Ya the needle was that big! (true story)

Published: Tue, 09/18/12

Here's a quick story for you....
 
2001 was a rough year for several reasons.
 
I blew my knee out playing football in Sweden and decided
to wait to get my ACL surgery until I returned to the States
later that same year.
 
Let me tell you, tearing your ACL sucks big time!
 
Here are some personal memories from the experience.
 
-The team doctor stuck a huge needle in my knee to drain the
blood and the swelling.  I didn't look when he did it, but there
were 2 guys from my team with me in the room when it 
happened and they both looked like they were going to puke
and were white as ghosts.  Ya the needle was that big!
 
-Rehabbing on my own did nothing...I kept popping it out
again at practice.  Next they scheduled a scope to check
things out.  Remember this was in Sweden.  Since I was
an athlete I got to cut the waiting list luckily...
 
-After the scope they knew it was a torn ACL and I decided
to finish the season as a coach and get the surgery when I
got back home like I said.
 
-Since I was staying in Sweden for a while longer I actually
used to wear a rubber knee brace under my dress pants when
I'd go out to the bars and clubbing....haha!
 
-This has nothing to do with anything but my return flight
back to the New York City was a week before Sept 11th, 2001.
I actually had a viking souvenir sword with me on the plane
as a carry on.   Just crazy to think about a much more important
reason I'll never forget 2001.
 
-After getting surgery in CT I had to start rehab..and that was
the worst. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.  To get full range of
motion the therapist had to break scar tissue and it killed.
 
I remember bringing him Critical Bench tshirts, hats and DVDs
as a bribe to take it easy on me during therapy...haha
 
-It took over a year to get to the point where I could play
basketball and have confidence in my knee again.  To this day
it's still numb where they cut out a piece of my patella tendon to
use as the new ACL.
 
==============
Moral of the Story?
==============
 
My knee is stronger now that it was in the first place.  I squatted
more post surgery than I ever had prior to surgery.  
 
But tearing your ACL still sucks and can pull you away from your
livelihood or favorite hobby so if there was a way to prevent an ACL
tear would you want to know about it?
 
I thought so :)  Here's the link:  http://criticalbench.com/goto/ACLtear
 
Thanks for listening to my trip down memory lane.  I hope you never
have to go there yourself.
 
Keep training hard,
 
Mike Westerdal
CriticalBench.com
 
P.S.  I wish I knew about this before my career ending football knee injury.