Lessons from ACL Reconstruction

As the basketball season rolled on at NB and girls started to tear their ACLs, I thought to myself what words of encouragement could I give? What did I learn from the experience? What advice could I give? Now that my sister has joined the group, I feel I need to get my thoughts down.

I didn't have the what's wrong factor some people go through after doing something to their knee. I knew it was the ACL and Kurt, my PT, and Dr. Jones, my surgeon, fully agreed. And then it was time for the pain and work to get back.

One of the first thing Kurt told me was that if I came in with a negative attitude, he would not work with me. That was blunt, but he told me it was going to be tough and that I needed to be positive if I was going to get back. There lies the 1st lesson: Optimism

During reconstruction and rebuilding your strength, you work with a lot of different people each wants to get you back to your full ability in the quickest timeframe, but they know you have to be back at a reasonable strength level and with a low chance of re-injury. However, at times you feel they aren't doing enough because you are feeling good, but this is what they went to school for and it's their reputation on the line based on your success. Which brings us to the 2nd & 3rd lessons: Listen & Trust

ACL reconstruction can take months, 6 months is the typical statement. It may be more it may be less, but it will take time and you will feel it at other times in the future as well. That's a lot of time to stay focused, keep working and having patience that you will get back. After surgery the muscle in your surgery leg seems to disappear, it is crazy. You want that leg muscle back and it's painful, but you can't rush and you have to work through some of the pain, you've got to take the necessary time to get back and make sure it heals properly and is strong enough. This is a time to learn proper form, learn the game you are going back for more throughly, it will make you better as a whole. The next lesson is three-fold: Perseverance, Hard Work & Mental Toughness

As an athlete, you are a member of a team, most likely an active member if you got hurt. You have a role you filled and now it's changed. You can't just jump out and play, you've become a the injured reserve. This can be incredibly hard, but you've got to find a way to be positive and encouraging to your team, you can't sit and sulk and feel sorry for yourself. This is your chance to express how much you can support your team, learn the game further, offer advice to a teammate, but remember to be active. WANT to be a part of the team, injured or not. Final lesson: Be a Team Player

Through the rehab process you'll meet people who are going to support you and drive you to get better. You'll have to take rehab on head on and commit your efforts and focus into improving each day. Celebrate the small things like bending your knee a few more degrees, getting to full rotations on the bike or adding weight to your squats. No 2 rehabs are the same, so don't compare your progress to someone else going through the same process, you've got to go at the pace you can handle based on your PT's advice. Frustrations will come, as will tears, but how you react will determine your success. But remember, that knee has to get you through the rest of your life, take care of it!

Things I've Learned This School Year

**Please note that these learnings are not academic.

• In my sixth year of higher-ed, I have discovered I have nearly mastered the art of procrastination when it comes to academics. 
• In the past week, I have completed my grandpa's slideshow, baked cookies (twice) and cleaned anything and everything, but still have a lot of homework to do.
• Undergrads now-a-days do not know what citing sources is.
• Evidently, citing sources has been eliminated from HS curriculum. After teaching this past year, I have had to deal with arguments that copy and pasting a website at the end of the paper is citing. NO! If facts or quotes are used they probably came from somewhere, so cite it, otherwise it's plagiarism!
• The straightest distance between two points in straight line, therefore crosswalks take too long.
• I'm from small town Iowa, went to a small college and crosswalks were never used. I find them to be out of the way and to take too long, so yes I jaywalk 9 out of 10 times, because I don't like to wait.
• I'm getting older.
• Therefore, I need more sleep than I used to get and midnight is too late. Also my body doesn't bounce back as quickly from playing too much volleyball or stupid little nagging injuries, seriously! Also I like my coffee black...old I'm telling you!
• My brother has better fashion sense than me...evidently I got Jeff's genes there.
• Every once and awhile I check my oil when I get gas.
• This is to appease Greg and my grandpa (cause I would guess he is watching me). However, I have no idea what I would do if it read it was low on oil...probably call Mark.
• Patience & Faith.
• I'm not always good with these, but my Grandpa Mouw reminds me of this whenever I talk to him. Thank goodness I have this reminder.

Well that's what I have for now, but everyday is a learning day.

Happy Mother's Day!

I thought I'd take the time on this lovely Mother's Day to thank my mom for all she has taught me about myself over the 24.5 years we have spent together. Without her, I may not have been able to to figure this all out!

1. She's my favorite.
My mom has 4 wonderful kids, each with their own personality, but it seems the 3rd child gets a bit more attention. Why you make ask? Well according to my mom, she is the favorite. This statement was reinforced by the card Leah received on Valentine's day, see image on the right.

2. I am huge.
About a year or so ago, Leah so kindly took my seat after I stood up, well of course I sat on her for doing this. After Leah's squeal of aggravation, my mom looks at me and tells me to get off of her because I am huge! Really mom?? Huge is not a substitution for tall! However, I did sit on the favorite, refer to #1.

3. I am uncoordinated.For many years of my childhood I wanted to be in dance with all my friends, but my mom didn't like it and never let me join. She tells me later in life it was because I was uncoordinated and she didn't want me to embarrass myself...thanks mom. Why did you let me be in gymnastics? That requires a lot of coordination too...thank god for participation trophies!

4. I have no butt in dress pants.
Last fall, after I walked across the whole U of I campus to find the emergency room my grandpa was in, my mom's first reaction to seeing my sweating face in a business suit is that I have not butt in dress pants. Why thank you, I am glad to see you too!

5. Stray animals easily become pets.
Well, let's see. Every one of the animals my family has adopted in the past...all my life...has been a stray or abandoned animal. The ones that land on our porch are the most adoptable and I guess can be easily converted. My mom is too much of a softy to let the animals to starve or be cold and to be honest my dad is the same way (but he'll never admit that!).

6. Family is #1.
My mom would drop nearly anything if her family needs her. Whether it is a sporting or fine arts event, birthday or medical happening, she wants to support her family. This is something she has transferred on to her kids as well. I will make trips home to see Leah and Daniel's events or trips to see my grandparents, David does the same thing. And I am willing to bet Leah will be the same next year as she journeys off to college.


7. When I was your age...After graduation from Central, I complained about the job search, etc. Typical stuff. However, my mom's response often was at your age, I was married, commuted to school...blah, blah the list went on. She had a way of making feel like I needed to do more/have motivation to keep fighting for what I want. However, too bad for you mom, I will still complain & you'll have to listen! :)

8. I say it how it is.
My mom seems to think this is kind of annoying or rude. But has she met my father? I learned all I know from him. And just for the record, I do better at keeping my volume down and holding my tongue than he does!
I figured Mother's Day was a chance for me to not let you down & 'say it how it is'. Thank you for being a wonderful and supportive mom for all of us & Happy Mother's Day! :)

Oregon in Review

After being back in Iowa for a few weeks ad feeling a little more settled, I have had time to reflect on the time in Oregon. So here are a few things that were learned or worth remembering.

Pumping your own gas is against the law in the state of Oregon.I was not a big fan of this law, it meant that you had to wait longer to get gas while the 1, maybe 2 gas attendants filled all the tanks. Plus the chance of getting your windows washed was like 1 in 459!

Roadsharing signs don't mean anything to drivers.There are plenty of 'Share the Road' signs throughout Oregon and in places there are even nicely paved bike lanes. I figured riding my bike would be pretty relaxed, considering all the signs. But after a few close calls, I decided the drivers don't seem to understand road sharing. In a lot of places the shoulder really didn't exist and I would ride as tight to the white line as possible, but logging trucks do not move over and it freaked me out way too many times!

Crosswalks are for real.Something that took me the entire time I was in Oregon to adjust to was the use of crosswalks. Pedestrians would just go, because the cars were expected to stop. I never really trusted that theory and most the time I would stop at the corner waiting for the car to go, but then the car would suddenly stop and I would have to take off across the road. As a driver, I had to stay aware because at any time a pedestrian could keep coming and I would be expected to stop. It led to many awkward times for me and my roommates who also were not accustomed to it.

Rain, Rain & More Rain.It rained everyday. Seeing the sun for 45 minutes in a week was sometimes a miracle! When I was told it rained, but didn't snow I didn't think it would be that bad. I underestimated the gray-ness of rain. It was very annoying to constantly have wet pants, shoes, socks, etc. I also heard from someone that true Oregonians don't use umbrellas. I can say I wasn't a true Oregonian by those standards. I had an umbrella with me at all times, my umbrella probably saw more use this year than it has in its entire lifespan! However, I also know that this was an abnormal year in rain totals, cold and snow for the Portland area, but I am not a fan of the rain!

Population of 20,000+When I interviewed, I was told Forest Grove had a population of 20,000. In my mind that was a pretty good sized town, I mean 20 times the size of Greene! I also figured it would have stores, restaurants and other 'big' city things. This was all a dream. Forest Grove did have a chain grocery store, but that was pretty much it. If you wanted anything else, you had to drive to Hillsboro or Beaverton. Kind of annoying, but I guess it is relative. In Iowa, that size of town would have all that stuff, but in Oregon it wasn't big enough to house all of those stores.

Regional food cravings.Almond bark was pretty much an unknown in Oregon. I thought it was surprising, but it was a lesson in regional markets, which may be helpful in grad school. I also learned cheeseballs are also a regional thing. Lastly, the name for maidrites, as I have always called them, is very confusing to others. I made dinner for a bunch of people one night and I said I was making maidrites, several admitted after they got there that they had know idea what I was making. It was an interesting discussion as we came up for all the different names they called them.

Overall, it was a good experience. I learned about a region that is a lot different than the midwest, I also learned how I would and wouldn't manage people in the future. During the 10 months in Oregon, I think I also realized what I find more important in life and one of those things is being closer to my family. I want the opportunity to go home for an important thing in my siblings' lives or to just be able to stop by and see everyone. I had a great first year out of undergrad, I visited 15 states, I visited my family on the west coast, I met some great people, I had my first full time job, I learned how to manage my own expenses and I had the support of my family throughout. What more can I ask for?

ACL Story--5 Years Later

5-years ago today, I was a senior playing high school basketball for one of the best teams in the state of Iowa. However, in one step that can all change and it did. Tearing my ACL was not how I planned on ending my high school playing time, but sometimes things happen for a reason. And that reason isn't obvious until years later.

As time goes by I realize there was a reason it happened and I realize there is more to life than sports. Sports will come to an end, but it's what you take away from it that shapes you in the future. I became stronger as a person and mentally prepared to take on new challenges. Going through rehab you literally learn to walk again. It was definitely discouraging at times and I wondered why I continued to push through it, but I honestly can say I am a better person because of it and am very grateful for my orthopedic surgeon, those close to me and the physical therapists I worked with continued to push me. My knee is stronger than it was and I am still able to play the sports I enjoy.

Below is a story I had to write in my Lit class freshman year at Central. It is called a Mystory and it is written in fragment style. A mystory is a combination of an old story tied in with a personal story and the fragment style is written in more of a random thoughts format (much more my style!). I chose to tie together The Little Engine That Could and my ACL story, it was still something that weighed a lot on my mind because it had only been about 10 months since I had had surgery but I was playing college volleyball! How blessed I was!


I Think I Can I Think I Can
On the FloorBroken Down
Everything is going good one moment, the next one wonders what else could happen. Leaving them to wonder what comes next. Everything in their world has halted, while the rest of the world continues.


1. “She puffed along merrily. Then all of a sudden she stopped with a jerk. She simply could not go another inch. She tried and she tried, but her wheels would not turn.”
-- The Little Engine That Could Watty Piper
I am driving down the floor, I see the open girl, I am stopping…”POP!” I hear as a fall to the floor, a massive amount of thoughts are going through my head. “I am done, I did what Indy did.” I tore my anterior cruciate ligament, tears are flooding into my eyes, I heard the crowd gasp together. Everyone is looking at me laying on the floor, they do not know what I did, but I do. Everything was going so good, I was playing for the number one team in the state and now in this split second my world is stopped.

2. “It is now one-hundred years since the earliest known publication, by an unknown author, or the story of the determined little engine.”
-- Roy E. Plotnick
I was the second one on my team to tear my anterior cruciate ligament; everyone knew the story, they did not need an author. The author of The Little Engine That Could is unknown, but everyone knows the story. Between Indy and I people have learned the story behind tearing your anterior cruciate ligament, they get it, but do not care who is telling it. I want to get my story out, but it is the same; a new edition of the same story. The Little Engine That Could was revised and retold, but the story is same.

Finding HelpI think I can I think I can
After falling one has to get up again, but finding the courage to do it is hard. Having outside support and becoming mentally strong are big factors. It is all about convincing one’s self that you can do it.

1. “And she thought of the good little boys and girls on the other side of the mountain who would not have any toys or good food unless she help.”
-- The Little Engine That Could Watty Piper
I knew I could not do this on my own, I needed help. After surgery I did not know how I would ever be able to play again. My parents found me the best physical therapist in the area. I just wanted it to be over with I did not want to go through all the pain to getting better. Kurt and the therapy crew told me I could not get down I had to be set on getting back. I knew they were right I had to convince myself to work as hard as possible. They were the help I needed and I all I had to do was listen and follow their instructions and they would have me back in playing conditions.

2. “I think I can—I think I can—I think I can—I think I can….”
-- The Little Engine That Could Watty Piper
I continued through therapy three times a week, knowing I needed to keep working hard. It was tiring, at times I did get down. I wanted to be playing with my team, who continued to win without me. I was feeling left out, but knew the only way I could get stronger was by going to therapy. Lifting, balancing, walking, jumping and running were all really hard to me I had to preserve through the pain to get where I wanted to go. Whenever anyone asked me how I was, I replied “Great” or “Super”. It was my way of convincing myself that everything was going well, I just needed to keep working.

Coming BackI thought I could
After falling, it is hard to get back on your horse. It is for the personal satisfaction of succeeding. Overcoming the fear is the biggest step in coming back, but it can be done. Just have confidence and the rest falls into place.

1. “Children and adults continue to be reminded that good behavior brings rewards; and that with perseverance, hard work, and self-confidence even the smallest and least likely candidate can achieve great things.”
-- Charles A. Smith
As I continued through therapy I became more confident that I could come back and play. I wanted to come back and show everyone that I was fine and nothing had changed. I may not have been the star on my team, but I knew how to work hard. I had been working hard everyday I stepped into therapy I was there to get better and stronger. I was the sweatiest person there, it was an ongoing joke, but I got a towel out of it. After coming for 4 months they could tell I was serious about getting back in time for softball. I had watched my team win a state championship in basketball and set records at track meets, I was not going to sit out anymore; I was coming back.

2. “And the Little Blue Engine smiled and seemed to say as she puffed steadily down the mountain. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could.”
-- The Little Engine That Could Watty Piper
I did it; after four months and two weeks of struggling physically and emotionally I was cleared to participate again. The first day of softball practice I was there with my team. Carry an extra load, a knee brace, but my spirit was high. I had the people who doubted my ability to comeback, but I knew I could the whole time. For this I smiled, I did not need to rub it in their faces; I just needed to play for my own enjoyment. I had succeed at what I wanted to do for myself.

Gratefulness Challenge

I would like to issue a challenge to anyone who reads this. It is rather simple and I think you will find it to be rewarding. Try it for awhile, say until Thanksgiving, and I bet it will become part of your routine.

The challenge is this, grab a small notebook and keep it on your nightstand or a place you will see it each day. Then make it a point everyday to write something you are grateful for. Challenge yourself to come up with at least three a day, if you have more great write them down. At first it might seem a little awkward, bu as you get into it I think you will realize it will become easier and as you go through your day you will recognize things (tangible or intangible) you are grateful for.

Here is a little info I found about gratitude:

"Science tells us that an "attitude of gratitude" is a good health choice. Being more grateful more often makes us happier and more optimistic. But gratitude also adds to the bottom line - in very real ways. And the best news about gratitude is that it requires little time and no money."

Here are five reasons gratitude improves your life:

1. Gratitude reduces negativity

- When you realize what you are grateful for you can see more positives in a situation.

2. Gratitude helps us learn.

- See the silver-lining, every problem has an opportunity for us to learn.

3. Gratitude improves relationships.

- Let people know how grateful you are for them being in your life and what they do.

4. Gratitude attracts what we want.

- When you are conscious of the blessings in your life, you attract more the same thing.

5. Gratitude improves problem solving skills.

- You will enter a situation with a perspective of improvement & opportunity rather than challenge.

There is so much to be grateful for, just take the challenge and you will notice the gifts you have been given in your life!

Thoughts After Graduation

As I look back on my time at Central there are a few things I find important that I wish I would have figured out sooner. These 10 thoughts are something I want my siblings to know when they start their higher education.


1. Take your education seriously from Day #1.
It took me a while to get into the whole groove of college level studying, but I wish I would have learned it sooner because I wouldn't have to have the disappointment of being .03 off of graduating with honors.

2. Take advantage of opportunities.
If you get the chance to study off campus-do it! To participate in a club, team or campus activity-do it! Each opportunity is a new chance to learn or meet new people.

3. Ask questions and for advice.
Take advantage of knowledgeable sources. Don't hesitate to ask questions when you don't understand, it helps you learn! Ask for advice, a fresh opinion is always helpful.

4. Create a network.
Early on you won't understand why this is so important, but when you start looking for internships and jobs it will be. The saying, "It's not what you know, it's who you know", seems to be more and more true each and every job I apply to.

5. Remember gratitude and time management.
Thank those who help you and be grateful for everything you receive, learn and already have. Have a planner and manage your time well, it will reduce your stress. And always remember it will all get done, it always does if you work at it!

6. Enjoy the time you have as a student.
This is one of the last times, if not the last, you get to live with a bunch of friends, play competitive athletics and live a little carefree. After graduation you have to start taking more responsibility for your life, as do your friends. Each of you will take a career path you have chosen and it may not be in the same place. So enjoy the student lifestyle while you are in it!

7. Make your own decisions.
You know what your heart, gut and head are telling you, so listen! Don't let mom and dad make the decisions for you. Do what you will enjoy and go where you feel comfortable!

8. Do something you are passionate about.
Choose a major you enjoy. Why waste your time learning something you don't find delight in? If you don't like studying it chances are you won't like it as a career.

9. Believe in your abilities.
Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something! If you know you can, you will be successful. In everything you do, do your best and don't waste your talent!

10. Do what you say you will.
Nothing is more annoying than working with someone who says they will do something, but then never does. Make sure if you say you will do something you do it! Follow through on each task you set out to do and you will gain trust from those you work with and your levels of achievement will be higher.