I guess the best way to start this blog is from the day I got injured 1 week ago.
It was a beautful Saturday morning. While my husband was making breakfast, I decided to take my dog for a run around the block a few times to tire her out. I was riding my bicycle and had her leash in my hand. I realize that this was a really dumb thing to do. I had done this several times before. My dog, Sparta is part Australian cattle dog and part German Shepherd. She is extremely active and my regular running partner. The problem was that even running the dog for an hour and half is not enough to tire her out. So that is where the bicycle came in. I had heard through Caesar Milan (Dog Whisperer) that this was a good thing to do. (by the way... I am never listening to him again.) Sparta has always been leary of bicycles and usually stays far away when we ride. This morning though, she was really hyper and jumping around the bicycle while I was getting ready to go. We were fine until we were a block from home. Sparta must have seen a bird or a squirrel because she ran in front of my tire. I turned to try and avoid her but went to far and fell. My foot came off the pedal and I landed on an angle. I heard a pop after I landed and felt a searing pain. I was on the side of the road, not able to do anything but hug my knee. I didn't even care if Sparta ran off. She didn't though and remained next to me until help arrived.
My husband had to come get me and take me to the ER. Luckily, a nice couple stopped within minutes of my falling and let me use their cell phone. Things were a little fuzzy at this point because I think I was in shock so I don't remember much more until we got to the ER. Except, of course, my husband came to pick me up in his hawaiian print boxers. I guess the first thing that I said to him when he showed up was "nice shorts."
I don't have a lot of good things to say about the ER except that the doctor was inept but nice. I had X-rays taken of my leg which looked fine. However, the doctor did a poor job on the physical exam. Thinking back on this now, I should have asked to see a PT or an Ortho because they would have probably have been better at looking for ligamentous injuries. At the point though, I just wasn't thinking about anything but whether I would be able to race the following weekend. I thought that I had just badly sprained the MCL because of where the pain was and the fact that it wasn't swelling very much. I had heard that if you tear your ACL, your knee swells out right away. I thought that I might be able wrap my knee and still do the Ironman swim and bike and then maybe walk the run portion. I was discharged from the ER without a brace or wrap and without crutches even though I had to be carried in and had to hobble out.
I went to my family physician that Monday. By this time, my knee was swollen. I could put full weight on it but I needed a cane and a brace to walk decently. She got me into the hospital for an MRI the next day. The results from the MRI came back the same day. The techs tried to push it through because they knew I had a race and wanted to know the severity of the damage. At this point, I still had hope that I might race, although I was now wondering if my injury might be worse than I had previously thought. I thought the MRI was pretty cool. I was given a set of headphones so I could listen to music while I had my test done. I realized at that point, 70s and 80s rock music is not the best choice if you are supposed to lie still. Also, metal really does stick to the MRI machine! I had a small safety pin that flew out of my pocket that stuck to the wall of the machine. After the test I stopped into school (I am a physical therapy student) and found one of my professors to examine it for me. That is where I first heard that I had an ACL tear. So by the time I got the actual MRI results, I wasn't incredibly shocked.
I am now scheduled for an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon for the 8th of September. I am going to have to go under the knife to get this repaired if I am going to be able to run again.
It was a beautful Saturday morning. While my husband was making breakfast, I decided to take my dog for a run around the block a few times to tire her out. I was riding my bicycle and had her leash in my hand. I realize that this was a really dumb thing to do. I had done this several times before. My dog, Sparta is part Australian cattle dog and part German Shepherd. She is extremely active and my regular running partner. The problem was that even running the dog for an hour and half is not enough to tire her out. So that is where the bicycle came in. I had heard through Caesar Milan (Dog Whisperer) that this was a good thing to do. (by the way... I am never listening to him again.) Sparta has always been leary of bicycles and usually stays far away when we ride. This morning though, she was really hyper and jumping around the bicycle while I was getting ready to go. We were fine until we were a block from home. Sparta must have seen a bird or a squirrel because she ran in front of my tire. I turned to try and avoid her but went to far and fell. My foot came off the pedal and I landed on an angle. I heard a pop after I landed and felt a searing pain. I was on the side of the road, not able to do anything but hug my knee. I didn't even care if Sparta ran off. She didn't though and remained next to me until help arrived.
My husband had to come get me and take me to the ER. Luckily, a nice couple stopped within minutes of my falling and let me use their cell phone. Things were a little fuzzy at this point because I think I was in shock so I don't remember much more until we got to the ER. Except, of course, my husband came to pick me up in his hawaiian print boxers. I guess the first thing that I said to him when he showed up was "nice shorts."
I don't have a lot of good things to say about the ER except that the doctor was inept but nice. I had X-rays taken of my leg which looked fine. However, the doctor did a poor job on the physical exam. Thinking back on this now, I should have asked to see a PT or an Ortho because they would have probably have been better at looking for ligamentous injuries. At the point though, I just wasn't thinking about anything but whether I would be able to race the following weekend. I thought that I had just badly sprained the MCL because of where the pain was and the fact that it wasn't swelling very much. I had heard that if you tear your ACL, your knee swells out right away. I thought that I might be able wrap my knee and still do the Ironman swim and bike and then maybe walk the run portion. I was discharged from the ER without a brace or wrap and without crutches even though I had to be carried in and had to hobble out.
I went to my family physician that Monday. By this time, my knee was swollen. I could put full weight on it but I needed a cane and a brace to walk decently. She got me into the hospital for an MRI the next day. The results from the MRI came back the same day. The techs tried to push it through because they knew I had a race and wanted to know the severity of the damage. At this point, I still had hope that I might race, although I was now wondering if my injury might be worse than I had previously thought. I thought the MRI was pretty cool. I was given a set of headphones so I could listen to music while I had my test done. I realized at that point, 70s and 80s rock music is not the best choice if you are supposed to lie still. Also, metal really does stick to the MRI machine! I had a small safety pin that flew out of my pocket that stuck to the wall of the machine. After the test I stopped into school (I am a physical therapy student) and found one of my professors to examine it for me. That is where I first heard that I had an ACL tear. So by the time I got the actual MRI results, I wasn't incredibly shocked.
I am now scheduled for an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon for the 8th of September. I am going to have to go under the knife to get this repaired if I am going to be able to run again.
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