Tess: “I was rear-ended. Twice.”

I was two months postpartum. My van was brand new, as old as my 2-month old son. I had rotated to shoulder check when I was rear-ended, which messed up my whole left side. Injured hip, shoulder pain, massive migraines, whiplash, damaged thumb tendon... 

7 months later, October 2019, I was finished my physio sessions with Kyle. Most of my injuries were better. I even tried a hike with the family—had to turn back halfway, but it was so much better than where I'd been before, when I couldn't stand or even sit in the same position for more than a few minutes. I was on the mend.

And then…

The light turned yellow. I braked, slowly rolling to a stop, when a car came out of nowhere and hit me full speed—60 to 70 km an hour. I stumbled out of the car, my children screaming in the backseat. My neck and back were so painful. I'd injured my hand again, and this time, the migraines were worse. Constant. My hip, my knee, my ankles... and on top of that, a serious concussion that made ordinary noises sound unbearable. It was so difficult to cope with everyday life. I used a cane for the next month, waiting for ICBC to approve my claim so I could go re-start physiotherapy with Kyle. 

Then, I woke up one night and couldn't walk. My lower back and hip were so painful, I was in a wheelchair for 3 weeks. X-rays showed nothing. I was miserable. My marriage got rocky, then rockier, as my husband felt helpless in the severity of my pain, and I was too miserable to feel useful or to be optimistic. 

Life: “Please hold, your body is broken.”

Everything was hard to do. I couldn't shower, because I couldn't stand for long periods. Sitting on the toilet felt more like falling onto the toilet, never mind trying to get up off it. I couldn't carry groceries, so shopping was out of the question. No sweeping. No cleaning.  My parents came to my house to babysit. The times I had to go out with the kids, I had to struggle through the pain to get them in and out of the car while wrestling with the stroller. By the time they were finally strapped in, I would stay parked, brought to tears by the throbbing pain.

My son was delayed crawling, because I couldn't get down on the floor to do tummy time with him. 

No cooking. I fed my kids anything and everything prepackaged—whatever I could easily unwrap and hand them. Sometimes, we ordered food in 3 times a day. 

I cut my long hair short, because I couldn't brush it.

The Long Recovery

Fortunately, by the time I returned to Kyle, I was walking with a cane again. He set me up with spinal decompression—a traction table, which relieved the compressed disc in my lower back. After just the first session, I felt such a difference. First, I went to the clinic twice a week, then once a week as I started to recover. We found evidence of arthritis in my back—something I'd never had before the accidents. We did acupuncture, hip mobilizations. 

Two months ago, I started active rehab. It helps to have a kinesiologist walk you through the exercises. He pushes me, corrects my posture. He keeps me accountable. I definitely would not exercise this regularly or this hard on my own!

One month ago I started to see Jag for massage. Now, with all 3 disciplines; physio = repair, massage = relax, and active rehab = strengthen... my body feels different for 3 days afterward. Better and better each time. My stress is lower. My family notices that I'm more relaxed. I can work and move around the house better. I'm less tense. 

I saw a counsellor, too. Driving brought on panic attacks whenever someone honked; I thought they were criticizing me. I was plagued with self-doubt and fear. Two accidents in 7 months: were they my fault? My kids had been in the car. It broke my heart that they had been hurt, too. They were anxious to get in the car. I'm sure they picked up on my anxiety. I knew my marriage would benefit from me working out all the emotions of my pain, and the accidents. Talking it out with someone who wasn't my immediate family helped bring some perspective. I learned how to cope. I learned how to move forward. 

I talked with Kyle and Jag, too. They were like secondary counsellors. What else can you do when you see someone once a week for months on end? We talk about TV shows. We show each other pictures of our kids. While I was getting traction, Kyle showed me a video of his tiger toddler going trick-or-treating for the first time. It was great, and not just because she was so cute. We connected, not just as a practitioner and a patient, but as parents of little ones, sharing the joys of those first-time, so-cute-you-watch-on-repeat moments. 

Christmas 2019

Looking Forward

I'm not exaggerating when I say it's the highlight of my week when I visit the clinic. Back-to-back physio and massage appointments. I know they care about my recovery. They're excited by my progress. 

I haven't had a headache in a whole week—that's so different than 5-6 headaches a day. Since my last accident, I've gone through 10—TEN—bottles of Tylenol. One day, I'll look forward to the point when I don't have to take pain meds every day. My poor liver. 

I think I'll be even better than before: better spinal flexibility, better awareness of my body's mechanics and how it moves. Two of my friends have been in accidents recently, and they complain to me a lot about how much pain they're in—and how their physiotherapy treatments aren't providing any relief. 

I've told them to come see Kyle and Jag.