How it all started...

My year shifted in a heartbeat on Monday, January 22, 2024.

Coming down a ladder, I missed the last rung and took a pretty serious tumble.

Diagnosis: full thickness rupture of my ACL.

Of course, that's the tl:dr of the story.

For the full history of what happened, keep reading...

I'm the health and wellness coach behind Reality Bites Training and the Healthy, Fit, and Awesome FB community.  I work with women to ditch diet culture, reclaim their power, and live life on their own terms.  And working from home all day long can get very lonely for this extrovert. 🤪

So I took on a part time job at a big box store in October 2023.  Little did I know when I was hired that my job would be incredibly physical - hurrying all over the store and up and down ladders to restock items on the shelves so customers could have a great experience.

And the truth was that ladders, especially the tall ones, kind of scared me.  But I was working to overcome that fear and get to the top of the ladder.  It was like a personal mission at work. 

(Check out the full story here.)

But... evidently that fear was a healthy one.  Because, like I started out telling you, I fell.  I missed the last rung and came down hard.

Hitting the concrete floor with my left leg and the doorframe with my head. 🤕

Luckily, I wasn't alone in the room and a coworker quickly came over to see if I was ok.  (I wasn't.)

Over the next hour, I was helped into a chair by two of my managers and called my husband to come rescue me.  I was so sure that I was "fine" that I was joking with both coworkers and customers while I sat in my chair.

My husband showed up, took one look at my leg, and told me I was not fine and we were heading to the emergency room.  (A good move since I couldn't actually put any weight on my leg and was wheeled out of the store.) 👩‍🦽

X-rays and a CT scan later, I was sent home with crutches and a referral to an orthopedic doctor.  

"Nothing broken.  No concussion.  But be sure to follow up since you can't put any weight on it.  And don't go back to work this week."

After a worker's comp doctor visit, I was given a referral for an MRI and had to wait (impatiently) for the MRI and visit to the ortho to be approved.  

"Probably a tear.  Keep using the crutches.  Ice and elevate.  Use the wrap if you want.  And you're cleared to go back to work as long as you're seated."

My elevated knee all wrapped with ice.

Eventually, the MRI was approved, scheduled, and completed.

With the diagnosis of a full thickness rupture of the ACL.  (Among other medical things that Dr. Google happily translated for me into swelling and bruising.)

The meeting with the ortho the next day went well.

"Wear a pretty hefty knee brace 24/7, stay on the crutches, and do physical therapy for the next four weeks.  Keep icing.  Keep elevating.  And maybe surgery in your future if we think it's the right course of action."

Fancy knee brace!

I also learned that my dreams of completing my third 50k in June 2024 would remain just that for this calendar year. 

And "Eagle Up 2025" became the mantra that would get me through many a tough physical therapy appointment.

Finally, on February 29, at my follow up appointment, we decided that surgery to repair the ACL was the best option to allow a return to my activities of daily life - running, lifting, dancing, and maybe some ladders in the future. 🏃‍♀️🏋️‍♀️💃❓

And that's when I decided to start a blog to document and share my experiences in this new chapter of my life.  It's been a hard road over the last six weeks - and sharing has always helped me to work through the difficult paths of my life.

Thank you for joining me on what I'm hoping will be a fabulous journey from my fall to completing the Eagle Up 50k in June 2025.