I am going to tell you the story of a remarkable recovery from Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) surgery of the right knee. This is the story of how a 44 year old athlete amazed a surgeon with over 25 years experience with the remarkable speed and success of a full recovery.

As you might have guessed I am indeed that 44 year old athlete. It all started in August of 1995. While warming up for a regular training session of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu I caught my foot in the mat and a very loud pop was heard in the next room. My instructor and dear friend, Sergio Monteiro, knew instinctively something was very wrong. I knew from the intense pain in my knee and the fact my right leg was like a noodle.

All the way home during the 50 minute drive I knew something had broken inside my knee. An athlete is usually tuned into their bodies and knows when an injury is a "missed day of training" or something much worse. This was a much worse case scenario.

Fortunately, a good friend was also my personal physician and wife of a prominent orthopedic surgeon. Without much delay I found myself in the waiting room of the surgeon. He had been practicing about 25 years and had an outstanding reputation in our community so I knew I was in good surgical hands.

As I entered the exam room he asked me to squat down and walk across the floor like a duck. Of course as soon as I attempted to squat down my knee collapsed and my butt hit the floor. I then sat up on the exam table and he pulled my knee while in a bent position. Gary, he said your leg is not supposed to move back and forth away from your knee like this. The surgeon announced that no more testing was needed as I had it seemed completely torn my ACL of the right knee.

What is the next step I asked? The surgeon then suggested I give up the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and grappling. His recommendation was to pass on the surgery at my age and take up another sport. Of course this was totally unacceptable and so I asked him to schedule the surgery. He said to expect 18 - 24 months for a complete recovery before I was back 100%. He also warned me that I may not recover full flexibility.

To say I wasn't worried would be an understatement. As I reflected on the upcoming surgery and rehabilitation I knew that I would have a secret weapon. You see I had been studying the effects of visual imagery training on pain control, rehabilitation from surgery, and sports enhancement for years. I asked the surgeon if it was possible for me to get a video tape copy of the surgery. He said that was no problem and in fact he routinely video taped his surgeries.

I also knew from years of working around hospitals that the physical therapy department was more geared toward rehabbing non-athletes. If I was going to be back on the mat in record time I would need to use all my tools. I had the fortune of having a good surgeon who would give me a good working base.

The morning of the surgery I had arranged for Sergio and a training partner to be at the hospital when I came out of recovery. Waiting to be taken back for surgery I began using my relaxation techniques and positive visualizations. The next thing you know I'm waking up and looking into the faces of Sergio and Dr. Susan. After completely coming out of the anesthesia the boys loaded me into a van and we headed home for the remarkable recovery to begin.

As soon as I arrived home the rehabilitation began in earnest. Being able to only move my toes I began flexing them back and forth to stimulate the entire leg. Then the visualization started as I visualized increasing the blood flow around the surgery. Later in the evening I watched the video tape of the surgery. My thinking was that by having an actual visual memory of the surgery I could more accurately and intensely create the necessary images in my mind.

After viewing the tape I began to imagine the stainless steal screws setting themselves firmly in my bones. I imagined blood flowing and healing the surrounding tissue. I imagined the new ACL created from my own patellar tendon coming to life and being refreshed with new blood flow. In some of my more creative moments I even imagined construction crews, scaffolding and all rebuilding the knee stronger and stronger every day.

These visualizations occurred throughout the day everyday and particularly at night before going to sleep. I constantly used the visualizations during my physical rehabilitation. Maybe now is a good time to talk a little about the physical therapy since I opted out of a traditional referral. A sports oriented physical rehabilitation program would have been ideal, but the ones available would not have known what to do with a patient like myself.

Recalling that horses are rehabbed in a swimming pool that is where I started since there was a large pool in my own backyard. Sergio refused to resume any Jiu Jitsu training for one month. So the first month was constant sessions of stretching, walking in the pool and the visualizations. The imagining now included visualizing myself doing exercises with the recovery leg and even going through Jiu Jitsu moves with my leg. These visualizations were in full color, with sound, smell, and feel. I used all my sense modalities to make the visualizations as real as possible.

When I returned to the surgeon for my 2 week follow up visit he had a worried and puzzled look on his face. He turned to me and said, "they wrote down the wrong date of surgery in your chart". I asked the date recorded and assured him this was correct. His next question was "where are your crutches?" I told him I had only used them for a couple of days. He then began to question me about my rehab program and continued to comment on the speed of my recovery. When I got around to explaining about the visualization work a look of puzzlement came across his face. At that point his comment was "Gary, it's in your knee not your head!"

Of course I continued with my visualization and physical therapy workouts. At the end of 30 days Sergio comes back to my house not really knowing how we could resume training so soon after major surgery. I told him my plan of keeping my body stimulated so the repair work on my knee would move at a much faster rate. I knew from all my research that visualization training during rehabilitation could significantly reduce the down time and result in a more positive recovery.

When Sergio came over we worked on positions from the ground. In this way I could immobilize my leg on the floor or on Sergio's hip. My thinking was that by continuing some form of training it would awaken the natural healing powers of the body. The body is programmed to recover from injury to return us to the primitive tasks of hunting and gathering.

Within a couple of months I was doing light workouts on the mats. Within 6 months I was going 80-90%. At 9 months I was going pretty much 100% and by a year, at full contact speed. The surgeon said this was the speediest and most complete recovery he had seen in 25 years. The fact that I had excellent flexibility also seemed to astound my dear surgeon.

I tell you this story to illustrate the phenomenal powers of visual imagery training. Even though I had long studied visual imagery training for rehab and sports performance enhancement this personal experience even amazed me. I'm not saying that visual imagery training is a miracle cure, there is nothing magical about visualization training, but there is absolutely no doubt that it can give you a tremendous edge in your own rehabilitation from injury.

A real bonus is that you can continue using the same visualization training, with only minor modifications, to enhance you athletic performance.

When it comes to using visual imagery training to improve your sports performance the effects are even more immediate and powerful. One of the really great things about these techniques is that about 95% of the population can learn to use them with good results. Age is no barrier in that you can learn these techniques at any age. In fact, children and teens sometimes have the easiest time mastering the techniques. Most athletes can gain a good mastery of the techniques in just a few weeks of practice. Once you learn the basics, you are limited only by your creativity and willingness to practice.