Hey friends! I wanted to give a little background on why I decided to start this blog and tell a little bit about myself and my journey so far!
I'm a second year student at University of Chicago and play on the Women's Varsity Soccer Team. I'm originally from Alameda, CA and have been playing competitive soccer since I was 7 years old. Fun fact: my right knee is seriously messed up!
I tore the ACL in my right knee in December of 2017, the fifth game of my senior high school soccer season. I had hamstring reconstruction surgery in January and returned to train with my college team in September of 2018. I ended up taking medical leave for my first year of college soccer which meant that I didn't play in any games my freshman year but that I have one more year of eligibility after graduation.
In May of 2019 at the last practice of my freshman spring season, I landed weird on my right knee. I finished the practice but ended up getting an MRI and found out that I had torn the meniscus in my right knee. After meeting with my surgeon back home, we decided that I wouldn't get surgery since I didn't have any pain or symptoms after three weeks of rest. So the summer before my second year of college, I worked my way up from biking to running to cutting to playing contact soccer all while nursing a torn meniscus in my right knee.
I came into preseason with my team and played in our first few games and was having the best time! I was playing with a light compression sleeve and my knee felt solid. I was so happy to be back and playing the game I loved. But then at the end of September, I was playing spikeball with my soccer teammates and got hit on the side of my knee as I was going for the ball. My knee jerked on the grass and while it wasn't the ACL, I had aggravated my meniscus tear. I took three weeks off and slowly worked into running and passing and contact soccer.
After those three weeks of recovery and three weeks of the team traveling/off weekends, we were reaching the end of our season and I was training fully healthy. Everything seemed to be going right! And then during practice on November 2 (aka today), I was defending one of my teammates and my right knee twisted as I went to pivot to defend her. As I walked off the field and felt the pain on the inner part of and in the back of my knee, I couldn't help but think of the worst.
As of right now, nothing is confirmed. The tests by the doctor suggest an ACL tear and/or a bigger meniscus tear where a portion has lodged between my knee to restrict movement. Either one isn't super ideal, but I am getting an MRI asap so I can get a final opinion.
I started this blog tonight because if I did tear my ACL or mess up my meniscus more, I want to be able to document my journey for all the other girls who are going through a similar process. I remember during my first ACL tear, I kept searching up stuff online to try to learn about other players' personal experiences and I couldn't find much besides short articles. Since I have been "blessed" with some of these injuries, I hope that I can impart some advice and encouragement for everyone else who happens to be "blessed" as well.
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