When I was a cheerleader in high school, I tore my ACL away from the bone. It was reattached in a 2 hour surgery, then against the better advice of my orthopedic surgeon (who at that time was LSU's ortho guy--operated on Andolsek and Harvey Williams), I returned to cheerleading three months later (he told me to take a year off). Less than six months after my surgery, I reinjured my knee in a completely unrelated accident (cheerleading again). That time I ripped my ACL in half and tore every last piece of cartilege in my knee (it ultimately had to be removed). I'm waiting until my baby is two, then I want to have a knee replacement. The second injury (ripping the ACL in half) was more painful than the first injury (ripping it away from the bone). But the first one didn't exactly feel good! Surgery was the most painful--until childbirth at least...
