Episode 53 | One Whole Year

What is up ACL athletes, and welcome back to another episode on the ACL Athlete Podcast. Today is episode number 53. Yep, 53. We have been at this for 53 straight weeks back to back, talking about all the things related to ACLs. And you might be wondering, when is this guy ever going to tire out from talking about ACLs? And the answer is never.

Because I love this stuff and you guys are here, so I got to show up every week and I love it. And so you might be wondering why is the title “One Whole Year.” Well, this is a year in review for the ACL Athlete podcast. And before we dive into it, I think it’s ACL athlete fashion that there is a dump truck outside doing a lot of construction backing up. If you hear the beeping, you guys know the drill. Also, I feel like I have sounded like I’ve been smoking a pack of cigarettes a day because I’ve been so congested. But I mean, who isn’t really? But anyways, I digress. Let’s move on to this year’s reflection. This is going to be a deeper reflection on this past year.

How about, let’s take a trip down memory lane with me, if you will. The first episode of this podcast was released on February 4th, 2021. So that is literally tomorrow. Today is February 3rd, and so that will be tomorrow. And it’s crazy to think it has been an entire year and 53 weeks since then. It’s so funny because I remember recording the intro and how many times it took to record, even my first podcast. I was so nervous and there was no one else on the other side. It was just me and my kitchen in this awesome studio that we have, which is just my kitchen table. It took like a thousand tries to get it right. It doesn’t really help that I could be a perfectionist at times, but I wanted to make sure I nailed it down right for all of you and just to see how it would turn out.

I had no idea what I was doing or even if I was doing the right things. I still don’t know for sure if I’m doing everything right. But hey, we continue on. I thought that no one would really listen to this podcast. If anything, it’s an opportunity to just kind of talk through some of the things that I love to and geek out on ACLs. And then I got a notification for the first hundred downloads. So then I immediately thanked my wife, Abigail, for downloading it a hundred times. I was like, surely there’s no way that someone has downloaded this podcast under times except for my wife. 

And then I got my first message about the podcast via social media, and it was from Margot, and I’ll read a little bit of it to you. She was a volleyball player and had been for seven years, and then she did a pickup game and she tore her ACL. I’ve been waiting three months for surgery because of Covid pushback for elective surgeries. This whole experience has been such a weird, depressing limbo, and I feel a lot of grief. Volleyball makes me feel whole and understanding that I wouldn’t be active for a year really destroyed me.

It’s weird because there’s so many worse health problems to have. I feel guilty for being so upset. But I think this feeling of dread is very real for athletes, especially while we are isolated in quarantine and not seeing a PT to encourage us each week. Until I found your podcast, I have never heard someone acknowledge the emotional aspect of this injury. No one ever talks about it. You made me feel really understood and helped me realize how much this experience will help me grow as an athlete and as a person. I just wanted to thank you and let you know that your podcast has really helped me out of a dark mindset.

Whew, about to start crying on you guys. Margot, if you’re listening, thank you for my first message, it meant so much to me. And for everyone out there, just so you know, I save every single one of these messages that I get, whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, email, or whatever it is, I save every single one. If you’ve sent me one, I have it saved because it really means a lot to me. Now, before I actually start shedding a tear, let’s talk about some statistics of what’s happened, and here’s what we have accomplished. Yes, I say we because I really wouldn’t be here without your support and you guys listening. I’m going to say we, this is what we have accomplished. We have published 53 episodes, including today’s, 18,000-plus downloads. And here’s what’s really cool. It gives you a breakdown of locations and countries and different cities. It has been downloaded in 88 different countries and 1,600-plus different cities.

Someone from Seychelles listened to it. I didn’t even know where this was. I didn’t know it existed. Had to look it up. It’s an archipelago, which is a group of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean off of East Africa. What? Really? Someone was like, “Hey, I’m on this island. I’m going to listen to this stuff about ACL.” And that’s just so crazy to me. Technology is really cool, y’all. It’s really cool. And what means the most to me is when I get messages like Margot helping ACL athletes in dark times or navigating the surgical process, or how this has helped a husband or wife, parent, coach, teammate, or healthcare professional to help support their ACL athletes. It means the world to me. And that’s why this podcast exists. This episode is a reflection on this and where we have been together, as well as a hat tip to all of you. Thank you so much. 

My goal is to bring you information, perspectives, education, evidence, science, and just pure value, to help you or the people you know who need this to help navigate the ACL process, from one ACL athlete to another. We can together revolutionize this space so you can get the best care and be confident and in control of your ACL process. Not leaving it up to chance or to luck or hope it works out. It’s like, no, you have the education and the knowledge to be able to know this is what you need to do to navigate this process. And that is the goal with this. I am fired up and I am relentless in this pursuit to make sure that you are equipped with this and we’re just getting started.

As a thank you to all of you ACL Athletes, we are doing a merch/t-shirt giveaway. Your own ACL athlete t-shirt. Send me a message or email of how this podcast has helped you or helped someone that you know. This can be via Instagram at ravipatel.dpt. You can email me at ravi@theaclathelete.com. You can send me mail, you can send me a carrier pigeon. I don’t really care. Send me a message. I would love to hear from you, and if you send me a message, then you’ll be entered to win a T-shirt or any other merchandise that we decide to give away. It depends on how many of you guys decide to enter. The info of all of this is in the show notes.

I just want to hear from you guys and see how this has impacted you directly. And I will pick one, maybe two, maybe three people to send a shirt and some cool merch to. I want to hear from you. The deadline will be next Thursday, February 10th, so get those in.

And in the meantime, thank you so much. Year one was incredible. Your messages meant so much. We have accomplished so much together. Now, we look at year two and what’s ahead, and there’s so much more in store, and I am so excited to share with you guys. So that’ll be it for today. I’m going to go before I get all emotional on you all.

Thank you all so much for listening. This is your host, Ravi Patel, signing off.