My family lives in Indiana (Bloomington/Evansville area). My dad, sister, and I went to visit them. While we were there we decided to go to McCormick’s Creek State Park. We went there every time we visited, in fact.

As the name implies, there is a creek that runs through the park. That summer we decided to walk in the creek for what seemed like miles. Of course, creek beds are not flat; there are stones, rocks, fallen tree branches, small water falls, big water falls, etc. With the uneven ground and constant pivoting of my feet on the assorted rocks, it caused a lateral meniscus tear on my right knee.

My knee didn’t feel right after that and I knew something wasn’t right. It hurt when I walked and there was some swelling.

When we got home to Florida my dad took me in to my orthopedic surgeon. I think I saw this doctor more than I did my family practice doctor by this point. He confirmed it was a lateral meniscus tear and would require arthroscopic surgery. Oh, joy.

Fortunately, I was young enough and the tear was in the “right place” for him to be able to repair it rather than have to remove it. 

Three operations down. Little did I know that three more awaited me – two to come in the very near future.

Have any of you tore a meniscus before? Were they able to repair it or did it have to be removed?

My second knee operation occurred about a year after my first. It may not have been quite that long. 

This one was to remove the two pins they used to set my broken femur. How they got the pins out of my bone is a mystery to me. As you can see in the picture there was no head on the pins – at least not when they gave them to me. Maybe there was at one point and the Doctors just pried them out like you would a nail from wood.

So, surgery number two and another round of crutches and rehab. The fun is just beginning.

At this point in my life I hadn’t yet started bodybuilding. I was into skateboarding back then (had no choice but to stop playing soccer) and I was a skinny little runt.

Part 1: The Great Break 
Part 3: Coming Soon!
Part 4: Coming Soon!
Part 5: Coming Soon!
Part 6: Coming Soon!

These were the very pins used to set my broken femur (yes, I kept them).

 November I heard them again for the sixth time, for the same knee! 

On December 22nd, 2009 I had my sixth operation on my right knee. All but one has been a result of a broken femur playing soccer when I was 14. 

This will be a 6 part post detailing each of my six knee operations as best as I can remember them. Considering the fact that I’m still relatively young I expect this won’t be my last knee operation, unfortunately. We’ll just worry about these for now.

Surgery #1: The Great Break

I started playing soccer at the age of five. That was my sport. I loved it and I excelled at it. My soccer playing days ended on November 1st, 1986 a little after 11:00am. 

That morning I had a soccer game as I did every Saturday during the soccer season. During this fateful soccer game I collided with the goalie, which given how aggressive I was when I played soccer, was nothing unusual. However, this was not my lucky day.

After the collision I lied there on the grass feeling immense pain. I looked down at my legs and saw that the bone was nearly protruding though the skin of my outer thigh on my right leg. It wasn’t a compound fracture, but close to it. Instantly, I went into shock. Not knowing what I was doing I got up to walk towards the side lines but fell once I tried to put weight on that leg. I don’t recomend trying to walk on a fully broken femur, it just doesn’t work. In fact, I probably did more damage by doing that. So I fell back to the ground on my stomach and remember screaming for my dad, who happened to be the coach. He didn’t know the severity of the situation so he was on the side line yelling for me to get up and keep playing, which I would have done had it been a collision on any other day.

It didn’t take long before I had a crowd surrounding me. It took 45 agonizing minutes before I was carried off because the ambulance couldn’t figure out how to get the vehicle back to the soccer field.

I was taken to the hospital and was quickly taken back to the operating room where they used two “pins” (I’d call them nails with no head) to set my fractured femur.

The break occurred along the growth plate (physis). Since I was still growing at the tender age of 14 it would turn out to be the worst place it could have possibly fractured (why in Part 3) and the reason for four of my next five operations.

So I’d be interested in hearing your injury stories too. Please share!

Part 2: Coming Soon! 
Part 3: Coming Soon!
Part 4: Coming Soon!
Part 5: Coming Soon!
Part 6: Coming Soon!