The refusal to give up is often what separates people from realizing or not realizing their dreams and enjoying the success they desire in life. I don’t usually share personal stories, but I will in this case. In my mid-50’s I ruptured the ACL in my left knee but didn’t seek medical treatment right away and I kept up my active lifestyle of jogging and bicycling. It’s no surprise that the pain and functionality of my knee continued to deteriorate but I nonetheless decided to add playing baseball to my activities. It was clear I needed to do something with my knee so I began seeking medical treatments to repair my knee so I could continue my active lifestyle.
I met with at least five orthopedic surgeons who all gave me the same options. They all pretty much said some form of ‘you’re too old to repair your knee and you’re too young to replace your knee’. They told me to stop doing anything that caused pain and wait until I got older to do a full knee replacement. Stop jogging, stop playing baseball, stop hiking and anything else that caused pain. Even worse, they all told me I shouldn’t plan on jogging or playing baseball after a total knee replacement. It wasn’t acceptable to me that before I even turned 60 years old that I would have to give up many of the activities that I loved doing. I didn’t’ give up. I kept searching for a surgeon that had the skill and the desire to help even athletes in their late 50’s to return to a healthy, active lifestyle. On January 7th of 2020, I had two major operations on my left knee. I had my ACL reconstructed and a partial knee replacement, putting titanium plates where my cartilage used to be. The surgery was the easy part and was over in about 4-5 hours. As anyone who has ever had major knee surgery knows, the hard part is the physical therapy that follows the surgery. After six months of diligently following my rehabilitation plan, which included 2-3 hours a day of activities, I jogged/walked four miles on July 4th and I returned to playing baseball on July 11th. On July 18th, I returned to playing catcher with my surgically repaired knee. The surgeon that performed the surgery shared the same goal that I had, to return to full activities ‘fitter, faster and stronger’ than before the surgery. The main reason this return to a full and active lifestyle happened is because I didn’t give up after talking to the first five or six surgeons who told me my playing days were over. So, when you’re struggling to reach the success you desire, remember the most famous line from the most famous speech given by Winston Churchill, “…never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”
