Sunday, December 11, 2016

Lately:

On September 10th I broke my ankle rollerblading. I was 30 tries deep on a trick off a short flat rail. Headphones blasting and going for broke. Eventually I slipped out before leaving the rail, under rotated and landed on my left foot with the rest of my body looking like a starfish. My skate collapsed when the cuff bolt broke and my ankle folded inwards like a god damn calzone. Initially I thought I sprained it, but when pain persisted the next say, I got an X-ray and found out I had a broken talus bone. Over a series of CT's scans, MRI's and physio assessments following I found out the extent of the injuries. I broke the talus and likely in the same incident, damaged the ankle cartilage so that joint fluid had penetrated the fracture and was preventing it from healing. I also partially tore my meniscus. I've never been down this long.

There was a while after the injury that was a very low point for me. Before the injury some very bad things happened. Big hits that almost destroyed me and my family. I may elaborate another time. It's important that this blog is personal, and real. 

Immediately following the fracture I hobbled around the house for weeks, depressed and angry. Soon after I got to make a trip out to Haida Gwaii with by Dad and brother. There I managed to dip in the ocean, looking out to Alaska with no wetsuit, read a few books and even do a little bodyboarding with a decent wave cycle. I look forward to my return. After going home I limped around the garage and did a bunch of repairs to my truck. New shocks, fixed the whole 4x4 system, and installed some powerful lights. I got a gym membership and did upper body workouts, moving between sets on crutches. 

On November 3rd I was allowed to walk. This was a catalyst for me. Since that day I've been in the gym at least 4 hours a day, six days a week since that point. I've spent so much time there that I now know all the personal trainers and a lot of the gym rats. Most of the people there a lot are bodybuilders. I used to judge that scene however their work ethic and knowledge is undeniable and warrants respect. I started lifting heavy weights two weeks ago and found out my body is an asymmetrical mess. Training is frustrating almost all of the time however punctuated by brief and small victories. 

Since my symptoms are slowly going away the surgeon has chosen not to operate. If there's a measure out there to improve my odds of recovering, I've likely partaken in it. Bone supplements, dieting, cutting down on caffiene, braces, taping, physio, swimming and the spin bike. My ankle is almost recovered but there are few high impact movements that hurt and I'm not going back on skis until I'm 100%. I also have to strengthen from 2 months of not using my lower left side. 

I'm trying really hard to be positive, however I can't deny that life has been hard lately. All I can do is keep pushing on and wait for things to get better, as they likely will.  

I will be skiing in 2-3 weeks and hopefully get some filming done in the end of December. Myself, Peter Wentz, and Conor Macdonald are working on a webisode series together. I'm really psyched for it and have a big list of tricks/lines to get on film. Things are rough right now but there's still light on the horizon and life could always be a hell of a lot worse. 

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