Over the course of my career, I've been lucky to keep my injury count low as I have been very good about keeping my body in the shape it needs to be in to perform. The program I have used was one that was instilled into me as a young junior player. Running, jobe bands, ice and compression...they have all been apart of this program that is aimed at recovering from the last outing and preparing for the next. The injury I sustained last July put me in a position that I had never had to deal with before.Rehab.
Rehabbing from a fractured skull includes strengthening of just about every muscle group in your entire body. Whether it was the muscular atrophy of laying in an ICU bed for so long, the weight lost from having to ingest saline for a week, or even the flexibility lost from my body being so restricted for so long...I was faced with the full gauntlet of rehabilitation.
The rehab took me all over. Doctors appointments, physical therapists, late night sessions at the gym and pool and then eventually to Australia last January. But once I got done the rehab, it was smooth seas ahead. It was like I could actually see the positive results in my head before they even happened. I knew all my hard work to get back was going to make me that much better when I finally stepped on that hill again.
So, when I came back to Essendon for my second stint in Australia...everything seemed to set itself up for a big year for me. The hard work I was continuing to do, the fantastic second half I had in El Paso this past summer and the aching for a VBL championship all played parts into this. I wanted the ball as much as I could to begin the season so every opportunity to get it was one I would not pass up. I couldn't pass it up really...I mean wasn't the long for pitching again the reason why I actually got out of that ICU bed in the first place?
I pitched this fall and I pitched a ton. I was given a second job out here as well and was working with the junior programs extensively. Needless to say, my time to do things on my own was pretty thin. My arm felt strong though so my training and preparation took a backseat for the time being. The season started off picturesque and I was high flying. At one point though, one of our top pitchers went down with an injury to his hamstring and three of the top teams in the VBL loomed the following week for us. The Sunday game at Doncaster came and I threw seven solid innings. Two days later, I stepped back on the mound against Waverley for a two inning stint at Altona. The week was finally capped off with a six inning performance with a win at Cheltenham.
My line for the week was great...3 wins, 16 innings, a ton of punchouts. I felt good but began to feel some weakness in my elbow. It was a weakness that I tried to ignore and throw through but as much as I could mask the pain, I couldn't hide the results. My velocity had begun to plummet, I was beginning to have trouble sleeping at night on my right side and the swelling was so intense I could hardly bend my elbow properly. Eventually long toss ceased and bullpens began to shorten. Things were intensifying but I tried to ignore them, hoping they would go away on their own.
On the week before Thanksgiving, I threw at Doncaster again and we dropped a 3-2 decision...partly in part to my inability to stay on top of my sinker and extend on my slider. The loss was frustrating but I kind of put it away with a long run following the game, hoping that in the next day I begin to prepare for a win in my next outing. I was greeted the following morning with a elbow so swollen that movement had completely ceased. The slight touch against the ulnar collateral muscle provided a pretty painful response and pins and needles flew through my forearm. I began to think...it was all my own fault. And then just like that, it all came together to me in my head.
The unhealthy eating, poor training, and massive physical workload was the combination...and it was my elbow and body's way of telling me it was time to shut things down for a while. It hurt to swallow and after a visit to the physiotherapist and orthopaedic surgeon, I was diagnosed with the slightest tear (grade 1) of my MCL. It was back to the rehabilitation for this guy. It hurt, as I knew I was going to have to sit back, but overcoming an injury was something I had done before. Was I going to be able to sit back and let the healing take place?
Who was I to fool...sitting back has never been in my character. As soon as I can back, I was going to to.
And no one was going to stop me.
