Two years ago in October I had a bucket-handle tear on the lateral meniscus of my left knee. The meniscus is the cartilage in between the tibia and the femur in the knee. This cartilage lets the knee bend without bone to bone grinding.
My knee had been bothering me for a few months but I knew I couldn’t complain about it during season. Once we went to the offseason I tried to stretch more and I would focus on making my knee better. During one exercise I was sitting with my legs crossed to stretch. When I attempted to stand, my knee gave a loud pop and I immediately fell to the ground. The coaches eventually came over to see what was the matter. I was told to ice it and to lay with it propped above my heart.
Eventually my dad made an appointment for the orthopedic center in Searcy. The nurse did an MRI on my knee and the doctor said I had a bucket-handle tear on my lateral meniscus. The surgeon determined that a arthroscopic surgery was in order. It was a routine surgery for someone as experienced as himself. During the surgery the surgeon realized he had to go in at a different angle to get to the point he needed. As he was cutting into the side of my knee, he severed a nerve that lead down to my foot.
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During the therapy sessions the therapist and I found that I had little to no feeling in the left side of my left leg and foot. I was given an electrotherapy system which was used to help recover the feeling and use of my leg. During the next year I had to do many exercises and different activities to try to regain my leg strength. I used an ankle brace for the first two seasons because I had little control over my foot movement.
For a while I could barely walk without tripping or having to lift my leg up high to clear my foot from the ground. I have gradually been able to regain the feeling and movement of my leg and it is now close to my other