Reily Cannon Ms.

Gardner English 10 Honors 2 22 January 2013 Knee Deep in Trouble: an Ailment or a Challenge Gymnastics has always been a part of me, ever since I first grabbed a bar at age nine. It led my life, it was the thing I could always go to at the end of a horrible day and be content. Because it is of such importance, I always would get incrdibly nervous before an important competition, or any meet really. The day of. the first meet of my level five season was no different. I was set up to do exceptionally well. All of my routines were clean and polished and I had all of my skills flawlessly. Little did I know, that day, and one misstep would change my perspective forever. Nervousness enveloped my whole body, my feet began to sweat, my hands to shake and my heart to beat faster than it ever had before, while waiting at the end of the runway. As the judge raised the red flag to salute me I felt as if I began to wonder to myself why we had to start on my worst event-- vault. Nonetheless I raised my arms to salute and thought to myself, Power, think speed, run all the way through the board. I lurched forward, taking step after step, faster and faster, as the ground raced under my feet. Then I began to put my left foot in front and hurdle when my leg was shocked by pain. An undescribable flash of agony ran from the bottom of my kneecap to the top of my thigh as I traveled over the vaulting horse and landed, saluting with the best of my ability to not burst into tears. I limped off the mat and into my coaches who were standing adjacent to the judges table. Are you all right? they exclaimed almost in unison. Um, Im not so sure, I replied, my knee feels like it got bent backward. Yes, it looked like you hyperextended it, Eileen, the head vaulting coach replied, Do you

think you can still do your second vault? I will try, I murmered and hobbled down the runway swallowing tears. The rest of the meet summed up reasonably. My team and I won the first place team banner and I, individually, won bars and beam. I completed my floor routine even though my knee throbbed throughout the entire 1 minute 29 second routine. As my family and I exited the facility, my coaches gave me a big hug and told me to rest and ice my knee for the rest of the weekend, just as anyone would do with any old injury. I smiled and said, Im sure it will be fine by Monday! as I limped toward the car. Then we drove home. The next Wednesday, after a trying few days of one-legged gymnastics, my mom and I walked into the Santa Rosa Sports Medicine building a few blocks from my house. We had come to see Dr. Affleck. Dr. Aflack? I laughedlike the duck on those commercials we see all the time? No, my mom scolded, Affleck, I would not joke about that in there when he is dealing with your knee. I know, I grumbled as I walked into the building, nervous to discover the verdict. Soon after we checked in to the front desk, I was called back into the examination room. Dr. Affleck, a tall man of about 45 with greying brown hair, welcomed me and began to examine my knee. He poked and prodded around the knee cap pushing it up and down, asking, Does this hurt? What about this? with every motion. After examining, he said, Well the good thing is, it is definately not an ACL tear or a torn meniscus, he replied, however I will need to take some x-rays to eliminate more possibilities. With his word, I followed him into the radiology section of the building. After the absense of light flooded the room with darkness and a few alien-like noises came out of the small-rectangular machine rested on my knee, I was escorted back into the original examining room. Dr. Affleck projected my x-rays onto the screen in front of me, and I was immersed into a gigantic picture of three bones in a line, next to the picture of mine, two longer thinner bones in a line, with the smaller circular one adjusted to the side an inch or so.

The x-rays show that your knee caps are out of alignment, we have to options to fix this, option A: we can order you a brace to stabilize it and hopefully with strengthening and stabilizing the muscles around it, we can put it back on track or we can take option B: surgery. I can give you a document listing the consequences and the rewards of both options and we can meet again next week with a final decision, Dr. Affleck explained as he held open the door and motioned for my mom and I to leave. As I went home that night I couldnt help but think How is this going to affect me, will I ever be able to do gymnastics the same way again? Or even at all? The knee is one of the largest and most complex joints in the body. This is not at all hard to believe given it is one of the most commonly injured joints as well. Ever since that sunny afternoon in Rancho Cordova when I hyperextended my knee for the first time, I have experienced this phenomenon first hand. My knees for me have served as a symbol of perseverance and overcoming the impossible. Ever since the beginning of time, knees have symbolized a humbling act or a lowering of status. When you humble yourself to God or a king, you are supposed to get down on your knees to honor them. In my experience, my knees have atttempted to force me to do that very thing: to be a servant, to not be able to accomplish all I was made to do. However, I view them as a simple road block, a mountain that needs to be climbed. Currently, at age 16, I have arthritis and bursitis in my knee; I have hyperextended it over 15 times, have torn my meniscus, and often have to deal with an inflamed plica. Although it has caused me many troubles with competing in gymnastics, and I am constantly inconvenienced by using an entire roll of tape a month, icing at least three times a day, and wearing a monstrous beast of a brace on my knee 20 hours a week; it has taught me determination and drive. Whether it is a valuable quality or not, I am incredibly stubborn: when someone tells me I am incapable of something, I make it my mission to prove to them I am capable of it.

Knees are typically used in expressions regarding barriers, such as being knee-deep in trouble. Society considers knees to be the weakest part of the body, yet it is also the part that allows your body to move. Without a knee, there would be much less pain, but there would also be much less adventure. My knee has served as my constant enemy, even with all the coping techniques I use and have been introduced to, there are still some limits. For instance, I never can withstand a full vault workout without pain, and I will never be able to punch the floor as hard as others--no matter how hard I train, no matter how many capsules of painkillers I consume. Whenever I get up after sitting for over an hour, I limp. Every few weeks or so, I will be walking and then collapse because my knee gave out. Although my knee is my greatest enemy, it has shaped who I am; it is my challenge; it is my drive; it is my determination. With every reason to fail, why not surprise the world; why not take on that challenge?