And when I asked for a second opinion, he said . . .

So . . . three weeks ago (the 17th), I was playing soccer in my usual competitive Tuesday night game. We were ahead by a couple of goals, but we've lost in this circumstance too many times before to take things easy. One of their strikers beats one of our defenders, so I slid over to pick him up. We both chased the ball at full speed, except (lucky me!) I got there first. He crashed straight into me - knee to knee - and I went down like a ton of bricks. I (literally) dragged myself off the pitch (because I couldn't bend my knee). As the sensation slowly came back, I decided to ice it down and apply a little medicinal alcohol. I called the local orthopedist the next morning, but he can't see me until the following Monday (the 23rd). Instead, I checked into the hospital for xrays (nothing's broken). Almost a week later, the orthopedist looks at me for all of about 5 minutes, tells me the medical equivalent of "somethin's hittin' somethin"' and sends me for an MRI. I immediately call for an appointment from the parking lot, but of course I need a precertification from the HMO, which doesn't come through for another 4 days (the 24th, aka the Friday of Memorial Day). I immediately call the radiologist, but there's no time available for an entire week (June 3rd). I get my MRI, and now I have to wait until the following Wednesday (the 8th) to go back to see the orthopedist (fortunately, I was smart enough to make the appointment before having the MRI). So it takes almost a month for me to find out that I have a "grade III peripheral tear in the posterior horn of the medial meniscus associated with complete anterior cruciate ligament tear, grade I mcl sprain, tibial plateau bone bruise and large joint effusion" - aka, a torn acl. But I'm not going in for surgery until after this year's regatta is over. After all, first things first!