“No one continuously wins at chess by only moving forward. Sometimes you have to move backward to put yourself in a position to win. And this is a perfect metaphor for life. A step back can be a step in the right direction.”

Marcandangel, (Marc and Angel Chernoff)

It’s been 4 weeks since my spinal surgery, and I am healing well. The sutures are almost completely dissolved, all bandages have been removed, and there have been no signs of infection. My body is functioning better now than it has since before the accident. My pain level has been reduced so significantly, since having this surgery to repair the fractures, that I am now able to manage most days without even considering the thought of taking ibuprofen. My post-op followup went well and my neurosurgeon is pleased with my progress.

I am currently entering Phase #2 of this recovery plan – or, as I call it, “the middle”, where physical therapy has been prescribed and disc regeneration therapy is about to begin. These two treatment regimens will be time consuming and expensive, but very important key factors in my return to running.

It’s hard not to feel discouraged, for all the time that I have lost, and overwhelmed at the time I must now invest in order to continue moving forward. The added expense to rebuild a broken body is, also, nothing short of astounding – as is the realization that I am literally starting back at square one, focusing on the most basic of physical movements, in order to rebuild all of the strength, stability, flexibility and mobility which I have lost over the course of these past 15 months.

People say: “It could always be worse.”, and they are not wrong – but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard or that it wasn’t bad.

People say: “You’ll get there.”, and it’s true, I most certainly will – but that doesn’t make the road to “there” any less difficult to travel.

People say: “You’ll get used to it.” or that perhaps this is just your “new normal” – but settling for less than what I am capable of has never sat well with me, nor is this mediocre middle ground something that I will just blindly accept.

People say: “It’s important to know your limits.” – but, I believe, it’s more important to realize that you have none!

People say a lot of things – but, the beauty of it all, is that you don’t have to listen.

#BeyondTheBoylstonLine