Ashlyn Buchholz remembers every detail of her injury.
“I was playing defense, and then I was trying to change direction. It planted and didn’t go the right way with me,” Buchholz said. “I remember, because the play kept going on. The refs didn’t stop what was happening. So I was like yelling at people to stop it because I knew it was a bad injury.”
The Bismarck Century graduate tore the ACL and meniscus in her right knee during the middle of her junior year basketball season. The injury was tough to take.
“I did feel the pop and then I was laying there for a while. My parents came down and coaches, and I remember saying, ‘I’m out for the rest of the season.’”
Losing a full season
Buchholz would have reconstructive surgery on her knee. ACL injuries take a minimum of nine months to recover from, often longer. She would miss her entire junior track season, and the start of basketball in her senior year as well.
“I was just really worried that this was going to be my last season,” Buchholz said. “It was not what I wanted to hear and have happen, so that was definitely hard.”
Her surgery was done by Anthony Kasch, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at Sanford Health in Bismarck. Dr. Kasch works on injured athletes all the time, but he says it never gets easier to tell them how long they’ll be out of action.
“In general I’d say ACL tears are quite devastating for the patients,” said Dr. Kasch. “They basically shut down whatever sport you’re in. That’s really hard for a lot of these kids, especially in high school and college age. It really shuts them down for a year or so, and I think that it takes a toll on them both mentally and physically.”
A full recovery
Dr. Kasch reconstructed Buchholz’s ACL using part of her quadriceps tendon. Then he stayed in contact with Sanford Sports during her rehab to make sure she was on the right track. With any knee surgery patient though, Dr. Kasch feels that his own personal health history makes him a better, more empathetic doctor.
“When I was in college, I injured my knee and I had an orthopedic surgeon that got me in right away, got me taken care of and got me back to football at the time,” said Dr. Kasch. “After that I just knew that’s exactly what I wanted to do long term.”
He says being able to relate helps the patients trust him even more, too.
Photo courtesy of Ashlyn Buchholz
“It makes it easier to talk to somebody and relate to them about it. A majority of my patients are athletes that are under the age of about 25. So it really does affect them quite a bit. And I think it’s always good to have gone through it yourself and be able to talk to somebody in that way,” Dr. Kasch said.
Buchholz gives Dr. Kasch rave reviews as well, including some personal referrals.
“I’ve known other people that play basketball that have torn their ACLs and they asked me who I went through, and I have recommended him because he did such a great job,” Buchholz said.
One year after her injury, Ashlyn Buchholz was back on the court. Her team advanced to the state title game. Then in the spring, she qualified for state track as well. It was a long, difficult recovery. But with hard work, and some help from Dr. Kasch, Buchholz finished her senior year at full strength.
Learn more
- Understanding and treating ACL injuries
- Athlete bounces back from torn ACL with help from Sanford
- ACL injury is focus of Fargo researchers
…
Posted In Bismarck, Orthopedics, Sanford Sports
