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Published on: 30-Jun-2022

Alyssa grew up in the Midwest as an extremely active girl who enjoyed playing sports. By the time she was fifteen years old, she underwent her first knee surgery. She initially tore her ACL and meniscus while playing indoor soccer. After rehabilitation and recovery, she returned to finish her high school sports career successfully.

Fast forward a few years to late 2017, she tweaked her knee again while working out only to find out she retore her ACL and meniscus. After her second surgery (an autograft and trimming), she was never able to fully recover and was in constant pain. Unfortunately, neither the doctors nor physical therapists knew how to help. She tried everything under the sun to alleviate the pain but, being so young and normally active, she found her mental state was declining.

She was not able to work out, ski, hike, or hangout with friends for long periods of time all because the pain was constant. “It is extremely frustrating and makes you question ‘why me’”, explains Alyssa. “I think a lot of people overlook the mental pain that comes from a physical injury, more specifically a chronic one, and, in my opinion, that is the hardest part of recovery.”

After a year of pain and constant self-advocating, she transferred hospitals to Mayo Clinic and sought consul from another orthopedic surgeon. He told her that her ACL was not working and that the meniscus was torn to the point that it was irreparable.

For Alyssa’s full story, and other similar success stories, please visit https://jrfortho.org/patient-stories.


The leader in allograft joint restoration>>JRF Ortho