Lindsey Vonn's recovery from Olympic crash includes yet another surgery - USA Today

Lindsey Vonn still hasn’t decided whether she wants to race again. Her priority right now is getting all the metal out of her leg.

Vonn will have another surgery in November to remove the plates and hardware needed to repair her left leg after a horrific crash in the Olympic downhill, and to fix her torn ACL from an earlier accident. Then will come another long recovery.

Only after that will she decide what her future in skiing looks like.

“You'll always find me on a mountain. In one way or another, I'll be out there. I don't know when that'll be … (and) I don't know what speed I'll be going,” Vonn told USA TODAY Sports.

“There's a lot of unanswered questions that I have in my mind and I'm still trying to process everything,” she added. “I don't want to close the door on racing. I think I have to be 100%, and I want to get back on the mountain before I can make that judgment.”

Vonn spoke to USA TODAY Sports to promote her partnership with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, maker of Journavx, a non-opioid painkiller.

Vonn is no stranger to injuries, the nature of a sport where skiers can go upwards of 80 mph. But her Feb. 8 crash at the Milano Cortina Olympics was different. Vonn suffered a compound fracture and tibial plateau fracture in her left leg, as well as a broken right ankle. She also needed a fasciotomy to save her left leg after developing compartment syndrome.

The pain was severe, but Vonn has never liked taking opioids. Her body doesn’t tolerate them well, and it’s well known how highly addictive they are. So she asked Dr. Tom Hackett, her longtime orthopedic surgeon, if there were any alternatives.

“That’s where Journavx came into play,” Vonn said. “For me, it worked well. Obviously everyone has to talk to their doctor and find out what's best for them. But for me, Journavx was an option that was able to manage my pain without opioid use.

“There was so many side effects for me (with opioids) that it was really difficult to manage the pain in a way where I feel like I could function and think clearly. And I didn't have the same problems with Journavx,” she added. “I was able to manage the pain with it without the side effects.”

Vonn was walking with crutches within two months of the crash, and was able to walk the red carpet on her own at the Met Gala on May 4.

“I definitely needed some help up the Met Gala steps!” she said.

Now Vonn has recovered enough that she's able to bike and play tennis again.

“It felt so good,” she said of being back on the court. “I was definitely nervous. I still don't have an ACL, so I'm trying to listen to my doctors if possible. It's always a negotiation with my activity level, but I felt really good.

“I haven't had pain in quite a long time, which has been super nice. I felt like I just was happy to move, to be outside, to be active. And even though I was tentative, it was a good first step. So it made me happy.”

Which makes this next surgery tough.

Vonn knows it has to be done. She needs to have her ACL repaired, and she can’t spend the rest of her life with a hardware store's worth of metal in her leg. But she's worked so hard in her rehab to get to the point where she can do regular activities again, and now she's going to have to start over.

“It's easier to process when you have an injury and you know you have to have an immediate surgery as opposed to, 'I haven't had a surgery in months. I feel really good. Why am I having a surgery now?'" Vonn said. "But if I'm looking at my long-term health, which is of course my main priority, I need an ACL and I definitely don't want to keep all of these plates in my leg forever.

"So I kind of just want to get those out as soon as possible and start this next chapter."

Wherever, and at whatever speed, it takes her.