December 23rd, 1990: While not a glamorous story, I tore my ACL when I fell off of the back of a deuce and a half command post vehicle several miles north of Hafir al-Batin in Saudi Arabia while serving in Operation Desert Shield. I knew it was torn but the Army didn't: the pop in my knee, the swelling, the instability and the constant pain underneath my knee cap. I stayed in country through March of 1991 and was sent back to Germany. At that time, the diagnosis from the Army was still just muscle sprains and I was given two weeks medical leave. In 1992 when I left active duty my exit physical noted "laxity" in my left knee but still no acknowledgement of a potential ACL tear.
Now, 19 years later after multiple incidents of my knee giving out, giving up most sports (although I never was that good at sports) and finally having a MRI done after my knee collapsed while going up some stairs my doctor informed me that my ACL was completely torn and had "fused" itself to my PCL. He firmly believes that based on the description of my original injury that I have had a torn ACL since 1990. I am scheduled for surgery 11/25/09. I am relieved to finally find a doctor, a former Air Force doctor, took the time to order a MRI and find the problem.
I will use this blog to chronicle how a 43 year old makes it through ACL reconstruction and recovery.
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