An AAR for the Ages

[SuperTed]

I posted this AAR on March 7, 2002 and wanted to update those of you that were cheering for me. I know this is off topic, but it gives me great pride and I want to share it with all of you.

"My knee reconstruction AAR:

Until June 10, 2001, I played on and managed two men's soccer teams. We played outdoors in the spring, summer, and fall and indoors in the winter. Having the two teams allowed me to play in almost 100 games per year!

June 10, 2001

Five minutes into the game, I planted my right leg while turning my upper body to move quickly to my left. Well, unfortunately my knee disagreed with my plan and buckled sideways. For those of you who have had serious knee injuries, I don't need to tell you about the horrible sound that it makes. For those of you who have never heard that sound, I hope you never do. It is what I remember most, despite the excruciating pain I felt.

Well, after the shock set in and the endorphins began to work their magic, I was able to regain my composure enough to realize that my face was still planted in the grass that was muffling my screams of pain. Fortunately, my wife was at the game and drove the car onto the field and a few of the guys helped me into it. Unfortunately, we had our dog at the park, so he needed to be taken home before we could go to the hospital.

Long before arriving at the hospital, the endorphins had been exhausted and I was reminded of just how painful my injury was. Every little bump in the road was amplified many times and carried up to my knee, causing waves of pain.

Once we made it to the hospital, I was able to get into the emergency room almost immediately. By this time, the pain had started subsiding (or I was adjusting to it, or both), so I was able to relax to a certain extent. Then, they first doctor examined my knee and was convinced I had severely damaged it. So, he ordered x-rays to be sure there was no hard tissue damage (i.e. broken bones). The x-rays were negative, which was a relief.

After being examined by three more doctors (one being the on-call orthopedic surgeon), the consensus was that I had completely torn my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). (Note: for those of you who don't know, the ACL prevents the lower leg from sliding forward and away from the knee.) Before any of them had a chance to start explaining what my options were, I told them I was going to play soccer again. That narrowed it down to one option: knee reconstruction surgery and a long (6-12 month) recovery process.

The next step was to have a magnetic resonance image (MRI) taken of my knee to determine the extent of the damage.

June 18, 2001

The MRI was a lot easier than I expected. I was told that it was difficult to remain still inside the "tube" for so long, but I found that the time went quickly and it was over before I knew it. I imagine people who are claustrophobic would have some mild problems with the experience, but I was fortunate.

Now we wait to hear the results.

Note: a friend of mine blew out her ACL this very evening, so she and I have been sharing the process. It has been very helpful to have her along, especially since she is a physical therapist.

June 26, 2001

I see the orthopedic surgeon that will be performing the knee reconstruction surgery. Sadly, he has very bad news for me. In examining my MRI results, he has confirmed that my ACL is completely torn, which comes as no surprise. What does come as a surprise, however, is the additional damage that was done to the knee.

He has discovered that my lateral collateral ligament (LCL) is partially torn. (Note: the LCL runs from the upper leg to the lower leg on the outer side of the leg, preventing the leg from buckling outward.) Now, this will not require surgical repair, but will make the ACL rehabilitation more difficult. Also, it moves the timetable for recovery further from the 6-month mark and closer to the 12-month mark.

As if that was not bad enough, it was also discovered that the lateral meniscus was damaged. (Note: the meniscus is the cartilage cushion between the upper leg and lower leg and the lateral portion is on the outer side of the leg, near the LCL.) Since the damage was on more than one plane, it could not be repaired. Instead, the damaged portion would have to be removed, leaving less cushioning for my knee joint.

The surgeon explains that the surgery is fairly straightforward and has a very high success rate. As a matter of fact, he has performed more than 1,300 of these operations himself! That puts my mind at ease, but I still dread the long recovery process and missing all that soccer. (Yes, there are a few Americans who are as passionate about soccer as the rest of you in the world are. )

Because my surgeon is considered one of the best in the nation, he is in high demand. As a result, the earliest I can get my surgery schedule is September 12, 2001. Well, I wanted to have it done sooner, but I also want it done right.

July and August, 2001

My physical therapist friend has given me some exercises I can do to be better prepared for the surgery and initial recovery. I find these to be very helpful in giving me something to do instead of dreading the surgery. Other than that, I just carry on normally, continuing to manage my soccer teams and wish I was playing.

September 11, 2001

I knew this would be a very tough day for me, knowing I would be in surgery the next day. Early in the day, I was hoping to find something to distract my attention from this. Unfortunately, my wish was granted in a way I never could have imagined. I have never been so deeply affected by images on television as I was on this day and I am not ashamed to admit I shed tears for those who lost their lives. The day's horror made me realize that, despite how difficult my personal experience was, it was a walk in the park compared to those that were personally affected by what happened in Washington, D.C. and New York.

September 12, 2001

Well, the big day had finally come! After a night of poor sleep (I was thinking about my surgery and I found it impossible to get the images of the World Trade Center out of my head), my wife and I made our way to the hospital. I was definitely nervous, but I think the recent events provided a perspective that prevented me from getting too worked up about it.

The surgery was scheduled for 11:00, but things went so well with the one before me that I was on my way to the operating room by 10:15. That was a relief, since it would mean less waiting and worrying.

As far as I know, things went smoothly during the operation. However, there was an incident in the recovery room that I will likely never forget. The doctor injects a nerve block into the upper leg to reduce the pain for 12-24 hours. The nerve is sought by applying a low voltage current to the area where the nerve should be, resulting in the quadriceps (quad) muscle firing (contracting) when it is found. Well, once my quad started firing, it continued to fire for what felt like an hour, causing me to regain consciousness. I awoke to see four people over the bed, working on getting the nerve block injected while my quad continued to fire. The reason it is so painful is because the bottom of the quad is attached to the area that just underwent surgery. After the nerve block was successfully injected, I went back to an anesthesia-induced state of unconsciousness. That was a relief.

The next thing I remember was regaining consciousness in my room. Shortly after I came to, my surgeon stopped by to tell me the surgery was a complete success! The knee was rebuilt and he only needed to remove 10% of my meniscus! This was a great relief to me because that meant there would be no noticeable long-term effects from that aspect of the injury.

After a few hours of resting and passing the "pee before you leave" test, I was on my way home. The easy part was over...

September 13, 2001

First, the drain that was inserted in my knee after surgery had to be removed. Now, I had heard how horrible this was, causing an excruciating stinging sensation that was exceeded only by the injury itself. So, I decided to take 1 1/2 vicadin painkillers (Brett Favre got them for me...cheap) about 30 minutes before arriving at the clinic. Well, in addition to the wonderful feeling from the vicadin, the nerve block in my leg was still working very nicely. So, to my amazement, I felt no pain whatsoever when the drain tube was removed. My wife tells me there were six inches of that thing in my knee, but it may as well have been six feet for all I cared at the time. :cool:

Next, the physical therapy was to begin! Yes, this was about 25 hours after the surgery, but there was no point in waiting. Surprisingly, things went well and I was greatly encouraged by the overall success of the day.

October and November, 2001

I am meeting with my physical therapist two times each week and working on exercises at home. Initially, some of the exercises make me feel like my leg is going to fall off, but I gradually improve to the point where my limp is almost gone.

November 28, 2001

I receive a very special gift for my 36th birthday. According to my surgeon, the period for highest risk of re-injury is around nine weeks from the surgery date. Well, today marks the eleven-week anniversary and I am told I am officially out of the woods! Now, I can crank up the intensity of my PT without fear of doing more harm than good. For me, this was like passing the first test of many to come.

December, 2001 and January, 2002

I continue working hard at getting my leg stronger. Also, I find my continued involvement with the soccer teams to be highly motivational. I have weekly reminders of why I am working so hard at PT.

January 17, 2002

On the advice of my physical therapist, I obtain a three-month medical membership at a local health club. This marks another significant step in the recovery process because it means I am able to start weight-training and sport-specific exercises. I am anxious to start my program and get myself ready to play soccer again.

January 24, 2002

I have my first strength test, a measure of how strong each leg is and how much difference there is between them. I am told that I should expect to be nowhere near the goals I need to reach before I can be cleared to play soccer again. Well, guess what? That's exactly what happened. Despite knowing in advance that I should not expect to do well, I must admit I was crushed when I saw the results. I thought I was doing so well that I would set new records for the fastest recovery ever, but my bubble was burst.

I was feeling miserable until I saw my surgeon afterward. He asked why I was feeling so down and I told him I was very disappointed with my test results. He said I should be thrilled by the results. He explained that had seen people in worse shape who were two months further into their recovery than I was! He said my expectations were unreasonably high, but my results were ahead of schedule! He told me to keep working hard and I may just be able to shorten the recovery time. That is all I needed to hear because it meant only one thing to me: more soccer!

February, 2002

After hearing how well I was doing, I redoubled my efforts at PT and the health club. There were days when I did not want to go, but all I had to do was look at the results of the strength test and I soon found myself on the way to go work out.

During this time, I can really start to feel my leg getting stronger, my knee regaining its stability, and my confidence in the entire set-up returning.

February 25, 2002

Disaster strikes! While exercising, I feel a mild but noticeable twinge in my knee. I immediately stop and return home to rest and ice it. Over the next few days, I notice a pain on either side of my knee. I am very concerned that I did some damage, so I call my physical therapist to get his advice. He explains that I just overworked the leg and it will need to rest until the pain is gone.

Dammit! :mad: This is not what I need! Things were going so well and now I have to stop and probably lose ground. Well, I guess I'll rest and let things run their course. Unfortunately, this rest period lasted nine days!

March 7, 2002

Today, I have my second leg strength test. I am not very optimistic, since it has been so long since I last exercised. As expected, the test results were very disappointing. They were better than the first test, but again they were nowhere near where I wanted them to be.

Well, as before I then consulted with my surgeon to review the test results. He said they could be better, but what he said next made me nearly fall off the table. According to the test results, I had passed the threshold for returning to playing soccer again! I couldn't believe it! I had to ask him to repeat that two or three times to be sure I hadn't imagined it. As he graciously repeated, I was officially cleared to play soccer again!

There have been several significant events in my life, but this one ranks very close to the top. When I started this journey of recovery, I always expected to miss at least the 2002 spring session if not part of the 2002 summer session as well. Well, it looks like all my hard work paid dividends and I was able to recover in less than six months from a surgery that was expected to keep me sidelined for as long as 12 months. Next Tuesday, I plan to celebrate the 6-month anniversary of my surgery by playing soccer again!

The Future

Despite being cleared to play again, that does not mean my recovery is complete. I am going to continue working at it until I have exceeded 100% of all my goals. Then I can officially stop moving away from the injury and start moving toward becoming a good soccer player again."

June 8, 2002

After an up-and-down season, we entered the last day of the season in a three-way tie for second place. Since we had lost to the two teams that were tied with us, they held the tiebreaker. Here are the team points:

Wonders Europa----13

Orangemen---------12

Pumas-------------12

Mad City United---12

We played the last game of the day against Wonders Europa at 3:00, so I went to the fields early to watch and hope for help. At 9:00, Pumas were defeated 1-3, which meant we were not eliminated yet. The 11:00 game ended in a 0-2 loss for Orangemen! Now we controlled our own destiny!

All of the previous games against Wonders Europa have been close, but we have won about 75% of them. I liked our chances, but knew they could beat us. Prior to the start of the game, I made sure every player knew what was at stake and they all responded enthusiastically to being able to play for a chance at a championship berth.

The first half was a bit rough, with Wonders Europa beating our defense a few times. Fortunately, I (playing goalkeeper) allowed only one goal on a deflected ball that there was no way to get. We quickly scored the equalizer and the first half ended in a 1-1 tie.

With Wonders Europa having a one-point lead on us, we knew they would be perfectly content to sit on a tie. I decided to play sweeper (my natural position) to stabilize our defense. Also, we wanted to come out strong and take the momentum and that's exactly what we did! Less than five minutes into the second half, we got the second goal! We were feeling a lot better, but nobody thought the score would hold.

As the second half continued, we kept applying pressure on the opponent's midfield and defense. They were wearing down while we were feeding off the intensity of our play. About fifteen minutes into the half, all our hard work began to pay dividends. Our third goal came and Wonders Europa collapsed as a team. FOUR goals later, the game ended with a 7-1 victory!

The championship game will be played on Wednesday, June 12.

What a long, strange trip it's been...

[ June 09, 2002, 01:35 AM: Message edited by: SuperTed ]

[The Tanklord]

Excellent AAR!

(The "games" you win are the best )

Good luck in the finals

[Michael Dorosh]

Awesome AAR Ted. A little light on the pictures, but not bad, thanks for sharing it. Actually, I'm grateful there were no pictures, come to think of it...

[Pzman]

Originally posted by The Tanklord:

Excellent AAR!

(The "games" you win are the best )

Good luck in the finals

Tell me about it. The first two years I played soccer, eerr to you people from everywhere but North America "Football" we lost almost all our games, then most of us moved to a older team, and that year we only lost two or three games of 20 or 30, IIRC. We won the championship, 1-0 in OT! That was, almost 6-7 years ago, after that I didn't play much, although people at school were shocked when I always got the ball way from them with little effort. Having been a mid-fielder I can say getting the ball up to the guys that score is almost as good as getting a goal. Good AAR Ted. :cool:

[zukkov]

great aar ted! makes me glad i never played the game. lol...

i once had a salesman that called on me back in the mid 80s. he was british and a retired pro soccer player. proudly he showed me all the scars he received during his years on the field, as if each one was a badge of honor. at that time, he was coaching a ladies team from a nearby city. he told me something then that astounds me now. he predicted the u.s. women would be the best in the world someday, but that the men would not be world class in the foreseeable future because they were just too hard to coach. that's why he stuck with the women. his team had won many titles and travelled all over the world. don't know what he's doing today, but i'll bet it's something to do with soccer.

anyway, congrats on your recovery and your team's great comeback. good luck in the finals!

[Patgod]

Originally posted by SuperTed:

September 13, 2001

First, the drain that was inserted in my knee after surgery had to be removed. Now, I had heard how horrible this was, causing an excruciating stinging sensation that was exceeded only by the injury itself. So, I decided to take 1 1/2 vicadin painkillers (Brett Favre got them for me...cheap) about 30 minutes before arriving at the clinic. Well, in addition to the wonderful feeling from the vicadin, the nerve block in my leg was still working very nicely. So, to my amazement, I felt no pain whatsoever when the drain tube was removed. but it may as well have been six feet for all I cared at the time. :cool:

What a long, strange trip it's been...

hehe, vicodin is some woooooonderful stuff isnt it

[KNac]

nice AAR. as I have played football lots of times >I encourage you to do, omething must have this sport when all the world (less USA) plays it

my (stupid) question is, why if football called soccer in USA? I know American football or rugby (mispelling?) but...

[Kevin Kinscherf]

Who cares about the World Cup?!?

Go Ted Go!

Is a sweeper like a Hetzer operationally?

- kevin

[Capitalistdoginchina]

Oh how i love happy endings

Great AAR Ted,

CDIC

[SuperTed]

Originally posted by Michael Dorosh:

Awesome AAR Ted. A little light on the pictures, but not bad, thanks for sharing it. Actually, I'm grateful there were no pictures, come to think of it...

Mike,

Oh, I have pictures from the surgery. :eek:

[Scott B]

Originally posted by SuperTed:

Oh, I have pictures from the surgery. :eek:

LOL. Be careful what you wish for...

Scott

[Ace Pilot]

Good luck in the championship game tomorrow, Ted. I'll look forward to the "AAR" as much as the US-Poland game on Friday.

Ace

[Doug Beman]

In my junior year of high school I suffered a sublocated patella (dislocated kneecap) after a fall in which my knee struck a sidewalk curb at just the right angle. The pain was immense; even worse was waiting 20 minutes for the ambulance, sitting on the ground in mid-November. By the time the ambulance arrived I was in advanced shock and only partially conscious. Thankfully, I didn't require surgery, just a bunch of PT.

Reading this brought back the memories of the pain so strongly that I felt ill.

Ted, you be f'n careful.

DjB

[Conscript Bagger]

Wow Ted, all this time I've been reading your updates and never noticed we're in the same town. Ever play with a guy named Sylvan Esh? I used to work with him and I know he was in a 30+ league.

Congrats on your rehab too, and I know exactly what you mean about that sound a collapsing joint makes (mine was an ankle, but hey).

[Jussi Köhler]

Congrats Ted on your recovery!

I've taken the first steps down that road just recently. Broke my left ankle in 2 places playing rugby on saturday. The sound, the sound... Like 2 shots going off right next to each other... The guy who tackled me got at least as scared as me

Anyway, plaster for at least 6 weeks, and a few hundred grams of metal in my foot for a year... Still, I just might make it to our last game of the season in the end of september... Maybe... Well, one can allways hope...

Jussi

[SuperTed]

Originally posted by Offwhite:

Wow Ted, all this time I've been reading your updates and never noticed we're in the same town. Ever play with a guy named Sylvan Esh? I used to work with him and I know he was in a 30+ league.

Congrats on your rehab too, and I know exactly what you mean about that sound a collapsing joint makes (mine was an ankle, but hey).

Offwhite,

Sylvan Esh plays midfield for Mad City United! :eek:

The game is at 7:00 at Breese Stevens Field (on E. Washington Ave.) if you'd like to come and watch. I'll be #19 in red. You'll hear me yelling long before you enter the stadium.

Where in Madison do you live?

Small world indeed.

[ June 11, 2002, 03:51 PM: Message edited by: SuperTed ]

[SuperTed]

Originally posted by zukkov:

great aar ted! makes me glad i never played the game. lol...

i once had a salesman that called on me back in the mid 80s. he was british and a retired pro soccer player. proudly he showed me all the scars he received during his years on the field, as if each one was a badge of honor. at that time, he was coaching a ladies team from a nearby city. he told me something then that astounds me now. he predicted the u.s. women would be the best in the world someday, but that the men would not be world class in the foreseeable future because they were just too hard to coach. that's why he stuck with the women. his team had won many titles and travelled all over the world. don't know what he's doing today, but i'll bet it's something to do with soccer.

anyway, congrats on your recovery and your team's great comeback. good luck in the finals!

zukkov,

Yeah, it can be a bit physical. When I was in high school, we played a semi-pro team for practice. They won 2-1, but we gave them quite a run for their money. Anyway, they were all bigger than we were ( ) and physics dictates that larger objects will crush smaller ones into dust, all other factors being equal.

Well, my 5'8" 135-pound frame was playing sweeper (as always) and I went up for a header and got squashed between two opposing forwards. I landed in a heap and breathing became an adventure, but I insisted on playing. It wasn't until I got home later that day and lifted my arm above my head to help paint the house when I noticed a sharp pain on both sides of my rib cage. The x-rays at the emergency room showed three broken ribs and the doctor surmised that least at two others were bruised.

The other "cool" injury I had was only three years ago. I was defending a player at the top of the box near the center of the field. I was playing off of him about five yards and he decided to fire a shot, so I stepped into the path of the ball (I never turn my back on these). Well, I stopped it alright, but it hit me square in the face! My teammates tell me I was airborne and landed about six yards from where I started. I was out cold for a few seconds, but returned later. The 'keeper told me he expected the shot to be on target, so I did my job.

Thanks.

[ June 11, 2002, 05:22 PM: Message edited by: SuperTed ]

[Conscript Bagger]

Ted, I used to be a Far-West-Sider, but now I live north of the airport a ways. Just a few short blocks from the loony bin; I figured it'll make that move easier when it comes! Just let me keep my CM, doc...

It's pretty cool to hear you play with Sylvan. I might be able to swing by the game on my way to Capitol Ice to play a real sport.

[SuperTed]

Originally posted by Offwhite:

Ted, I used to be a Far-West-Sider, but now I live north of the airport a ways. Just a few short blocks from the loony bin; I figured it'll make that move easier when it comes! Just let me keep my CM, doc...

It's pretty cool to hear you play with Sylvan. I might be able to swing by the game on my way to Capitol Ice to play a real sport.

OW,

We played at Warner-2 (off Troy Drive) Monday evening, until the lightning came. I assume we were in your back yard then.

I am guessing you play hockey. I love to watch the sport, but I can't skate.

[Conscript Bagger]

Rats, I was expecting a figure skating joke from someone. As for not being able to skate - that's no excuse; I've never let it stop me

Best o'luck tomorrow.

[SuperTed]

Originally posted by KNac:

nice AAR. as I have played football lots of times >I encourage you to do, omething must have this sport when all the world (less USA) plays it

my (stupid) question is, why if football called soccer in USA? I know American football or rugby (mispelling?) but...

KNac,

This should tell you everything you ever wanted to know about non-American football and this should answer your question about the term "soccer." I believe it is called "footy" Down Under.

[SuperTed]

There's good news and there's bad news:

Bad News-we lost, 1-3

Good News-I started the play that led to our only goal

Next year...

[Treeburst155]

The real good news is that you are playing again. I'm sure your team mates are glad to have your face back in the game. It's such a good defensive tool, and you use it so well.

Treeburst155 out.

[jeffsmith]

Originally posted by SuperTed:

There's good news and there's bad news:

Bad News-we lost, 1-3

Good News-I started the play that led to our only goal

Next year...

As a Suffering Red Sox Fan I Understand your Sentiments

But Congratulations for being a Key Player for the Night

SuperTed is Back !!!

[Conscript Bagger]

Folks, Ted is one of the most vocal athletes I've ever seen (heard). Not at all what one would expect, given his succinct updates to the board. It's worth mentioning that even when they went down 0-3, he stayed just as loud, and just as positive.