In sports, especially contact sports, injuries are bound to happen. It is a very common thing, and we see it happen all the time. We witness this on the TV when one of our favorite players gets hurt, or even at school, kids in our sports get injured often, and we know it sucks, but how does it affect the athlete and the people around them who care about them most?
I was injured a little over two years ago, and this injury has changed my life.
In my sophomore year at cheer practice, we were outside on the football field practicing the routine we were going to perform at halftime for homecoming that year. My group tried a new stunt, and we hit it perfectly. We were all so happy that we did it on the first try.
We continued to do this stunt a couple more times, and on about the third or fourth time, my stunt was unstable, and I fell from the air. I had my bases, backspot and even a spot, but it happened all so fast no one was able to catch me in time.
I was on the ground lying there, and my coach came to me and asked what I needed. I said just to rest for a second and get some water. I got myself up, which was a struggle to walk from the football field to the stands to get my water. At that moment, I was so dizzy, and that is when I decided I should not continue to practice because something was wrong.
Shortly after my dad came and got me, we went to the doctor. Little did I know, this would be the first doctor’s appointment out of what feels like millions. When I went to the doctor, I wasn’t even there for ten minutes, and they knew for sure I had a bad concussion and sent me to a concussion specialist. I had neck and back pain, but they assumed it was from hitting the ground and it would go away.
Surprise, two years later, and it hasn’t gone away.
In the first month after my injury, the back pain continued, so I decided it would be best to go back to my primary care provider. They gave me some steroids and sent me on my way. They helped the pain but never took it away fully.
After about two weeks, the pain got extremely worse, so I went to the emergency room. They did not do much again and sent me on my way. I continued with this pain, missing a lot of school and not being able to do what I love: cheer.
This was the point when my mental health started trickling down.
One day, I was making my bed, and my body stopped. I could not move. I could not feel my left leg and my back and neck were so tight I could not move a single inch.
This was the scariest moment of my life. My dad had to carry me to the car and off to the emergency room again. This time, they gave me a shot in my arm and another steroid pill. I had time to rest there, and shortly after, my muscles released, and I was able to go home.
At this point, I was struggling but tried to keep it in as much as I could because my mom was already really worried about me. I did not want to make her even more stressed.
My other family members were starting to worry about me too, and I felt so bad about it because I was stressing them out, and I know they have other things to stress on rather than me.
The cycle repeated: doctor after doctor. I went to a physical therapist, which only caused me more pain. I went to the chiropractor, which seemed to help, but in the long run, it made things worse and restarted the progress made. By this time, I have had countless X-rays, CT scans and MRIs, and they still could not find why I was in all this pain.
I was then referred to a pain management clinic, and I had the worst experience ever. The doctor had told me there was nothing wrong, and I was just depressed, making myself think I was in pain.
I cried when my mom cried. This was the worst thing they could have said. It was a struggle already, but being told it is not true by a medical professional is hurting.
From there, I went to a spine clinic where he told me I had a couple of herniated discs but then told me they were not big enough to do surgery on, so again, they sent me on my way with steroids.
By this point, it had been over a year, and I had to switch to online school.
I was struggling badly.
I had my family and my best friend. With my mental health and physical health, I felt like giving up, but then I met the most amazing person who has helped me tremendously.
I went to Shriners Children’s Hospital, and they have the best team.
They decided I should try physical therapy again, and from there, it has only gone up. Since then, I have gotten shots in my back to release the pain that helped me work on recovery. I got an EKG to look at my nerves.
We did find out I have a pinched nerve but no permanent nerve damage. With this information, I was able to work on things at physical therapy to strengthen myself.
I have been in this physical therapy for a year now, and my injury has been here for two years. I can be back in school now and slowly start doing the things I love again. I still go to physical therapy once a week to keep myself on track, but I am doing so much better mentally and physically.
So yes, after over two years, I am still in pain, but things do get better, and I could not have done it without my family by my side and the community at Shriners Children’s Hospital.