High school senior Sienna Alexander was looking forward to making her mark during her spring soccer season as she finished out her time at Grapevine High School. A strong showing would lead to continued success for Sienna on the field in college.

The starting goalkeeper had played just about every sport at one time or another, but she found her true love in soccer. It was a sport that required her to be quick on her feet and on top of her game at all times. Sienna was known for having an answer for just about every ball that came her direction, and she was excited to get another season underway. Then the unthinkable happened.

“During practice, I got my feet set, took a right turn and my knee didn’t turn with the rest of my body,” Sienna recalls. “I fell and heard a pop.”

At first, it didn’t seem like there was any real issue and the pain was minimal. Sienna was able to finish the practice and, being the competitor that she is, even played in several games without much trouble. She did some light rehab with the school’s therapy staff, but it soon became apparent that all wasn’t right with Sienna’s left knee.

“Her knee was swollen, almost unrecognizably,” explains her mom, Calah Alexander. “She was in a lot of pain; she was having buckling and instability. She kept saying that it felt like her knee was sliding out of place.”

At that point, the Alexanders knew it was time to see a specialist. They sought the help of orthopedic surgeon Travis Frantz, M.D., at Texas Health Orthopedic Specialists, a Texas Health Physicians Group practice in Bedford. Frantz specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of sports-related knee injuries and other orthopedic trauma, as well as conditions brought on by arthritis.

“Her knee would feel as if it was loose or giving out on her,” Frantz says. “She couldn’t perform and play at the high level she expected of herself. It was slowing her down.”

A thorough exam and MRI revealed the problem: Sienna had completely torn her ACL and partially torn her meniscus. The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, runs across the front of the knee joint and provides rotational stability to the knee. The meniscus acts as a shock absorber for the knee, helping to cushion and also stabilize the knee joint.

The Way Forward

After getting over the initial shock of the news, Sienna was determined to get back on the field. Although her senior year of soccer had come to an abrupt ending, she knew she wanted to play soccer at the collegiate level — but her future game plan was now uncertain.

Based on what she wanted to accomplish down the road, Frantz recommended that the 18-year-old undergo ACL reconstruction surgery with a meniscus repair. He wouldn’t know exactly what he was dealing with in terms of the damage to Sienna’s meniscus until he could visualize her knee.

During the outpatient, largely arthroscopic procedure, Frantz was able to see inside Sienna’s knee joint to treat the problems. It turned out the meniscus damage was minimal, and Sienna’s torn ACL was replaced with a section of the patellar tendon in her own knee. The patellar tendon is a thick band of tissue that connects the kneecap to the shinbone.

With surgery behind her, Sienna could now begin the journey back to better health. “ACL reconstruction is a long recovery,” Frantz admits. “She is working her way through that recovery and doing exceptionally well.”

Just one week after surgery, Sienna began her rehabilitation. Three days a week for the first three months she worked on jumping techniques and some lateral motions to regain stability and tighten her knee. Six months later, her range of motion and strength were greatly restored, and she was back to light playing.

Now entering college on scholarship, Sienna is working with trainers on her sports-specific rehab and getting her dream of being a college soccer goalie back on track.

“I definitely recommend Dr. Frantz and Texas Health Orthopedic Specialists,” the young athlete says. “He just told me straight up what it was, what was going to happen, what needed to happen.”

“They are incredibly talented and incredibly compassionate, but straight shooters — no nonsense,” Calah adds.

To find a sports medicine or orthopedic specialist near you, visit TexasHealth.org.

Providers employed by Texas Health Physicians Group are not employees or agents of Texas Health Resources hospitals. © 2024 Texas Health Resources.