When I say “bum knee,” I’m talking about my latest injury. Yes, injury! I hurt myself. Surprise, surprise, right? I can’t help but to think that this is just my luck. Second game of the season, and I come down wrong. Out for at least six games… or a century, it would seem.
While making an aggressive move to the rim, I get clobbered by two defenders on my way up for the shot. I’m thinking to myself, “Ok, great! I’ll sink these two free throws.” Until they hit my left knee cap, forcing my patella to the lateral side of my body. It was almost a dislocation, but it felt equally as painful. As I dropped to the floor, I was careful to land on the right (opposite) side of my body. Thank God for that soft landing.
Immediately when I hit, I started rolling around on my back as if that would somehow turn back time or if it was a plea to not be so aggressive towards the bucket. I looked, honestly, looked like the athletes on TV that get hurt and start pounding their fist on the court as if to ask God, “Why? Why me?”
After my coaches and trainer, Lynn, got me calmed down and off the court, it sunk in… I had probably torn my ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament), which is a death sentence to your athletic life if you’re an athlete. You might as well have a garage sale and donate all of your colorful running shoes, Nike Tempo shorts, and your precious Eastbay subscription. Naturally, I would expect the very worst.
It was a challenge to hop to the training room two flights of stairs down from the gym. (Nice spot for it, right?) Once I got there, Lynn tried to bend it and feel around to see what she could diagnose. Off the bat, she told me that I had incredibly loose and flexible joints. She couldn’t make it 100% clear, but she told me and my family that she didn’t think it was the ACL based on how I fell and what she felt.
Some relief came over me after that, and I began to slowly, but hesitantly, accept the fact that I wouldn’t be going back in the game… or the next one. Lynn quickly got her phone out and texted the best orthopedic surgeon in the metro area. He quickly replied back saying that he would see me Monday (It was Friday night.).
Later, I went back up to the gym to watch the last quarter of the game. I wanted to support my team to victory. It made my injury feel better knowing that we won. Our team deserved that.
Needless to say, I couldn’t sleep due to the trauma from the whole situation… or possibly due to my knee that simply wouldn’t bend. The next couple of days until my appointment were straight he**. I wouldn’t have wished this injury on anyone, worst enemy included. All I could think about was when I could get back on the court, what the results of the appointment would be, how much my diet would change, how my muscle tone would decrease.
Limping on and off of crutches to and through the Emergency Room revolving doors, I had to get in a wheelchair. (How smart, right? This isn’t any New York City Grand Plaza Hotel here… There are disabled people that are going to be having to walk through these doors. This is no time to show elegance and Time Square Christmas wonder with gold-plated revolving doors!) Once I got up to the counter, I told the receptionist who I was and filled out a bunch of meaningless information about how I’m NOT pregnant, NOT a smoker, and NOT an alcoholic. Thanks for asking though. I just want to get my knee fixed.
Once they called my name to get checked out by the doctor and run the tests, they helped me into a much needed wheelchair. The air rushed into me wheeling through the hallways. Shivering while taking my sweatpants off, I hopped onto the X-Ray bed. In a short two minutes, I was able to get up and do the very same thing… only for about forty-five minutes in an MRI doughnut.
So after a whole two hour ordeal, my family and I finally got to speak to the doctor. He came in very professional like and shook all three of ours’ hands. Once he felt around on my patella area and checked for my range of motion and pain tolerance, he said he was probably 80% sure it was NOT, in fact, an ACL injury of any kind; instead, an MPFL injury... Wait, what? What’s an MPFL.
He explained that the MPFL (Medial Petellofemoral Ligament) was a ligament on the inside part of my knee that keeps my knee cap from sliding all over the place. Wow, that makes perfect sense beings that my knee cap exploded to the outside of my knee, stretching that ligament.
I quickly sighed a sigh of relief with my parents and asked him when I would be back in action on the court. He said he didn’t have the MRI results back yet, but when he did he would let us know what the true results were from the lab. He also informed us that an injury like this would be around two weeks until full strength. Woot! Woot! Just in time for our biggest rival game against Washington!
Later that night we received a call from the doctor before dinner. He said I had not injured my ACl and that he was right about the MPFL. Even though he said about two weeks, I did a really big “doozy” on it. I would be out of basketball longer than originally expected. January 1st was put on the table. (I injured it November 31st.)
Major physical therapy and training with Lynn everday was prescribed, and I have been doing nothing but icing, biking, walking, and poppin’ ibuprofen and anti-inflammatory pills. Rehabbing is a royal pain, but what other choices do I have? The moral of this extra-long narrative is “Take care of your body! Be safe in your sports! And protect yourself (especially your knee).”
I can’t wait to get back out there on the court with my team! I’m planning on the biggest comeback ever. Wish me luck, and look out! ;) (1,073)