When I was in sixth grade I was on every school team and a very athletic kid. I played anything from soccer to golf and enjoyed them all. My coaches loved me and they all would tell me that I had lots of potential.

It was about a month into the school year and the soccer season was almost over. I was started to feel pains in my right leg and didn’t know what it was. I was telling my mom and dad but they just told me that I needed to ice it and take some Advil. A couple of weeks went by and the pain was growing in my right knee. We went to the doctor and he took some X-rays. He saw an area that looked like it shouldn’t. We got an MRI and when viewed by the doctor he told me I had Osteochondritos Deccecans syndrome. It was a congenital bone disease. By definition Osteochondritis Deccecans is a painful condition within a joint of the body in humans in which fragments of cartilage or bone have become loose within a joint, leading to pain and inflammation. These fragments are sometimes referred to as "joint mice" due to a squeaking sound sometimes resulting from the joint. Specifically, OCD is a type of osteochondrosis in which a lesion has formed within the cartilage layer itself, giving rise to secondary inflammation. It has a complex etiology, and can be caused by genetic, hormonal, environmental and nutritional factors (www.wikipedia.com). In other words its “softening of the bone”.
He said that it could be fixed by surgery with a brace. Instead of rushing to surgery I tried the brace four eight weeks. Being in a wheel chair was fun for the first week but then it gets really boring. Sitting inside at lunch while everyone is out playing sports is boring and upsetting. I wouldn’t no what to do besides just sit there and watch.

After the eight weeks were up we went to the doctor and got the brace off. After about eight weeks of physical therapy the pains began to come back in the right leg. We went back to the doctor and he said we could cast it again. I told him that I didn’t want to cast it again I just wanted to go straight to the problem. He disagreed so we decided to go get some other doctors opinions. After about twelve other doctors, most of them thought surgery would be the best way to deal with the problem. The doctor that was going to do the surgery was Dr. Crider. He wasn’t truly experienced in the knee area but we felt he understood the problem the most.

Surgery day came and I was nervous. I never had surgery before and I remember always asking my dad the chances of dying. He told me not to worry and that everything would be okay.

The anesthesia was actually fun. They put a gas mask on and I remember hearing funny sounds and seeing funny.

When I woke up I kept falling back asleep. I wanted to wake up but the anesthesia kept putting me back to sleep.


It was back to school after about a week and back to the sitting in at lunch with nothing to do. I pretty much had to deal with it and as time went by I became more and more bored and depressed.

Halfway through the school year, I was able to start walking again. Things seemed fine. I was playing sports and going out during lunch with the other kids.

But as time went by my left knee began to hurt. We went back to Dr. Crider and he said that we would need an MRI of the left knee. As in the right knee I had Osteochondritis Deccecans along with a Plica. By definition a Plica is the synovial tissue most prone to irritation and injury. When the knee is flexed, the plica is exposed to direct trauma, and it may also be injured in overuse syndromes. When the plica becomes irritated and inflamed, the condition called plica syndrome results. We once again had to do surgery. I just wanted these problems to go away.

After the fun anesthesia and the eight weeks back in a wheel chair I was able to walk again. I was up and playing sports. I was on all the teams including Soccer and Tennis and my legs felt great.

Two years had passed and I felt no problems. It was the summer of eighth grade and I was in camp. It was twenty four seven sports and fitness. The pain in my knees were back. I heard clicking noises when bending my knee and it would hurt to bend and straighten my knee.

I knew what it was and I became very angry. It was going to be my first year in high school and I was going to have to spend in crutches and a wheel chair. I didn’t want to sit in at lunch, get bumped around which could re-injur my leg or get called cripple by kids in school. The new doctor named Dr. Watnik said it would probably be best to get home schooled. I was angry that I would miss much of the school year but I was also happy that I could play games and wake up late.

After the MRIs on my knees he saw the Osteochondritis Deccecans in both knees and a plica in the left knee.

After the first surgery it was really painful for the first couple of days, but as time passed I had become interested in the business world. I took about seven hundred dollars out of my bank account and began day trading on Scottrade. I would read all the business books and learn a lot about the business world.

Time flew by and the second surgery was coming up. I was beginning to walk again, and in physical therapy we were working double time so that my right knee would be strong enough to support me after I had surgery on the left.

The surgery was done and the pain returned. I tried not to think about it so much so I would pay attention to the business world a lot. I began to watch channel twenty four a lot and I learned a lot.

As timed went by I found myself back in school and back to waking up at six thirty everyday. I was excited and happy to be with my friends again. Since I was in high school I was able to leave school grounds for lunch and that was something that I had never experienced. I had more freedom and I enjoyed it.

Like my mom would always tell me, “from every bad thing comes something good.” Yes, I have knee problems but I am making money and I have found something I want to pursue for the rest of my life. I am walking again and hopefully the problem will never come back.