American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

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and shaved the meniscus. Somewhere along the way they also repaired
an ACL.
I was like a racing car, being repaired from the ground up.
When they were done, they sent me to see Jason, a physical therapist
who specializes in working with SEALs. He’d been a trainer for
the Pittsburgh Pirates. After 9/11, he decided to devote himself to
helping the country. He chose to do that by working with the military.
He took a massive pay cut to help put us back together.
I didn’t know all that the first day we met. All I wanted to hear was
how long it was going to take to rehab.
He gave me a pensive look.
“This surgery—civilians need a year to get back,” he said finally.
“Football players, they’re out eight months. SEALs—it’s hard to say.
You hate being out of action and will punish yourselves to get back.”
He finally predicted six months. I think we did it in five. But I
thought I would surely die along the way.
Jason put me into a machine that would stretch my knee. Every day I
had to see how much further I could adjust it. I would sweat up a
storm as it bent my knee. I finally got it to ninety degrees.
“That’s outstanding,” he told me. “Now get more.”
“More”
“More!”
He also had a machine that sent a shock to my muscle through
electrodes. Depending on the muscle, I would have to stretch and
point my toes up and down. It doesn’t sound like much, but it is clearly