Becoming Somewhat Active Again! - 1st Feb. 2013

Some Light At The End Of The Tunnel

So, previously I had just been to the hospital for the removal of my staples and I was attempting to get around with less reliance on my crutches, although I did still have to use them, for now.  They got boring, they had a certain novelty to start off with as I had never used them in my life apart from the odd little battle when a friend had them in our younger years, when they became a weapon for each person and as you can guess someone always got hurt, the kinda thing you do when you're younger! Physio was obviously ongoing, it was to last for another few months, but with less frequent visits as my mobility started to regain itself to an extent.

It wasn't long before I was given the go ahead to "lose" one of my crutches and just use one but me being my determined self, or some said stupid, it was either both or none.  So for a week after this I continued to use both, although sparingly as I just carried them around as a leaning tool if needed, rather than actually needing them to walk.  Walking was tough and my leg fatigued at a ridiculously quick rate.  As you will know, if you do not use something which you have constantly used for a very long time, it will deteriorate  you will forget what it's like and your body forgets too.  I had a lot of work to do on my thigh in terms of strength and size, as I mentioned in my previous post, my muscle basically didn't exist anymore, it wasn't visible to the naked eye anyway.

The first time I got off my crutches was for a trip to Anfield.  I had blue crutches, so I didn't want to take them to the game anyway (only football/soccer fans will understand what I mean on that one), and I was determined to get myself going without any help.  I obviously liked having help and the I didn't refuse professional help in terms of physio and medical advise, that was have been extremely stupid, but for making progress and getting towards my aim, I wanted to be as independent as possible, I wanted my future and my outcome in my own hands, so there was nobody else to blame but myself if something did go wrong.

My First Unaided Walk, Painful At That (From A to B)

This walk is normally enjoyable, it's exciting as you know you're going to the match, obviously I was but the pain I was about to endure on this short 0.9 mile walk was terrible.  I was confident and I suppose buzzing from the news I could finally rely on my own 2 feet to carry me, rather than a pair of crutches too, but, not using the crutches was a bad choice on this occasion, I limped the whole way and it wasn't pleasant, made me realise that I had come a long way but I was still not even 50% towards full recovery, this was I suppose a positive because it made me truly realise how much work was left to do.

If I remember rightly this was the Braga game in mid March 2011, we drew 0-0 and went out after losing 1-0 away, a bad night all round I guess!  Although later in the year, May to be exact, I ended up being lucky enough to be successful in the UEFA ballot and got myself 2 tickets to the Europa League final in Dublin, the final which Braga actually reached themselves, losing 1-0 to Porto in the end but I did meet some very nice Portuguese people over the couple of days I was there.

Nice Moment, Met 2 Braga Fans Who Had Been The Game At Anfield, Asked For A Picture Together

Although this is side tracking from the knee injury you may think, travelling around Dublin was a big task, my knee was still quite stiff and progress had been made but I would say I was only around 70% done in terms of full recovery, although something would later make me realise why I never got myself beyond 75%, an interesting and unexpected turn in the "plot" of my journey.  The Portuguese were welcoming, even though we were in Dublin, they had taken over the city centre, both finalists were from Portugal and it was like a festival of football, obviously there was only one winner but both sets of fans partied together and enjoyed the experience, one of those things you soak up and enjoy at the time and the memory sticks with you for a long time, great experience and a good feeling, something that took my mind off the pain, along with the help of a few pints of Guinness I may add.

For today that's the post done with, a bit less informative and more of a story but I will get back to the nitty gritty in the next post, between the period of getting rid of my crutches I had a hectic physio schedule along with 7 days a week in the gym, which doesn't need much imagination, plus university work on top of this.

One final thing, my best wishes go to George Thorne, young West Bromwich Albion midfielder who suffered the same ruptured cruciate ligament injury as I did, against Everton on Goodison Park the other night.  I first saw the game on Match of the Day, straight away upon seeing the replay I called the injury, one of those things that you can tell from instinct after suffering the same thing, get well soon mate!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21299789

http://www.wba.co.uk/news/article/albion-suffer-major-thorne-blow-633341.aspx

Links to the George Thorne report