Michael AunBEHIND THE MIKERehab

By Michael A. Aun

Among the many stupid things I have done in my life, my behavior regarding my own personal health must lead the list.

No need to rehash. I have chronicled many of these in this column over the past 50 years.

I have a variety of broken bones, replaced hips, surgeries and concussions as evidence. The most recent disaster is the focus of this column.

Over the years, as the world’s oldest ballboy for St. Cloud’s Bulldogs in Central Florida I have been run over so often on the football field that I have lost count.

I recently exited the hospital for the seventh time over the past year (don’t ask) and was home to help my spouse with the rehab of her recently replaced knee.

Leave it to me to screw this up too. On Father’s Day, I slipped and fell on my kitchen floor, refracturing the ribs and breaking the left femur. I also used my head for landing gear and a concussion.

After the Advent Health put the pieces back together, I was shipped off to the Osceola Regional Hospital Rebab facility for an extended stay and to try to walk again.

While I have been injured multiple times, I have never experienced rehab. There is “occupational therapy” and then there is “physical therapy.”

They operate in separate silos because their focus is different. In occupational therapy they taught me how to shower, use the toilet, dress. They even had a segment on how to cook for myself.

The physical therapy silo focuses on building my strength and my body so that I can commute from point A to point B. In so many ways, I am like an infant learning to walk again… only without falling this time around.

When you are used to running up and down the sidelines to get the ball into the referee’s hands for the next play, this is a huge challenge for me.

I have learned the hard way that my success these days comes in itty bitty pieces. First, I had to convince myself that I am worth recovery. When you possess no power, you acknowledge surrender of same.

Another valuable lesson I learned is progression is not perfection. I am reminded of my late friend Zig Ziglar’s comment. “People say that motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.”

Not so easy when you are dependent upon others. Recovery is not a race. Rehab taught me not to feel guilty because it takes me longer than my brain thinks I should.

Perhaps the most valuable thing I have learned from rehab is to restrain my tongue and avoid the quick-tempered response that accompanies all the frustration I feel. The fact is… I am not only rehabbing my body but also my mind. I am most grateful for that gift.

  *

Michael Aun is a syndicated columnist and writes a weekly column for this newspaper. To contact Michael Aun go to www.aunline.com.