I may have always been an athlete. But since moving to Toronto to be a personal trainer and fitness expert I’ve had many ups and downs in my life on my personal fitness journey. Big set backs continuously seemed to occur. They always needed up preventing me from reaching my fitness goals each time. However never did I get down on myself. I always picked myself up each and every time and kept going. I did not complain and I did not blame anyone or anything for my circumstances.
First I had a full and complete ACL tear. When this happened at the same time I also ended up rupturing my meniscus while fracturing the tibia at its plateau. It took me over a month post op to even be able to do a full cycle on a pedal bike. I had to have a second surgery less than a year later to remove scar tissue and shots of synvisc (a synthetic synovial fluid) as well. To this day I still don’t have full range of motion. Did this stop me? No. Does it prevent me from doing anything? No. Do I use it as an excuse? No.
Then the following spring I was on my way to coach my track team and a cab driver cut me off as I was riding my motorcycle through an intersection. I t-boned him and flew over the cab. Hit my knee that I had the ACL repair on pretty bad, got whip lash, hurt my back, got road rash and also had my hand caught in the street car track as I was sliding. Did this stop me? No. Does it prevent me from doing anything? No. Do I use it as an excuse? No.
Finally, as I was still going through physio for my motorcycle accident I had some crazy symptoms.The biggest and most obvious one was that I was exhausted all day long and had no energy (very unusual for me). So I went to the doctor and they did some scans and said you have to go to emergency now! I still had no idea why. They admitted me and performed an emergency surgery to remove a mass of cells in my stomach. This mass was very rare. And no it wasn’t cancer. From September until November I had to have blood work every week to monitor my body and make sure it didn’t come back. And it came back. Again very rare. Based on where it was my only option was chemotherapy. I had 7 rounds before I got to ring the bell that I completed my chemo! Wahoo! The whole time I kept on training my clients and I even began my very first prep while still undergoing chemo. The chemo made me very puffy and swollen but I didn’t get down on myself. I honestly didn’t even tell many people. Did this stop me? No. Does it prevent me from doing anything? No. Do I use it as an excuse? No.
I hope that you realize that sometimes the journey can be hard and tiring. There may be obstacles in your way but persevere, follow the plan, find a support system and be honest! Good things will happen and your consistency will pay off! Don’t give up and don’t let anyone or any circumstance bring you down!
