When I went into the hospital today, the doctor finally gave me the magical words I was looking for, “you’re cleared.” Finally! After 8 months and 1 week of intense rehabbing on my ACL, I’m cleared to return to my sport without any restrictions! Obviously I’m not completely out of the woods just yet and I’ll continue with my rehab, but hearing those words was such a relief.

Looking back, I think that the most difficult period was not being able to walk and always having to use my crutches to get around. Going up and down steps was definitely scary, as was going to the bathroom. That was also the period when all I could do in rehab were quad tighteners and straight leg raises but it’s crazy to think how far I’ve come. Now I’m jumping off of things, doing single leg exercises, and running. I definitely need to thank a bunch of people, especially the PTs that worked with me while I was in Japan and my PT here in the US, Melissa. Thanks also to all the people that gave me a ton of encouragement during this process. This is definitely only the beginning but I feel like I’ve jumped over at least one hurdle (literally)!