My Knee Story

Who am I? Why am I writing a blog about knees? Good questions!

Me: I am a 28 year old female, and I have had four knee surgeries. Two Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Reconstructions (one left, one right), one arthroscopic (right knee), one Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI) /Carticel (right knee)...in 12 years.

I now consider myself an ex-athlete, I grew up playing soccer competitively for 15 years, played women's rugby for two years in college (yes that is a real sport), and ran triathlons for two and a half years. Now I bike, swim, hike, do yoga and pilates and look towards the future. My knees need to last me a long while, it's time I start being nice to them.

Why?: After my diagnosis' I was looking for some sort of resource or group where I could talk to others who had these surgeries, and find out just what was about to happen. For my first ACL surgery in 1996 the Internet (and dial-up connection) was not a good outlet. Now after my ACI surgery the wealth of information available online was helpful, but overwhelming, and I found very little personal connection.

This blog will be a resource for helpful, concise information and a way for others who have undergone these knee surgeries (or are about to) or have other such knee injuries to connect to each other, share tips, advice, or lend a friendly ear. Please feel free to comment with questions, or advice, links, or references.