Three Steps to Recovery

Acceptance | Responsibility | Action

Photo: Margo Talbot

I’ve been dealing with a shoulder injury for coming on ten weeks now. As you could imagine, for someone in my position, it’s been kind of a big deal.

At one point I couldn’t transfer from my chair to the floor, or vice versa.

Getting into a car was slow and painful, and I couldn’t drive.

I was actually starting to feel quite, disabled...

I’m not, however, writing this to elicit pity, far from it.

I’m writing because it reminded me that when things go sideways, the recovery process is always the same.

Acceptance.

Yes, this is what’s happening.

Doesn’t matter why, or how fair it is; it’s happening.

Some of you might want to read that again, judging from my social feeds this past month.

Responsibility.

The first part of this piece was finding the right help.

Spoiler alert: Whilst the physio at the hospital I went to was great (she got me the required scans and pain meds); she deals with people showing up at the hospital. I someone to get me going again.

Cue my friend Carol Cooke, a retired Paralympic medalist (cycling), who found me Michael Ranger at Physio Plus in Footscray.

Now that the ball was in my court, it was time for...

Action.

Here’s a hot tip:

I’d only vaguely heard of isometric exercise/ loading and didn’t really have a clue what it meant. Interestingly enough, when I went to look it up in relation to what I’m about to describe, I found zero; zilch; nada information. But here goes.

Mick had me position my arm down by my side with the elbow bent at 90 degrees and then push with my fist against something/ anything in front of me, for example a desk, a doorframe, my other hand; anything, and then hold it there for 5- 10 seconds before repeating.

Within two days of doing this, I could transfer more easily in and out of my chair, and within two weeks, was back on my bike (handcycle).

Now, I still can’t swim freestyle, but I can do a kind of extended dog paddle which, if you can picture this, is like freestyle, but instead of brining your arm out of the water behind you, and then up and over your head to the front, you keep your arm underwater, stretching it out in front of you before initiating the next stroke.

The point is, I’m doing whatever I can, with whatever I’ve got.

Acceptance, Responsibility, Action: it’s the same formula I used after I lost both legs.

It works for me.

And it can work for you.

#resilience #adapt #disruptyourselffirst

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