In January 2024, I tore my ACL while skiing. I had surgery the following April in Watertown, NY, in which I received a cadaver graft for my ACL. My recovery from surgery was rough. My surgeon continuously ignored my concerns and even cleared me from her care at 6 months post-op, despite continuous pain, swelling, and a lack of progression in physical therapy.

So I took matters into my own hands and got myself an MRI, which showed my graft was torn. After being turned down for second opinions from multiple other doctors in the area, I decided to make the trip back to Ohio to see the surgeon who performed my first surgery in college. He immediately knew my body was rejecting the graft. Within a few weeks, I was having the graft removed and my tibial anchor points filled with bone graft.

The next step includes my third ACL reconstruction using the patella tendon from my right knee in August. To put a wrench in this treatment plan, the Army sent us to Germany in May. I trust my surgeon in Ohio implicitly, so we’ve decided to take on the cost of an expensive transatlantic flight to ensure I receive the best care possible.

While the Army paid for our move to Germany, there have still been many out-of-pocket costs that the Army hasn’t covered that have added up (especially living off of only Steven’s salary for so long now), making the timing of this less than ideal.

Additionally, I have been paying for my physical therapy out of pocket in order to have an ACL specialist to ensure high-quality rehab that I was not initially receiving. This is not cheap, and I’ll now be paying for this for another year to give me the best chances of regaining my the highest level of functioning possible in my knee. 

This knee saga has been an absolute debacle for me, and has taken its toll physically, mentally, and emotionally. While I know we will make these costs work no matter what, I would be lying if I said it doesn’t stress me out. Ultimately, my priority is returning my knee to the point in which I can go back to the active lifestyle I love, and I truly appreciate any help offered to get there.