How To Heal an Injury and Your Mind (Part 1)
How to Heal an Injury
As you read in the intro, I am no stranger to injury. In Part One, I am going to share my personal experiences with injury and their impact on my well-being. I really hope this is a relatable blog post that can validate other athletes’ experiences with injury, pain, and having to force your body to heal instead of you'r preferred mode of running amuck in the gym.
As a grade school kid, I had excruciating foot pain. I could hardly walk or run without a stabbing pain in my heel. Later, I would come to find out, I had plantar fasciitis and had to wear a walking boot and do physical therapy (PT), which was SO uncomfortable. They had to place needles in my heel with an electrical current…would not recommend. I still remember that pain.
In high school, I suffered an injury (fractured patella) during volleyball practice, ending my junior year season (full length cast and PT to follow for months). This was especially terrifying as I feared I would never be able to play competitive volleyball again. It was here that I began re-evaluating what college could look like for me. Luckily, I healed and got back to it.
But then, (I really am so frustrated writing this) in college, I tore both labrums in my hips, had bilateral cam impingements, and a bunch of other orthopedic problems that led to my first hip surgery that required no weight bearing for THREE months (I was bed ridden) and then PT for 3-4 months on top of that. I even had to relearn to walk – it was humbling and brutal. And as if life wasn’t hard enough, I had a terrible eye injury where a shard of plastic went through my eye AND I accidentally chopped my finger in half cutting an apple (I know I know, who has a voodoo doll of me)?
Post Stitches
Getting my finger back!
At this point, I knew I had to check my ego when it came to volleyball, lifting, and the gym because what. the. actual. hell. was I supposed to do with one hip, one eye, and 9 fingers? (I am now laughing while writing this because it is almost unbelievable I went through this haha – it should be a SNL skit). The “funniest” part is one month after relearning to walk, I moved to Texas as I was accepted into grad school. That was a very challenging move to say the least.
At this point, I was under the impression that all the bad and negativity were behind me. I mean, new place, new me…right? Jokes on me. Life doesn’t stop or change for the better because you move FYI - just incase you were considering it. In grad school, I compound fractured my ulna and radius in my wrist (ONE WEEK before my national board exams, naturally). I WAS STRESSED! I worked my ass off in grad school and when it came time to prove what I had learned for my state licensure and national board certification, I had to take my exams PRE-OP, in pain, with my arm raised in the air because it looked like Ms. Puff after Spongebob wrecked her car. Fortunately, I passed my exams and was able to go right into surgery. Of course, PT and extensive time away from the gym followed.
Two years later, I partially tore my MCL in my knee, leading to more time out from the gym. This was when my confidence crashed. I mean, I was an athlete my whole life, a former personal trainer, and had great form, but it felt like my body was rejecting anything good I was trying to give it. All I could do was cry - and TBH I was scared to lift again. But, I worked through it and got right back into movement.
And wouldn’t you know it? Two more years later (June 2022) my back went out for the first time ever, and I had no idea why. I had SO MANY MRIs, X-Rays, and CT scans completed and went to so many specialists, all for them to tell me, “We don’t know what’s causing your pain.” After shopping around for specialists, I finally found an answer. Dr. Harris in Houston explained everything that was going on with my body; the pain I was experiencing and its sources, why my first hip surgery failed, and stating surgery was required to fix all the problems. One year later, after some business planning, completion of PT to gain some muscle back, changing health insurance to pay for surgery, AND dealing with vertigo for 2-3 months due to my atlas being completely out of place (thanks Dr. Nicole at Grounded Wellness for fixing this) I was back in the OR for another hip surgery.
So, here I am now, five months post-op, continuing PT and working through some discomfort as I am still requiring the same surgery I just had on my right hip. For 3-4 months post-op, I also had to deal with two blood clots that restricted some of my ability to engage in PT. These blood clots, although healed, required so much more extensive testing, a ton of anxiety, pain, irritability, frustration, depression, and hunger for some positive change. Luckily, the positive change came, and my left hip feels AWESOME and my blood clots are gone! I decided to hold off on the second (really third) surgery so I can focus on getting the muscle back I lost after not working out for the past two years. I am also focusing on my nutrition and my mental health so that I can be in the best place possible before halting my life all over again.
As you can see from the saga above, I am no stranger to freak accidents and injuries. Despite these setbacks, I never gave up, I never stopped challenging my body to continue the hard work, and I continued my love for volleyball and general fitness. My goals have always been to be happy, healthy, and physically able to move/travel without fear of my body giving out. However, getting to this place wasn’t easy…I still struggle with it, my back started hurting yesterday after my workout, BUT I have found my discipline and desire to be healthy is stronger than my depression and fear of re-injury. I had to keep a positive spirit and stick the landing ^^ see above. How did I get here you ask? Well, check out Part Two next Monday.
