ACL graft from my quad + meniscal trimming/stitching after a ski accident 2 years ago that I’ve been unknowingly living with. I knew I was going to be in pain, but holy shit. I know it’s good in the long run but right now I’m questioning why I even got this surgery.
Hey y'all, 26M here.
Bit of background:
I tore my ACL in November 2024 during my first time skiing. Mountain basically grabbed me by my ski and threw me at a high speed. *CLICK, CLACK*, next thing you know I'm laying in the snow and a team of medics had to come and ride me down on a sled. As the prideful (and frugal) motherf**ker I am, I could slightly walk and decided to not go to the hospital right then and there. It swelled up, but I kept it on ice. The pain went down over a couple of weeks and I was back to a somewhat-normal range of motion. I went to my PCP within the next month or two and she said it likely wasn't anything serious.
Then over a year later in January 2026, I hopped from a 3-foot ledge at a weird angle and it re-triggered everything in my knee. I was laying on the ground bawling in pain... I tried to do the same thing and just let it heal on it's own... until I got a new PCP who tells me something's not right and to go see an ortho ASAP. I went, and after a quick check, they strongly suggested that my ACL is torn. I got the MRI confirming a complete tear of my ACL and complex tears of my medial and lateral menisci.
Long story short, I've basically been living with no ACL for almost two years and didn't even realize until a couple months ago. I just came back from a pre-planned 8-day trip to Japan with a compression sleeve, and despite a lot of walking, the pain throughout the trip was minimal. Because I know eventually I want to get back into skiing, basketball, dancing, jogging, et cetera, so I have to get this surgery done so that way I don't get another re-triggering event like I did in January. My surgery is scheduled on August 18th.
Financially, I was also able to work with my insurance situation and get my estimated cost down from around $9.7k to $1.8k. I explained that I'd be out of work for at least a month and my expected annual income would therefore be lower, and due to that change in circumstances I was able to move onto a better plan. Obviously everyone's insurance situation is different, but if anything similar applies to you, it's absolutely worth looking into your options instead of immediately accepting the first giant number you're quoted.
Either way, six days from now I go in for surgery, and it's safe to say I'm not looking forward to it at all.
I think my biggest concern is that because I waited and persevered through this injury for so long without really taking action, I'm scared my recovery will be harder or longer than it would've been if I'd dealt with it sooner.
So, yeah. Super nervous, currently hovering around this subreddit trying to find solace in other peoples' stories, so I just wanted to ramble and share mine.
Hope all goes well with everyone else dealing with their recoveries! See you on the other side.