Tackling obstacles

  I had a moment.  A moment where I thought I was invincible.  Everyday I get the... "Oh, you're young and you think you can do anything."  All I have to say is this; I was being bold.  As a Personal Trainer and Professional Dancer, I want to be able to do it all.  Be as "bad ass" as possible.  However, I have to calculate a certain amount of risk that I can take.  And my mom thought it would be all the Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) that I practice.  Ha!  It turns out that doing Muay Thai has been helping in my recovery!  Will explain more about that later on.

  I wanted to "up my game."  Recently, the auditions I've attended have noted that special skills aka tumbling and acrobatics are a plus.  Never going to gymnastics as a kid, I decided I wanted to learn.    Right before Xmas I was practicing with a friend and had a terrible accident.  From the tremendous force of landing the 7th (yes I said 7th) back tuck and a slightly overpronated left foot, I dislocated my left ankle, fractured my fibula, and tore ligaments.  At that moment, all I could think was that my career was over.  But I know its not.  I can come back stronger.  After surgery, I accepted that I am now bionic (a plate and screws) and crutch along.   

  The doctors are optimistic though.  I'm young and an athlete and should recover fast.  Everyone is concerned with my career.  They want me to dance again and so do I.  I can't do something I love.  This is the longest break I've taken since I started dancing at 3 years old.  This time off has helped me rediscover my passion.  But still, the shock and frustration of doing this to myself weighed on me heavily.  But, I am going to be progressive!  This is why I decided to document my recovery.   To heal, to teach, and to show how you can overcome any obstacle thrown your way. 

  

Here's my injury time line thus far:

Injury: Tuesday, December 21st 

Surgery: Tuesday, January 4th

Cast removed: Wednesday, January 19th

Next appointment:  Wednesday, February 23rd

  I am amazed at how fast my left leg has atrophied.  Quadzilla no more, right Dave?  A lifetime of physical activity and walking and its all gone in only 2 weeks! As someone who's life depends on their feet, I cringed at thought of being still.  To help speed up my recovery, I need to keep my body in shape.  Instead of inhibiting me, this injury has forced me to be more creative.  I've learned so much about my own body and how I can get just as good of a workout sitting down. 

  The video that accompanies this post is my workout from January 18th.  It's the day before I had my cast removed (better late then never right?).  I don't focus on working my right leg because it's overcompensating doing twice the work.  

  Soon to come...Muay Thai sitting down!  An amazing cardio workout.  I hope you enjoy following my recovery and seeing me heal!  

Everyone loves a good comeback.  

~Amy