Mending broken things is totally in right now. Since walking through the doors of Vail Valley Clinic a little over a week ago, I either rehabbed next to, talked with, or slapped hands with probably half of the my friends from the race world. The Steadman Clinic is the collision repair shop of elite skiers, and right now things are booked solid. Resi Steigler, Chelsea Marshall, Colby Grandstrom, Andrew Weibrecht, Tommy Biesemeyer, Nolan Kasper, Robby Kelley, Keith Moffat were all on hand to either have something repaired or to discus something in the near future. Even the therapists at Howard Head were surprised, I don't think any of them will have their kids ski race.
My surgery went as well as it could. In post-op Dr. Millett told me that he wanted to fit everything into one surgery, but it just wasn't possible. The tunnels made by the anchor points of the old ACL were too wide (a new ACL graph is smaller than a healthy one) and the re-(re-)tear rate would be too high to put one in now or drill new tunnels. He was however able to repair the MCL, perform a micro-fracture on the tibia plateau, remove two loose pieces of tibia found above the knee cap, flap back down a big piece of meniscus and sew it up, remove the torn ACL, take out the old screws and bone graph the tunnels (re: fill them up with bone dust and seal off), so it's not like he wasn't busy.
The timetable for the next surgery is somewhere between 2 and a couple more months, I can't even say the number. The good news is however that it'll just be an ACL. Doctors refer to that like changing a tire, and it should be a much more involved recovery since right now I'm severely limited to range of motion (0-90 degrees) and on crutches (4-6 weeks). The ACL likes active rehab, so that will be lots of fun (can't wait!). For now, I was able to move into the guest bedroom of Team Leever HQ where my parents also just crashed at for the weekend to watch Kieffer at US Nationals and help me out.
On Sunday I got asked to announce with Peter Graves for the US Nationals men's gs. It was a blast. We really found our rhythm in the second run and had a great time calling Robby Kelley into the finish for his first national championship. For those keeping score, Robby Kelley was listed above as well. The day after he won he went under the knife, talk about good timing! After the race I got a text from someone that read: Christianson/Nickerson 2014 Olympic commentators, haha. Only if we're doing it while racing, move over Doug Lewis and Steve Porino!
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| The man, the myth, Peter Graves and I before the second run |
The day was truly awesome when Peggy Smith and Peter Nelson, parents of the late Spencer Nelson, honored me with the Spencer Nelson Memorial Award, given to an athlete who has persevered through adversity. They presented me with my long lost belt buckle from my victory at Eldora in January! I was honored to be recognized, and even more psyched that the gold medal belt buckle had returned to it's rightful owner.
Finally, I wanted to say thank you to all the support that I have gotten since this accident. People have been amazing and it's been really helpful to hear from so many. Looking forward to some good news ahead, time to get some Vitamin D!
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| Spencer Nelson Memorial Award, with Peggy Smith and Peter Nelson |
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| This is what it looks like from inside the booth during second run when 10th place is on course... |
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| And this is what it looks like during the second run when the leader is on course: "Ladies and gentlemen if you love America then you need to cheer for Robby Kelley! He can here you!!!" |
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| Found the Kranjska Gora photo of me from the SR interview. One of the best this season, and good to see a healthy version of myself! |
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