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What inhibitions …

September 12 (not 911), 2002 was a big day for me, as it was the day I went into hospital to have my left knee reconstructed, after a bad rugby union injury (which was rather painful, just quietly). See, the challenge was that I was in a senior position and could not take any time off.

So, after some negotiation with work, I got three days off to recover, before I had to go back (to the smelter) and get through the long walks and plenty of steps.

The way that I overcame the challenge was that I (and I was very clear about this at the time) told my mind that I had not had the reconstruction, my knee was normal, and it was life and business as usual. Nice – that should have worked – and yes, it did.

Day surgery, no crutches, heaps of physio (which I drove myself to), and after three work days off, it was back to work and no-one noticed any different.

But, Anton (I hear you) what is the key message.

Well, when I was going for physio, I explained my philosophy, and the physio was totally against my strategy. His words were – Anton, you have no INHIBITION with your movement. You are not taking the care you should, and you will hurt your knee again, if you don’t treat it like a reconstructed joint. Repeating – you must have some INHIBITION.

I knew that I should have listened, but I really didn’t. I had no inhibition. I didn’t have time to.

Also, here is another thing – I was only thinking about this story as I was doing a 15k run recently. Interesting … especially after the surgeon told me never to run for fitness. I have no knee pain now – why – because I stretch (and because I decide not to – but that is another story).

In closing:

  • Don’t be inhibited in life. It is yours and you can achieve what you choose to.
  • Listen to professionals. Listen to everyone, but follow no-one, chart your own destiny.
  • Think your way forward. You can decide what pain you feel and how to approach situations.

In closing, the surgeon also told me I had a 50% chance of needing another reconstruction on the same, or the other knee, within 5 years (just the statistics, he said). I chose not to listen to that either.