Recovery Takes Time...Be Patient, Embrace the Suck, and Trust the Process

Over the past five years, I've had to deal with overwhelming health challenges requiring complex treatments and long recovery times.

The first of these issues was suffering an acute aortic dissection on May 25, 2019. The prognosis for survival was grim and statistically this condition has a 2%-5% chance of survival. I had been asleep when the dissection occurred, in laymen's terms...my heart was splitting open. I had to get in for open heart surgery and have the upper arch of my aorta replaced.

Six hours of surgery required an extensive recovery, beginning with an induced coma for a week. During this time, most people familiar with the condition didn't hold out hope for a full recovery. Following that, it was another month in the hospital, followed by twelve weeks of cardiac rehabilitation and six months short-term leave from work.

At each step I had to be patient and trust the process. The road to recovery was slow. Right out of the gate, I had to be diligent to monitor my condition, keep my heart rate under certain numbers and limit my activities. Initially, walks were short...sometimes 15 minutes or less.

Over time, I was given less restrictions on what I could do and began to walk longer, farther, faster, and let the heart rate go higher. There were days where I didn't follow the prescribed plan and I paid for it. If I didn't drink enough water, I might get dizzy and would have to stop. I also learned about the signs and indications of when I may be out of sync...listen to the body and act accordingly.

Eventually, I was able to pursue more intense goals. I began to participate in 5k races, built up my conditioning and took steps forward to do the 10K races, 10 milers and eventually half marathons. Now, I don't run...still walking and my competition for these events is myself. Setting goals in line with the difficulty of the event and where I may be as it relates to health and conditioning.

Back in February, I had a total shoulder replacement. Last October, I slipped and fell in the bathroom. Went completely airborne and came crashing down on my left shoulder. The doctor's assessment was that there was no way to repair the damage, thus the replacement.

Surgery went great and I had a few weeks of physical therapy to get things back in order and stretch it out. So, now I am back to working out and getting things back in order. It's humbling to go to the gym these days, especially because I've been working out and familiar with the weight room since high school.

The other day I went to my local gym and wanted to test where I was with bench press and incline bench press. These require you to press the weight up from the chest from a flat position and from an angled position, putting significant pressure on the shoulder. For both exercises, I was only using the bar (no weights on it). Both sets were tedious and I was not really able to do a proper lift on the incline. I'd say the best word for those efforts was humiliating.

I've been blessed to have some great mentors, teachers and instructors in my life. Perhaps there's no better place in my past to draw from than my martial arts training. I achieved the rank for fifth-Dan, Master Instructor in Taekwondo. One of the key principles of any training is that you are going to suck when you begin and through persistence, practice and patience, you will eventually be good...then master the discipline.

As you struggle through recovering from some traumatic event...physical, mental, or emotional, what do you need to start over? You may realize you suck at it at first and have to endure the initial embarrassment. What must you tell yourself to find the ability to trust others to find your confidence to keep moving forward?

There's an old adage that says, "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the next best time is now." Thats also true about relationships. Invest in them now for the times when you'll desperately need them.

My wife, Kim Reid, MS, LMHC , is a licensed mental health counselor and she shared with me that one thing that keeps people stuck in their misery is the inability to connect with other people that can help them navigate through the issue. We are created to live in community, build things together and be there for one another when we need support.

Last week, I sucked at bench pressing and I don't know when I will try that again. I believe I need to ask my surgeon for his insights on timing and my physical therapist for ideas on making it work.

But here's what I know. My body is healing and I am getting stronger every day. Just like the recovery from open heart surgery, I will get to the place I need to, one step (or rep) at a time and I have a great support system to help me...I only need to ask.

Let's keep moving forward, we'll get there.

if you need some encouragement on your journey, shoot me a DM.

Leave a comment about your journey, that may be the encouragement someone else needs.