In this regard, consider the case of John Grant. The 2008 MVP of Major League Lacrosse, Grant underwent an ACL replacement four years ago. In August of this year, Grant developed an infection in his elbow. The infection migrated to the ACL, and doctors had to remove the ACL and the screws that were holding it in place.
“When I had knee surgery in 2004, I received a cadaver’s ACL instead of a part from my own body,” Grant said. “I’m no doctor, but I was told that when the elbow infection spread, it attacked the weakest part of my body — the dead tissue in my knee.”
Due to the infection, Grant will have to wait as little as four months and as long as a year to receive a new ACL. Thereafter, he’ll go through the lengthy rehab period following ACL replacement.
Though Grant’s case represents an extreme outcome, the fact that Brady already has needed surgery to clean out an infection in the vicinity of the new ACL puts him on the slippery slope that could ultimately require a new ACL, if the ongoing efforts to remove the infection from his body aren’t successful.