Caty's ACL story

Hey I am 15 and I just made my high school soccer team as a freshman which has always been a dream of mine. This was my first year to be goalie and I was really starting to get the hang of it.

Friday Janurary 9th during practice, a month before my first game, I was going to block the ball when I turned my knee the wrong way and felt my left knee cap slide to the left and I fell to the ground screaming. My knee swelled up to the size of a small soccer ball.

I went to the doctor the following Monday and he said I should have an MRI. The results of that showed that I tore my ACL in half and slightly tore my MCL. I went to an Orthopedic surgeon 2 days after I got the results he said that I would be out of soccer for 6 months. I would have to have ACL reconstructive surgery using a patellar tendon graph. When I found this out a cried my eyes out!!

I have been playing soccer since I was 8 years old and these last 2 months of not being able to play it have killed me. I miss it so much and I can't wait to play it again. I had to wear a huge brace for a month for the MCL to heal. Right now my MCL is healed and I am in a smaller brace and I am going to Prehab PT.

My surgury is March 18th and I am really nervous and scared. I don't really know what to expect. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated!! :)