The Roller Coaster called 2013

This past year has been a roller coaster of physical, mental, and emotional moments. I am not explaining all of this for your pity. I am explaining it to show how incredible our God is.

It began two and a half weeks after my third ACL reconstruction surgery. For the first four months, rehab and physical therapy went amazingly well. My doctor and PT were convinced that my ACL would hold this time around. In April, I was cleared to start running and jumping again. I was ecstatic. It had been over a year since I had been able to do anything like that. However, about the same time, something in my knee began to catch and cause pain and once again I was forbidden to do anything that would that pain happen.

During the next four months, it went from an occasional problem to realizing something major was happening. It reached the point where I couldn’t even ride an exercise bike (which is one of the first exercises of rehab) because of the pain it caused. After being treated for tendonitis in my knee, nothing was helping and I knew something was wrong. The MRI came back with incredibly discouraging news.

Without rhyme or reason, my ACL had torn again. My doctor informed me that he had never seen someone who without continued sports had torn it four times. My two doctors began searching for answers and questioning their peers, trying to figure out why. Once again, the news was discouraging. No one had answers. The decision was made to have an exploratory surgery. They would go in to explore the inside of my knee, clean it up, and see what might be wrong. I spent the last four months visiting the doctors and trying to strengthen the rest of my body, since my knee was off limits. I had surgery on December 18th. In between all of this, I finished up my associates degree and have been working part time.

I am starting 2014 in a knee brace and fresh off crutches, strangely reminiscent of 2013. This year will be different. I have the next six months to recover and continue getting stronger. At that point, I will have another surgery. The doctors will replace my medial meniscus and my ACL. I am taking extra classes this spring, and am planning on transferring to the University of South Carolina to finish my bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management. By the end of 2014, my goal is to be able to easily run a mile.

This year was a struggle for me. It felt like I was continually spinning my wheels. The questions came faster than the answers. The pain was more dominant than ever before. Progress was replaced with regression. The discouragement and helplessness threatened to overtake me. I am not strong. I struggle with my attitude. I feel hopeless at times. One thing kept me going. God will NOT fail me. His plans are seamless. When all else fails, and believe me, it did, God is there to put me back together. God promises to never leave or forsake me. In fact, Joshua 1:9 encourages us to, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

At the end of the day, it is God’s strength that gets me through. He is my Rock. He is teaching me how to become more like Him. If you want to know how I am making it through this, then you ought to stop and get to know my Savior. He’s willing to be yours too.

"When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know,a
It is well, it is well, with my soul."

~Rachel

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 2, 2014 at 11:40 PM

    Great attitude Rachel. Keep the faith thought out your whole life and you will be climbing mountains!

    ReplyDelete

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