rays and Dr. C did more instability tests and explained to me that I did have an ACL tear based on the MRI and his examination and will need surgery. The great thing about Dr. C was that he explained everything about what to expect with an ACL reconstruction, and his bedside manner was excellent. I was soothed, and now fully believed that I did need ACL reconstructive surgery.
My next dilemma was choosing which surgeon to perform my surgery because both orthos had excellent reputations. In the end, I chose my original ortho, Dr. F, because I had a specific date in mind, July 2nd and he was available to perform the surgery that date.
I chose July 2nd because it's a Friday before the long July 4th weekend and would give me extra days to recover at home.
So there it is. I have exactly a month before surgery. A month of (kind of) full mobility and a month to strengthen my hamstrings and knee. I will use this blog to document my remaining few weeks before surgery and my recovery afterward. I hope this will be useful to someone who has to get this type of surgery.
-Kathryn
P.S. This blog is also dedicated to my friend Rachel, who also (freakishly) injured her knee 5 minutes after me and will also undergo the same ACL reconstructive surgery at the end of the year. Her injury is much worse than mine, yet she's still truckin around in NYC and still having fun. Here's to you, Rachel!
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