A couple years ago I was playing basketball when this kid came out of nowhere, slammed my knee, and I dropped like a bad habit. I had iced it and felt like it was going to be okay. I also hate going to the doctors because I feel like nothing good comes from it. I never get good news at the doctors office and I knew this would be no different.
Turns out I had torn my ACL and had a choice: get it fixed now and be fine or just wear a knee brace when I want to do any sort of activity. I consider myself a somewhat active person, but sports aren’t really my thing. The doctor said I could still run, but no side to side motion. I was okay with that because I was really into running half marathons and triathlons so I was golden doing just the forward motions.
Then the doctor asked, “Are you planning on having kids?” What does that have to do with anything? I mean, yeah eventually I will, but I wasn’t dating anyone at the time and felt like the doctor was just adding salt to the wound. I told him, “Some day!” He then proceeded to ask if I wanted to be able to just get up and play with my kids or if I wanted to be playing around and then say, “PAUSE!!! Dad has to put his knee brace on.”
I love planning ahead and thinking about the future. This doctor was bringing up an amazing point that never crossed my mind. I didn’t want to be that dad that couldn’t run around and play with his kids unless he put a knee brace on first. I want to be active and available for my kids and ready to play in a seconds notice. This made my decision easy for surgery.
The recovery was brutal and physical therapy sucked big time, but I remember thinking, “If I can get through this I will have more fun with my kids.” Is that weird? I wasn’t dating anyone, but I was thinking about the future I was going to be having with my children.
Now it’s been just over two years and I’m married with an energetic little nine month old. The knee still hurts at times, but I try to keep active and healthy so that all that pain I went through was worth it. Really everyday I’m grateful for that doctors visit where I had a reality check putting my health into perspective.