Recovery Management

My thanks to Lezah for editing this post.

In April, when I found out about the damage in my foot, my doctor said I couldn’t do karate for the foreseeable future. At a minimum, I was in a boot 3 weeks while we got an MRI and scheduled a follow up with him. This came up about 3.5 weeks before the first of two pre-tests for the black belt exam. 

I made it through all the tests and got the boot off a few days before the 2nd pre-test in June. A few people tried to talk me into trying to pre-test. As I hadn’t really been able to work on any material since the end of April, I knew that there was no way I would be prepared.

July was an exceptionally busy month. I knew it would be pretty busy going in and, to manage my autoimmune and energy, I accounted for the known busyness in the way I structured time management. 

On July 4th, I learned that I would indeed be testing for black belt. Because stability is not up-to-par, I would not be doing partner work of any type and would only do one kata. 

I hadn’t done that kata since April. So, after getting together with the ladies to celebrate the holiday, I came home and started working on it.

I looked at the calendar and pushed anything I could to August so that I could add in more training. I knew I would be borrowing against future energy to push through to the test. 

My testing classmates welcomed me back to the group, helped me get to the right mindset and encouraged me pretty much every class. There was also some joking about my “elaborately faked injury”. My friends outside of karate encouraged me in many ways, including prayer to get ready and take the test, as well as threats if I were to hurt myself and, thereby, miss the test. One cannot ask for better friends.

Less than 2 weeks before the test, I still couldn’t stay balanced during kata. Sensei gave me analysis on the problem and it took me the next week or more to get consistent about not pitching forward or sideways. 

In the middle of that training, we had some events that gave me insight on how the change in stepping was coming along. While it’s not perfect and there are times when I can still feel the bone poke my flesh, I am getting better about putting my weight/ center of balance on the other section of my foot. So, I started back to partner work, slowly, before the test. Balance is still an issue there but my classmates are good partners, willing to go slow and let me figure it out.

I have almost no memory of the test itself. From the time that I got up from seiza to the end of the kata, I was only aware of a very few things. I’ll have to see the video, when it becomes available, to see how I performed. I heard that the kata looked good and I passed the test so that’s all good.

Last week, I pushed through those things that I had scheduled in August in order to get through July. The next two weeks, my focus is on recovery.

As I expected, my energy reserves are depleted. Fatigue is my constant companion and my immune system is low. Every morning I assess what it will take to get through today without getting sick. My body gives indications that I have learned to read over many rounds of low immunity. 

Inflammation was high for most of July and it has been backing off over the last week, so that is an improvement. 

It’s not my first time through this so I was prepared. Most of my activities will be low key, sitting at the table or on the couch. I sleep a lot right now. There is nap time built in to every weekend and sometimes on lunch breaks. I have meals in the freezer and the individually packaged salads that grocery stores now offer are stacked in my fridge.

It is interesting how, in the midst of fatigue, there are days when it is hard to sleep without activity. I will still take some karate classes or do some work at the gym because the activity helps my body relax enough to sleep well. It won’t be at the intensity or frequency of classes in July, to be sure.

But, I may have to skip other activities in order to manage. Some activities will take me longer to accomplish than they might normally, as I will complete them in stages. (For instance, I typically do almost all of the household laundry in one day. I am on day 3 of working my way through it right now.) 

It doesn’t mean that I am unavailable or unwilling to socialize or participate in events; it just means that I have to be deliberate about choosing activities and there is a greater risk that I could cancel at the last minute due to health concerns.

I have been asked what people can do to help. Prayer is the biggest thing. Please pray for me to have wisdom about choosing activity and for the fatigue to begin to lift. 

I have become less shy about asking for help and I know who has been offering. If I come up with a need, I will definitely reach out. 

I greatly appreciate the care and concern.