A Positive Post

[PwordsB]

Hi, guys. Just a quick bit of encouragement for those who felt like I did until today. I'm 28 and had a snowboarding accident in 2016 whilst living in the Alps.

I have been recovering from various major surgeries for three years, nearly. I was hopeless and helpless and nothing seemed to work. I was told two years ago and many times since that I would never snowboard again, which was my favourite thing and where I felt at home. I continued to work hard relentlessly on my rehab and ended up in surgery again nine weeks ago. Continuing to work hard and not give up the idea that I can make it home, I kept pushing.

Today, after years of misery and pain, my new surgeon has told me that if I keep up my hard work without overdoing it, and with a little luck, I may be snowboarding again in 18 months.

I will never make it close to the standard I was at, but I have been given more hope today that I may make it back to that world. So, please, no matter how dark and awful you're feeling, work hard, be clever, be careful and do not give up. Maybe a year from now I'll be in surgery again, but for now, I feel fantastic and so massively grateful to myself for not letting this burden crush me!

Keep strong, friends!

[Kucove]

Being able to walk properly seemed like a blessing even for your accident, but the ability to snowboard again after only 18 months is something that's amazing in its own right.

Congratulations and keep strong my friend! Thanks for sharing.

[Chiaretta]

Thank you for sharing this! I'm very happy for you that you've been given new hope. Hopefully this will also help you through the difficult moments you might still encounter in your recovery!

I'm currently recovering from my 10th surgery, which took place only three days ago (hardware removal and arthroscopy). Up until now, I've always managed to stay positive and to keep working hard to reach my goals, but this time I find it very, very difficult to regain motivation. I've been disappointed so often (failed surgeries, doctors and therapists giving up on me, complications from the anaesthesia that left me with permanent damage), that I simply cannot believe this time will be different. My surgeons are very sweet and supportive, by the way, but also contradict each other in what they expect for the future. One is saying he thinks I'll be able to do all daily life activities without problems, until I need a replacement in 15 years, which I think is unrealistic, and the other believes my knee is ruined and it will not get better than this, which is also not really helping me. I'm 23 years old, by the way, so still quite young, like you.

Your story is helping me to feel a little bit more motivated. According to my surgeons, I don't have to do physical therapy, since I know all the exercises by heart by now (and because I've done 8 years of PT already and I'm totally fed up with it). But maybe I'll give it another go with the PT from the clinic (who specializes in knee problems and, importantly, also really understands how I feel) and try to get the most out of my crappy knee.

Thanks again for sharing!

[PwordsB]

Thank you for sharing this! I'm very happy for you that you've been given new hope. Hopefully this will also help you through the difficult moments you might still encounter in your recovery!

I'm currently recovering from my 10th surgery, which took place only three days ago (hardware removal and arthroscopy). Up until now, I've always managed to stay positive and to keep working hard to reach my goals, but this time I find it very, very difficult to regain motivation. I've been disappointed so often (failed surgeries, doctors and therapists giving up on me, complications from the anaesthesia that left me with permanent damage), that I simply cannot believe this time will be different. My surgeons are very sweet and supportive, by the way, but also contradict each other in what they expect for the future. One is saying he thinks I'll be able to do all daily life activities without problems, until I need a replacement in 15 years, which I think is unrealistic, and the other believes my knee is ruined and it will not get better than this, which is also not really helping me. I'm 23 years old, by the way, so still quite young, like you.

Your story is helping me to feel a little bit more motivated. According to my surgeons, I don't have to do physical therapy, since I know all the exercises by heart by now (and because I've done 8 years of PT already and I'm totally fed up with it). But maybe I'll give it another go with the PT from the clinic (who specializes in knee problems and, importantly, also really understands how I feel) and try to get the most out of my crappy knee.

Thanks again for sharing!

This time will be different.  We can only hope that it will be a vast improvement, but we know it will be different.  That's what makes the horrible parts of going through knee problems tolerable - as long as something has changed, things CAN get better.  I know for certain that a lot of surgeons would say mine is foolish to suggest I'll snowboard again even at the hugely diluted standard, but we choose the opinions we want to pay attention to and I'm going to hold onto the one that made me feel good.  Personally, I think I'll snowboard once and realise it was a stupid idea, but hearing that it's possible has made me excited to do my rehab, rather than just willing to work hard at it.  I actually look forward to the progress I'll make, even though it won't be anywhere near as quickly as I'd like. 

On my bad days, I have two main things that I tell myself to kick me back into the game.

'There's not alternative.' - It's important for me to remind myself that it doesn't matter how much it hurts and how helpless I feel.  This isn't a bad holiday where I can decide to fly back home when I am fed up.  We don't have that option.  We are in this and there's nothing we can do but work hard in the best way we know until we do break free.  So when you're thinking you want to give up, know that it's exactly the same as what you're going through right now, only you will be less healthy, less able to cope and no longer have hope to guide you and warm your vision of the future.

'How soon is now?' - Ask yourself this sometimes.  Do you know what the answer is?  It's 'now' and it will be 'now' every time.  It's 'now' right now and it will still be 'now' when you've endured the worst of it.  I find that comforting, because 'now' is never watered down by how long it took to get there.  We can fail again and again and again (and we do), and when we finally break free from the cycle of torment, it won't have taken any time to get there, it's still only 'now'.

I've come out with a lot of 'motivational' things since this happened, and I started off truly believing in all of them.  I also believed in a lot of quotes that I heard.  Things like 'the harder you work, the luckier you're gonna be' and 'no matter how bad it is, or how bad it gets, it's going to end.'  I've learnt that these are the things people say when they have worked hard in a world that isn't against them or with a body that does what they tell it to.  I don't believe them anymore.  It might not end, that's the truth of it.  But it's not relevant.  You've clearly got the power to keep up the fight anyway and you're probably already aware that it doesn't matter whether you 'win', because you've already found out that you're incapable of being destroyed and you know how much better the future will be if you keep pushing to be more mobile and more strong.

[Strongknees]

Hi, guys. Just a quick bit of encouragement for those who felt like I did until today. I'm 28 and had a snowboarding accident in 2016 whilst living in the Alps.

I have been recovering from various major surgeries for three years, nearly. I was hopeless and helpless and nothing seemed to work. I was told two years ago and many times since that I would never snowboard again, which was my favourite thing and where I felt at home. I continued to work hard relentlessly on my rehab and ended up in surgery again nine weeks ago. Continuing to work hard and not give up the idea that I can make it home, I kept pushing.

Today, after years of misery and pain, my new surgeon has told me that if I keep up my hard work without overdoing it, and with a little luck, I may be snowboarding again in 18 months.

I will never make it close to the standard I was at, but I have been given more hope today that I may make it back to that world. So, please, no matter how dark and awful you're feeling, work hard, be clever, be careful and do not give up. Maybe a year from now I'll be in surgery again, but for now, I feel fantastic and so massively grateful to myself for not letting this burden crush me!

Keep strong, friends!

I will read your post again when i feel down... it’s really a rollercoaster!