Unlucky Lucky: Skiing Again!

At the end of the appointment, the doctor sat me down and said, “Let’s talk about skiing.” In my head I said, “I thought you’d never ask!” But, I refrained. He asked, “Do you even want to ski this year?” I nodded my head in silent response, but inside I was screaming, “Oh hell yeah!” Then he asked, “Do you have a seasons pass?” I nodded my head again and mumbled something about buying it before the accident and just keeping it because I thought I’d be skiing in spring for sure. Then he said, “I think you should get out and ski. I think it will help you mentally.” Yep, this doc knows me, or at least knows my type. Of course, there was the whole spiel about starting out slow, on groomers only, etc. But, I already knew this. It’s not like I haven’t been through 3 ACL surgeries before.

Read more

Where I Am Now….

To most people, I appear healed. It would take the average person to notice the subtle things, like how I can’t turn my head all the way, and how much I have trouble with using my arms above my head to get things off a top rack or shelf. To most, I walk fine, I talk fine, I smile fine, I have a few extra scars but so what…. I am healed but not healed.

Today, it has been 3.5 months since I nearly died under the wheels of my car – now named Voldemort after giving me a large “Harry Potter” scar, among dozens of other injuries….

Read more

Unlucky Lucky – Part 4 – My journey home

Back in the hospital, a doctor had told me that I would be there for up to weeks, and would probably spend some time in a rehab facility upon discharge too. No one was with me when I spoke to him, but I wish they had been. It was maybe that conversation that drove me the most… I told him, “I’m strong. You just wait and see. I’m going to surprise you.”

Perhaps I surprised nearly everyone by my quick recovery given the extent of my injuries…. everyone except for myself 🙂

Read more

Unlucky Lucky – Part 3 – The most painful surgery

On Monday night, I was alone in my room and my spine surgeon came in to visit with me. Some surgeons can be weird, and admittedly, this was one of them. He said that this surgery was going to be painful – more than the last spine surgery, that it might make me worse, and that he would pray for me. I’m sure he was going from and “under-expect but over-perform” standpoint. But, his words didn’t inspire confidence in any way. I would have preferred to hear something like, “You know, there are risks with this surgery, but I have had overwhelming success in similar surgeries” – Or something along those lines. Instead, his words were making me squeamish and more nervous than I already was.

Read more

Unlucky Lucky Part 2 – A story of trauma recovery

I was thankful when they decided that I would undergo femur surgery that day. From what I understand, the surgery was pretty quick – a couple of hours. And then, I remember them saying to me post-op, “Your leg is now weight-bearing as tolerated.” What? That’s impossible? I’d known over a dozen people to have broken their femurs too, and none of them were allowed to put significant weight on it for 6 weeks. How could this be? But, it was what it was. It didn’t take me long to be determined for the next step…. I wanted to walk again.

Read more

ACL Recovery Update: 6 months post-op

Every step of recovery is big. But, with improvement, each step takes longer and longer. After my knee surgery, improvements were fast with the first week. After a month, the straight leg brace came off and I was able to actually begin riding my trainer and improve my strength. At month three, I could ride my bike outside. And then after 6 months I can finally ride my bike on single track.

Read more

How to heal from ACL knee surgery

As it turns out, some of the best advice you can get about healing from an injury comes from those who have been through it themselves. If you’ve been following this blog you know that I am once again recovering from ACL knee surgery – my third one, in fact. Over the last two decades, I’ve gathered some pretty good experience with ACL surgeries and recoveries. While all of my recoveries have been different, there are underlying themes that remain the same. I’ve had to console dozens of people recovering from ACL reconstruction themselves, and have been thanked many times after. Unfortunately, it happens I know a thing or two about this stuff. And, I guess it’s time I start sharing it more.

Read more