Broken, but not defeated…..
These are some of my journal entries over the past week or two. Since I broke my finger I’ve had to deal with overcoming an obstacle that has the potential to really set my progress back. Although I’m unable to perform deadlifts or bench, I can focus on legs and abs (two of my weak points, in my opinion, anyway). Please understand that I am NOT looking for sympathy here. I want those with complications to know that you CAN and WILL overcome anything if you just keep your head on straight and bust your butt.
Journal entries…
3/24/2007
I was playing basketball on Friday afternoon and jammed my finger going up for a rebound. I played on for a minute or so ’cause it didn’t feel that bad. But when I looked down at my finger and it was sticking out at 45-degree angle. I jogged off the court and drove to a health clinic down the street. X-rays showed my 5th finger (pinky) on my right hand was broken in 3 places plus cartilage damage. I got a referral to see an orthopedic surgeon sometime this coming week. I obviously had to forego my back session on Friday.
I guess this is what I get for trying to incorporate some cardio in my training routine.
Call me stupid, stubborn, or whatever you want but I’m gonna do everything in my power to train. I’ve worked too f—-n’ hard and too f—-n’ long to let something like this drag me down. I won’t be able to stick to my current schedule so I need help with some modifications. Anything that involves gripping the bar is pretty much out for a while. My goal now is to concentrate on legs. I’ll probably train legs 2x a week until my finger heals. I used to do a Westside routine a few years ago that had me doing heavy legs one day and lighter explosive box squats 3 or 4 days later (along with other accessory exercises, of course). I’m thinking of going back to that.
Right now, I’ll do what it takes. Doing “nothing” is not an option.
3/27/2007
I saw the orthopedic doc today. He tried setting my finger but it’s f—ed. The joint is crushed and impacted into the bone below. He said he’ll have to put a plate and screws in it just to straighten it out. He also said that because of the way it’s broken, he may have to obtain a bone graft from my elbow to insert into my finger. I go under the knife either Thursday or Friday. After tomorrow’s upper body session, I guess I may need to take the rest of the week off from training. This f—ing sucks!!!
3/29/2007
Looks like it’s gonna be all legs for me for at least a few weeks. Had surgery today on the finger and the doc said it was a mess in there. He said it was broken in 3 places, crushed, impacted into the bone below it, and rotated 45 degrees. I have 2 pins and a piece of a cadaver bone in my finger now. They wrapped my hand with so much gauze I can’t even hold a fork or a toothbrush with it. I have to keep it on until April 12th. When I asked the Doc on Tuesday how long it would be until I was able to grip a barbell again, he said to give him 6 weeks. Looks like squats are my new best friend for a month or so…
