8 months ago (March 1, 2023), I was sitting on the floor petting the dog. We had been out at a team dinner and was just about to go upstairs to get ready for bed, when instantly everything changed.
As I tried to kneel and get up, my left knee went out on me and latched onto something. The pain was surreal, the feeling familiar. I started having this weird short term pain on my left knee 5 years ago, after my hysterectomy. Shortly after that surgery, my fascia had tightened after my infrastructure changed. It began to cause these short stings of pain that would feel like my left knee locking out to the side and then it would release. Over the next five years, it went out periodically, but it would always release. In January of 2023, we were hiking in Sedona and as I went to lift my left leg to climb up on a rock ledge, it went out and this time became progressively worse. Then March 1, 2023, the seemingly unassuming event became a life changing and groundbreaking shift in my whole life. This time the meniscus tore and caught on the femur bone. It was excruciating pain, that resulted in a bucket tear. I could not and would not be able to walk again without surgery.
I went 4 weeks until I could actually have surgery and began my long journey on crutches. On March 31, 2023, I finally had meniscus surgery and the surgeon was able to repair it successfully, even though the tear was worse than the MRI showed.
The journey to rehabbing the knee is all too familiar to millions of people a year. What may not be as familiar is the path I have taken as a holistic journey. Each day has brought a significant amount of pain to work through and mental strength and clarity to navigate this long process.
I have stayed very committed to the rehab process, where I ice at least 5 times per day, wear the Kneehab sleeve to provide stimulation to the quad muscles, do my rehab exercises, healed stitches and the scars as directed, etc.listen to healing frequency music, lived in the moment, took note of each lesson learned, utilizing CBD and arnica vs. pain medication and a heavy focus on hydration. However, when I approached the 6 week mark, I found out I should have been working the scar tissue immediately upon the scar sealing and healed. What happens, is the fascia which becomes torqued and tight to protect the injured area, creating restriction. Then scar tissue is developed similar to a messy toddler painting to help reseal the area as quickly as possible. The problem with the scar tissue doing that is that it becomes restrictive to the muscle regeneration itself and is prohibiting full recovery. So the key is to use a scraping tool or a guasha tool to scape the crosshares of the scar and rebreak it down, so that it can regrow correctly. Yes, none of the healing process is easy or beautiful. At my 6 week post op appt, the surgeon wanted me to start walking with a bend in the knee and keeping the brace bent. A few weeks later I went to just one crutch and ditched the brace. So things were starting to progress, but it was very slow for me.
Now, here are the other key items to take into account in your healing journey. Protocol states that the patient should be pretty healed and ready to walk at 6 weeks after a meniscus surgery. Protocol doesn’t take into account the many variables that are different for each person. I did not mention above, that my son and I had been rear ended in a car accident January 31, 2023, creating pretty bad whiplash and low grade concussions.This created great levels of inflammation and restriction to the body from the start of my injury. I also utilized the Body code to identify trapped Emotions, imbalances and misalignments that are affecting my entire body from previous stuff, including the car accident and this surgery. I found a lot of stuff that was affecting my whole left side, imbalances that were causing restrictions to heal, and so much more. Had I not found this, I am not sure that my body would have continued the full healing process, causing restrictions in the long run. I began adding additional rehab tools such as infrared sauna, followed by cold plunge ice baths for my leg, cupping to generate more blood supply to the area and help move through stagnant lymphatic fluid, and most recently the “Healy” frequency vibrations tool to help with pain relief, muscle support and strength.
This week brought more pain and restriction and then today it happened. I was forced to ditch my last crutch and walk all by myself.
When my trainer said walk down towards the other end of the room, I was using my last crutch moving along to the end point, when I turned around she said “Give me the crutch” I said “You are crazy” 😛 I handed it over, she reminded me of the pattern to say in my brain, heal, toe and bend the knee. I did it, slowly but surely and felt amazed. Then she handed me the crutch and said head over the ballet bar. At the ballet bar, I began a process of going back and forth in the motions heal, toe and bend the knee and then would reverse it. Then she told me to march and I could not get my knee to support the right side coming up. She then added the Muscle stim pads and all of the sudden it woke up my quad and activated the process. She then had me walk a much longer stretch about 50 feet. All of the sudden, I was just doing it. It felt amazing and brought extreme pride to my self knowing that I finally had the break though I was fearful would never happen again. I did not know if I would ever feel the independence of walking again. What an overwhelming feeling of joy and elation when the brain patterns connect and the neurons learn to fire and work together again. What I once took for granted, I have had to completely relearn. I am eternally grateful for these lessons and my immense appreciation of this entire healing process. As a holistic health & wellness coach, I am here to navigate and advocate with you through your own journey based on my real world learnings and education. Don’t ever Give up! Live in the current moment and listen to your body through the whole process. The journey continues, but the break through today was priceless.
Reach out for more info if your seeking guidance, a cheer leader and someone in your corner to help you through the journey. F.Y.T. Health & wellness
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