yay. (yes that was sarcastic).I learned the other day that I have torn my ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) in my left knee. I was hoping that it wasn't this bad, but it is. The injury occurred early December while I was playing some sand volleyball. The game was going great, everything fine and dandy, until I went up for a spike. The hit was mediocre at best, but it was going in. While watching the opposing team dig up the ball, I landed awkwardly. My left leg must have landed first, where when it struck the sand (rather hard, I might add as the sand needed to be tilled) it buckled inward. Really a weird sensation when your knee goes in the wrong direction. From there I felt a 'pop' and a sharp pain. I immediately went down, crawling my way to the sideline of the court.
I tried my range of movement right away, and found that I could move the joint without much problem. It was sore of course, but movement was possible. As the pain subsided, I was able to get up and walk (rather gingerly). The pain gradually lessened as the day went on, making me believe that my injury wasn't all that bad. I figured I would wait it out to see how things progressed.
After a few weeks, the pain went away, and I didn't really feel instable during normal walking and standing on one leg. I decided to give the knee a try following the New Year. I was able to warm up and actually start the game. My knee felt kind of weird, but nothing I couldn't run around on. Then it happened. As I was getting more comfortable on the court, I went up for a simple hit strong side. The hit was fine, nothing too great, but as I came down my knee buckled yet again in the same manner it buckled before. This time, no 'pop' but a slight onset of pain. I quickly walked off the court so I could get out of the way of play. The pain went away pretty quick, and I was able to jog around a few minutes later. I didn't dare get back onto the court though. This second occurrance was my queue that something wasn't right and I had to contact the Dr.
I made an appt with Dr. Schenk, the same Dr. that took care of Briana's severly sprained ankle. I had to get some x-rays done before the appt, which were clean. At the appt, the Dr. did a simple examination of my knee by grasping my right knee first and moving it around testing the amount of movement. He went to my left knee and proceeded to do the same thing. He went back and forth a couple of times and asked me, "Do you feel any difference between the two knees?" I told him that the left one felt more loose. He told me he felt the same thing, which indicated with pretty high confidence that I tore my ACL. I made an appt to get an MRI done on my knee so the Dr. could evaluate the images to conclude on his findings and to see if there was any additional damage done.
I got the MRI done early this week, which wasn't all that exciting. Just laying there listening to the radio while they took pictures of my knee. It took about 30 minutes and I was outta there.
I am still waiting for my next appt with Dr. Schenk, which will be in a week or so. I did get a call today from my PCP in which they left a message. They just had me call back to the message center, which I guess the Dr. will call me back later. Being that I didn't have to get a recorded message and that I had to leave a message for them to call back that could only mean bad news. I will need to wait and see what they have to say.
