FRAT Version:
I hurt my knee. Rehab Sucks. It's getting better.
End FRAT Version
Hey guys...I posted this on another forum and since it has been awhile I figured I'd update everyone where I'm at. I'm still working hard and have not given up. It's been a LONG road up to this point...and I still have further to go...but I've made substantial progress.
Last year at this point it felt like my game was at its pinnacle (to date): I had won five out of six fights, took silver in pan ams, and was pretty much kicking butt. Then, just when Christian, Scott and I were putting the finishing touches on a plan so I could fight exclusively in the WEC, I blew out my knee applying a technique I have done probably a thousand times before. Specifically, I completely tore two ligaments in my knee in an injury my doc described as "so serious it is much more typical of what I see in as a result of car accidents instead of the sports related stuff".
The reconstructive surgery and following weeks were the most physically painful thing I have ever experienced. And I couldn't believe how @#$%&*! slow the healing process was. Some of the medical providers I was involved with said it was a "career ending injury" and that I would "never be able to fight again". It helped my confidence though that I had one of the top knee specialists anywhere, Dr. Peter Simonian, and he strongly believed I was not done. However, even I questioned a comeback after my first few sessions of physical therapy. Picture me sitting on a stationary bike and not even being able to make the pedals circle a complete 360...with no resistance!
Meanwhile, as I sat at home with an icepack and painkillers, I couldn't even turn on my TV or open a newspaper with out seeing MMA. Nothing like a little salt rubbed in the wounds. But they say time heals everything, and that seems to be the case. I'm boxing regularly, working my butt off with a great physical trainer, even playing some hoops. I can jump, plant, pivot, and explode. The only things that have not come back 100% yet are grappling and kicking (lol the two best parts of my game). Actually, that's not true...I can grapple with kids up to about 15, but those 16 year olds are still a bit too strong!
Truth be told, no one including me knows when I will be back. In my head I'm still pushing for some point this year cough cough october? cough cough...but only time will tell. At this point since I've had to wait so long, I might as well give it an extra few months to be safe. Until then, I'd like to thank everyone at New Era Martial Arts for not giving up on me. More then once I thought about quitting, but I couldn't give up on myself when there were so many people that still believed in me. And also thanks to Christian Printup, it's been reassuring to know that as soon as I'm ready to come back, the Tachi Palace is also ready to have me back.
War PCL replacement surgery!