ACL

On Memorial Weekend while spending a lovely time at Family Camp in Southern Michigan I tore my ACL. I had just finished a family Tire and Pylon Decathlon in which we got 2nd place, went on a nature hike, played a few rounds of carpet ball, and then was headed to our cabin when I got this overwhelming urge to mutilate my husband in his first tetherball game. So, I challenged him to a game.

Now, the first rule of tetherball, if you want to win, is to never play with an opponent that is either taller than you or can jump higher than you. This rule came into existence after many years of playing with my older, taller sister whom I could never beat.

Since I broke this rule by playing with my husband, who is a phenomenal athlete, I suppose I deserved what I got. Since it was Cody's first game I knew it was also one of my only chances to EVER beat him. Since I was shorter than him I had to jump to reach his volleys. Since the ground was an uneven sand that was slanted towards the pole...I landed on my foot wrong and my shin went left while my thigh went right. Pop!! Of course my screaming diversion caused Cody to miss the ball and I ultimately DID win that game.

After the pain had subsided and the ice was on and I was declared immobile, I came to the conclusion that I had torn my ACL. After a treacherous drive home to Western Illinois and an X-ray and an MRI, my conclusion became a fact. I spent three and a half weeks walking on crutches and gimping around with a very unstable knee before I had my ACL restoration surgery on June 23, 2010.

I had done alot of research and decided to go with a Patellar Tendon reconstruction using my own tissue. That is where they take the middle third of my patellar tendon along with a piece of the bone from each end of it and use it to make my new ACL. The use of the bone instead of screw makes for a stronger hold and the use of my own tissue as opposed to a cadaver gives me greater chances for success. Though the recovery period is much more painful and takes longer using this type of surgery, I wanted the greater long-term result.

I wasn't too terribly nervous about any of it except for getting the IV put in. I had a few apprehensions about the pain after the surgery and about being put to sleep or about getting staples removed afterward but nothing too overwhelming. I'm not a mortal being so death doesn't scare me or even being hurt. I figure I might as well try to get this borrowed boy I live in fixed so I can use it well while I'm in it but nothing that happens to this body will change the fact that I am eternally loved and cared for and perfect to God.

Of course, the IV was the worst part for me before the surgery. They wanted to put the IV in my right arm and though I told them it doesn't like getting poked, I had to humor them and go through the torture of them trying before they ultimately stuck me three times and finally put the IV in my left arm. Now, I have a completely bruised up right arm and perfectly normal looking left arm where the IV went in. If there's ever a next time I will insist they do as I wish!!

Once the IV was started and I spoke with the anesthesiologist about being very gentle with my vocal cords since I am a singer, they somehow tricked me into going to sleep. The next thing I remember was waking up in a hospital bed in a different room and having a leg brace on my completely wrapped up leg. They gave me a morphine drip that I could push when I was needing a little more help dealing with the pain. They also began giving me medication for nausea since I kept throwing up everything I tried to eat. My mouth was completely dry which made it difficult to eat anything anyway. I spent the first night in the hospital. They had my knee in a machine for 30 minutes that night to help it bend to a 45 degree angle and then again the next morning for 2 hours before I was released to go home. I couldn't walk on my leg or bend it on my own and I was in a great deal of pain.

The second day after my surgery I saw the Physical Therapist who worked on bending my knee and gave me some exercises to do to help begin getting my leg back in shape. I tried really hard to let him have his way with my knee and he got it to bend to 50 degrees. This day was really hard and stressful for our whole family. I don't think we were as prepared as we should have been going into the care that needed to be done at home with Mom down. Everyday chores and meals became a great burden to everyone, especially Cody as he tried to take care of me, the kids, the house, and finish his Master's class, preach a wedding the next day, prepare for being a main speaker at camp in two days, carryout his full-time job as a minister, and prepare to leave for the military in 4 days.

So, the third day my mom came to stay with me so Cody could just take care of his stuff a bit more. It was helpful for me emotionally to have someone around to just sit and talk to.

A couple that Cody and I had been counseling were getting married on that day so I decided I'd at least get to the wedding ceremony. I was glad I got to go but it really drained me and I came home and crashed while Cody and the kids went to the reception. It was a good time for them to get out of the house and have a little fun together.

Today, is the fourth day after my surgery. The pain is a bit more controllable now though still pretty intense and definitely constant. I got myself together enough to go to church this morning. Though it was painful physically, it was wonderful spiritually. Cody gave an amazingly convicting sermon and called people up to get intentional or we'll close the doors. God was really speaking through him and I believe great things are going to be stirring in this little town of Colchester.

I'm hoping the next few days will just fly by as Cody leaves for his military training and I continue PT and then get my staples out and see the wound for the first time on Thursday. Until then, I'm going to figure out how to get my hair clean, and bum rides from friends, and keep my kids from killing each other out of boredom and just take it easy.

On Friday my parents are coming to pick us all up and take us with them to Kansas for a week. I just have to make it until then and then I'll have all kinds of help and entertainment for my soul.