1. Going to the bathroom
Might seem like an evident part of our daily routines but let me tell you, going to the toilet with a full-length cast is not easy at all. Finding a suitable position for your leg is hard.2. Taking a shower
Many of my friends laughed at me when I said that either my mom or my sister had to come to the shower with me to remove my cast, shower me and later put my cast back on. It does sound weird to havent your parent shower you when you're 18 years old yes, but it's not like I didn't try to go to the shower by myself. It is quite hard to walk on wet floors with crutches let alone trying to wipe yourself when your leg does not move. So I had my mom or my sister wiping my leg and putting my bandages and cast back on.3. Going up/down the stairs
Honestly it is something that can be learnt by time especially when you're on crutches for more than 4 months in a row but during winter time your crutches are slippery and wet and going up and down the stairs is pretty sketchy let alone risky!
4. Recovery can be slow
To be honest I had no idea what "a long recovery" meant before my injury. I had suffered a bad ankle injury at the age of seven and I did ankle follow-ups for seven years. For a 7-year-old kid at that time it seemed like forever. But I can understand now that that wasn't too long of a time after all. This knee recovery is actually SLOW, there are no other words to describe it. For two days that you make improvement there is one day that you go down and your knee feels worse. So it really isn't advancing too fast.5. Yes, I still have pain after almost fours years of the initial accident
It does sound to some people that I'm joking and faking to have pain but I have pain almost everyday, almost constantly. The pain is part of me now and I'm mostly used to it but some days it is really bad, I normally don't show it though. But I still hear frequently questions like "How can you still be hurting?" , "Is your knee still in pain?" , "Wasn't your injury like many years ago?". Yes it was a long time ago, but yes it is still hurting.
6. Mental pain
Mental pain is one of the worst things I know that comes along with this injury. Of course the physical pain is bad, terrible some days and something I would wish to no one, not even my worst enemy (although I think that for the most part, I'm my worst enemy). But the amount fof mental pain the injury brings with it, is quite extraordinary. I was strong already before my accident but I honestly had no idea of how strong I actually was before dealing with this amount of mental (and physical pain).
Mental is a concept of which meaning I was quite unaware before actually having to learn it myself. Mental pain is very stressing, nerve-wrecking and energy-consuming and it reduces the overall well-being. This might sound like a very strong image but I don't think I'm over-reacting to it. I've had quite a rough time trying to learn and cope with the mental health and the problems it causes. I never talk about them too much because I feel like being a whiner by doing so but I know it would be good to get it all out from time to time.But Like Michael Jordan (a famous basketball player) once said: My attitude is that if you push me towards a weakness, I will turn that weakness into a strength."
7. This injury makes you quite vulnerable
I hate to write this on here and I hate telling this to myself but unfortunately it is only the truth. Having had this injury we are more at risk to other lower-body injuries and moreover, to injuries to other parts of the body trying to protect our injured leg. I learned this the hard. After my first injury I thought I was again invincible as I had manage to recover pretty well from my first injury that had at frist seemed like an injury that would end all my sports and furthermore even walking. But then. I found out that maybe the leg isn't 100% like my other leg and so I am recovering probably for life-long this time. Yes, we are more vulnerable and more probable to get injuries but no, we are not bed-bound. We are not taken down until we ourselves choose so. And that's why I've chosen to fight, no matter what.8. It's not the medals that count but the journey
We might never win medals anymore. We might never even be able to take part to competitions, tournaments, meets or whatever we were taking part in before the injury. But for us it is no longer the medals that count, but the journey to a "so-called healthy knee" (it'll never be 100% healthy but as healthy as it can be). The journey is much more meaningful that crossing the finish line first. Of course I would do anything in my power to get back to the sports I loved so much but as time has passed I've started to realise it might never be possible again. That is why I try to make to most of every´improvement I make whether it was big or small, because we never know what will happen tomorrow. The journey might take a life-long time but that means you get to enjoy your improvements for the rest of your life.
Yes, you are. There are so many things that can go wrong during recovery, so many things only you can affect and no one else. Of course you have doctors and physiotherapists around you, you have your family and friends to support you, your coach to help you but in the end, you're the only one that can truly take care of your own body. Hard lesson to learn, at least for me.
10. Sometimes less is more
This is closely linked to the previous one. But yes sometimes doing less is actually more during critical moments of the recovery. Of course some days you have to work really hard in order to gain strength, range of motion, be able to walk again, balance, everything. BUT, sometimes we need to cool down, just stop for a second and let our body rest and heal. Because that is what it needs sometimes. And by doing less sometimes if gives us the energy we need to later push hard again.Strength doesn't come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn't do.
