On the 8th January, I was climbing with a friend, on a beautiful sunny day, completely immersed in nature and doing what I love. That day did not go as planned and I sustained a fall, resulting in a trip to A & E. We knew it was not great because i could not bear any weight in my foot, but i managed to butt climb, crawl & hop for almost 3 hours to get out of that forest, so I was convinced that it was just a sprain. At A&E, a basic scan showed that I might have a small fracture and was referred to an orthopedic surgeon. I was four days from returning to the U.K and literally convinced myself it was fine and that it could wait.
When I returned, I jumped straight back into training with my acroyoga partner & teaching team. I couldn’t drive, or stand, or walk and had to cancel my yoga classes, all the time looking for a solution…My teaching team were happy to come and drive me to my acro classes where students were happy to accept that I am on the floor crawling from mat to mat so I was happy that I could continue this.
I had to convince my acro partner to continue working with me and to figure out together what is possible and over the week, we got comfortable practicing. This has kept me sane the past week. I am unable to stand but doing acro feels so good!
Some people think this is crazy. Some think I am taking unnecessary risk and then some just don’t believe i have broken anything. I don’t do these things because I am “normal” or to try to prove I am “not normal” or to try to be controversial or different.
And I am definitely not taking any risk that is not meticulously managed.
As for not believing… well, I wish it were not true either!
But i guess, my way of dealing with this is to find every possible way to continue doing the things I absolutely love. I am not able to do lots of things right now – my normal yoga practice for one. I can’t stand, I can’t drive, I can’t walk the dog, I can’t climb, I have to crawl up the stairs when my husband is not around to carry me.
But i can do acroyoga like a champion on one foot!
I haven’t really focused my social media posts on my injury because I have been focusing all my energy on feeling strong and what i can do rather than the pain and limitations.
It has taken a week to see a consultant, get my x rays and an MRI before I finally got my prognosis this week. Seeing the MRI and listening to his report overwhelmed me. I literally had a meltdown. I think prior to seeing my MRI, it was all still a bit “ha ha he he” but this changed everything. In his words, I’ve done the works..
4 fractures, 1 displaced
I will need a pin – surgery
Ligament tears
3-6 months recovery
1 year to (maybe) feel normal again
I should write off this year.
Harsh…
It took me a couple of days to get over this news and it’s been a mad few days of cancelling workshops, events, clients, classes, and any plans that affected others as well as all the practical arrangements that come with the surgery ahead.
Today, my world feels less chaotic & overwhelming.
I don’t feel ready to tell everyone what is going on but i know that dragging my heels is just a way to avoid the reality of it all.
So this is my news for the year…
I feel so sad that I am not able to return to work for awhile.
It will be at least 2 months and very possibly longer.
I’d like you to know that I have not left and am very much looking forward to return to teaching but at the moment, I am not able to say when that will be.
I have my op scheduled for the 5th February and have decided to go ahead with my workshop scheduled for the 2nd February because of the nature of it that will allow me to be sat down for most part of it (there might be some crawling!) So come say hi if you are around.
Needless to say, I will miss everyone!
Stay well and happy!
Enjoy extra for me!
Julee