injury, scmjery..

So for those of you who don't know, I tore my left ACL and MCL (two apparently very important ligaments in your knees...) so I underwent ACL reconstruction surgery yesterday. With that being said, clearly I have some time to blog about a few things in the past. But first, I'll let you know what happened :)

The Injury:
I was skiing at the fabulous Alpine Meadows three weeks back where I fell and my binding didn't pop off. This may sound typical, but it twisted in a way where my ACL tore. Unfortunately for my ego, there wasn't even a good story to tell. It literally went, wasn't paying attention on a new run, fell, tore my ACL. My friends think I should just tell people I saw a moose, was startled and then fell. I like their story better, butttt I'm not one to lie. So yeah, totally my fault. To be fair though, I usually ski Squaw, so I really don't know Alpine at all. First and hopefully last time being sledded down the mountain..

Being Sledded Down The Mountain

The Diagnosis:

The first thing I did upon arriving home (besides grabbing a cold one) was talk to our resident sports med doc, Eric. (Yay for doctors in our ski lease!) He thought that it was just a MCL sprain (a sprain is the same as a tear), and that I would be back in 4-6 weeks. Unfortunately, my pain didn't subside at all and so I went to my doctor's at Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) who are amazing. In less than two days, I went to many different doctors and had a my MRI in hand. To be fair to Eric, they initially thought that it was only an MCL tear as well but did a MRI just to be safe. Once they read my MRI, they knew that I had also torn my ACL - which is a surgical procedure to fix. Thankfully for me, my meniscus and cartilage around my knee still looked as it should. 

Torn ACL - The "Frayed" White Part Is Supposed To Be Thin And Black

The Surgery:

The surgery was done by the amazing Dr. Frank Chen who is also the team physician for the Golden State Warriors with past experience with the San Jose Earthquakes and Oakland Raiders.  I figured if the guys who depend on their bodies for a living trust Dr. Chen, I should too. The procedure took about an hour at the Fremont Surgery Center and I was sent home with all kinds of "toys" including: an ice machine that pumps cold water into your bandage that wraps around your knee (so amazing, if anyone has any injuries I would HIGHLY recommend this), crutches and a Kinetec (a machine that continuously moves your leg to reduce scar tissue). So far, everything is great. I was in a ton of pain when I came to right after the surgery, but after drugging me up, I felt great. Still minimal pain as long as I keep the same dosage of Percocet every 4-6 hours (already leaning towards 5.5-6 hours) so I am pretty happy. Honestly the worst part was probably my IV's - one left a nasty bruise and I hate needles so yeah...

Post Op At Home - Note The Nasty Bruise From One Of My IV's

The Recovery:

A lot of physical therapy in my future, but I'm confident that I will have a speedy recovery and I'm already looking forward to ski season 2014-2015! Already bought my Squaw/Alpine/Sugarbowl/Sierra-at Tahoe pass!