Hi-
I am a 39 yr old female, who tore my ACL while skiing at Copper Mt., Colorado - on March 10, 2007. The conditions were poor...it was snowing hard, I was freezing cold after riding the lift. I crashed while trying to avoid another skier on my left. It was the case of I refused to fall down --- a quick twist of the knee and that's all she wrote. I have crashed and burned many times, but this time, my knee twisted hard and fast and popped loudly, as I crashed to the ground. The pain was excrutiating at first, I thought I had a broken leg because of the way it felt. After I got my legs untangled, I knew it wasn't broken...but the feeling of that bone on bone from the partial dislocation during my crash was a feeling I'll never forget! My leg had a numb sensation to it and I couldn't put any weight on it. I tried to stand, but nearly passed out. I was advised by my rescuers, to sit and wait for the ski patrol. Several wonderful people came and helped me right away. Their generosity was amazing. It was so nice to have helpful people surounding me, while I waited for the ski patrol guy to pick me up.
I was taken to the clinic and checked out, after we decided to wait and get treated later. I chose to hobble out and have it checked out at home...in Nebraska. I kept it elevated and iced it a little and suffered the long ride home with my injured knee.
I never had a brace or crutches...I hobbled around for the first week since my 1st doctor told me it was not my ACL...he didn't do the Lachman test correctly, and told me that it was maybe my knee cap or something. I wasn't happy with his exam. I think he should have asked more questions as to how it happened. I TOLD the nurse and doctor I HEARD THE LOUD POP but that wasn't even in the records :)
A few days later, I had our school PT look at it...he said I tore my ACL and would need surgery -- he was 99% sure just by doing his exam! I had two other orthopedic surgeons exam my knee as well as the MRI, and found out that indeed it's shredded. My surgery is now set for April 19.
