The familiar Road to Recovery

When physically injured there is a factor I think we could all agree on, the healing journey is one that encompasses the mental and physical. Here is how I dealt with my hip injury and what I learned along this recent road to recovery.

Long story short, I dislocated my hip in a snowboarding accident this past Spring. The most excruciating pain I have ever experienced. It is a dramatic injury, that majority young adults will never experience. To my advantage, the hip was reduced (put back into place) within 20 minutes of the initial impact. This prevented so many potential problems that come with a major injury as such. No blood flow restriction, no torn labrum, no internal bleeding, only a partial tear to my sartorius muscle, deep bone bruising of my femorul head, pelvis, and ribs, burst joint capsule and a bruised kidney. Although no surgery was necessary, my doctor made it very clear that the recovery process was going to be long and I needed to be rigid with it. I couldn't walk for a week, then was put on crutches for 4 weeks after that. A lot of rest was prescribed, along with a rigid 3 days a week physical therapy schedule.

I was devastated by the halt this injury put on my life, my upcoming goals and plans, and ultimately the insecurities being injured brings mentally. I was embarrassed.. I was sad.. I was discouraged. Consistently asked if I think I should stop living the lifestyle I've chosen, asking myself if its worth it, if I'm good enough to keep pursuing the path that I have found passion in. Confusion and doubt seem to flood my entire being during the initial reflection and onset of recovery. But luckily, a good friend and mentor in my life reminded me that injury is a part of life, it's what happens when you are putting passion into motion. This was a relief to hear, and helped me so much to find courage to heal, continue moving forward with future objectives, and use these as motivation to heal stronger than before.

Physical Therapy was obviously a big player in the recovery game, and my physical therapist even had me keep my eyes on the Denali expedition I was meant to be on this summer as a goal, with no expectations of this goal happening, just something big to works towards. And ultimately I owe so much to my mentor and personal trainer Dane with Cassaval Personal training. I have had the pleasure of working with Cassaval on a customized uphill athlete training program for 2 years now. When I got the MRI results back and the PT prescriptions, he worked with my physical therapy program, worked with a friend of his who is a fellow splitboarder and physical therapist, and customized a training program for me that would promote strength while allowing healing. Having a training regiment helped me mentally. Training gives you daily goals to focus on, a reason to get out of bed and move your body a bit, even if it's limited. Dane is a mentor who encouraged balanced rest with fitness, provided me with those daily goals, had me working different muscles than physical therapy was focused on, and reassured me that all of the rest days and time away from my passions would make me stronger in the end. Being involved with Cassaval eased my mind from whirling into the dark insecure thoughts I mentioned above, not only coaching me physically but coaching me through conversation to not rush it, to take my time.

Along with training, I put a lot of energy into self care. Creating a routine helps me feel at ease when I am prescribed rest, so I started juicing celery daily. This is detoxing and an overall very healthy way to start your day. Taking necessary supplements to aid my body in regeneration and giving a boost where my body needed some help, painted and collaged, wrote about my experiences, I had bodywork done, focused on breath-work, ultimately channeling my energy on healing. Throughout the process, I learned so much about myself and about accepting the change of pace. I went through the emotional ebb and flows around talking about the injury. It was an experience that ultimately was brought on by pressure to create content. This was hard to swallow, because this is a new part of my experience as a snowboarder, and it had me doubting if I was

even good enough to be put in this role. I felt if I talked about the experience, my peers would doubt my abilities as an athlete and a guide.

Does an accident represent my decision making? The answer comes through when you rest, debrief the experience and reflect. There is always room for better decision making, but ultimately, accidents happen. We can be hard on ourselves about the decisions we made, but that hinders the mind when recovering and you need both a healthy mind and body for a full recovery. Focus your energy on a healthy mind and body and don't worry about what others think of you, it's not their journey, it's yours. You never know, it may help someone else through their healing process to share your story. So, I apologize it has taken me this long to share mine, but I had to learn this for myself. I hope that this message helps you skip that lesson and process externally while focusing your energy on a healthy mind and body.