IN THE GAME
Setting Goals / Recovery
by Randy Krause
This article is going to be a bit different. I believe in sharing from my personal experience to help others learn from my successes and failures. On November 13 th , I had spinal fusion surgery of L4//L5. How did I get to this point? I have my father to thank for inheriting his messed up lower back. So, in part, I was gifted with this at birth. This article will lay out my surgery, the recovery, and where I am at today, with a focus on my mindset going into surgery and the recovery process. I am hoping that by sharing my story, others who may be putting off getting something taken care of will rethink their decision and lean into getting whatever may be bothering them taken care of. Quality of life is extremely important, and I know many of my brothers and sisters in the fire service are not addressing issues that may be affecting them, whether it is a knee, back, neck, shoulder or the many other parts of the body that could be creating a nagging injury. You continue to compensate for and put off because you are not sure what the other side of a surgery may look like. I am going to take you back to April 2023. I was participating in a gravel bike race in San Diego called the Belgium Waffle Ride or BWR San Diego. I originally signed up for the long course, but two weeks out from the event, I was experiencing some significant pain and weakness in my right knee, so I opted to do the medium distance of 78 miles. The day started out great, and I was feeling really good on the start line. These events are really amazing in that you get to line up with some of the top professionals in the country. I got to start with some of the best in the world at gravel racing. I will insert a caveat here as I am not even close to them in talent, but I am inspired by what they are able to do on a bike. Around 12 miles into the race, I had to dismount my bike and get in line with many others to navigate across a stream. When I got off the bike, my right knee buckled, and I fell to the ground. The pain I experienced was a 10 out of 10. What do you think I did next? Of course, I stood up, crossed the stream, and remounted my bike because that is what you do when you show up to finish something you started. I was in pain but was able to turn the pedals. With each pedal stroke, the pain was there, but something in my head said, “Well, if you can turn the pedals, you can finish this thing. “ The remaining 60+ miles were not fun but were manageable. I finished the event and could not walk to the car afterward and had to ride the bike with the help of my daughter to the car. This was a Sunday and when I got back to the hotel I called home. I had planned to travel home on Wednesday, but my wife convinced me to try to get into an orthopedic urgent
care on Monday back home. I called the urgent care and was able to get scheduled for their last appointment of the day at 7:00 P.M. on Monday. The evaluation at urgent care led to an appointment with a non-surgical doctor, and I got an MRI. The MRI showed a torn lateral/medial meniscus and a ruptured popliteus tendon. I soon met with the surgeon, and he advised no surgery necessary but recommended physical therapy. I started physical therapy for my knee right away. About two months into physical therapy, my legs started going numb, indicating that I may have a back issue. I soon learned that my knee issue was caused by nerve impingement in my lower back and scheduled an appointment with a back surgeon. More PT and a cortisone shot later, the realization of spinal fusion surgery was in my future. To be honest, I just wanted to be able to walk again without my legs going numb, so I was all in for surgery. The surgeon asked what I hoped to be able to do after surgery, and I said that I wanted to be able to run again and go hiking without the fear of falling due to weak or numb legs. The surgery went amazing, and I had to spend one night in the hospital. I was able to walk without a walker around the nurse’s station and had zero numbness in my legs for the first time in many months. I set many goals to strive for during my recovery. I wanted to be able to walk 3 miles within a week and ride my indoor bike trainer without pain as soon as possible. For those of you out there recoverying from something whether injury or illness, setting goals is really important during these situations. I reviewed many YouTube videos from others that had gone through a similar surgery, but to be honest, I did not see myself in any of them. So, I charted new territory for my personal journey of recovery. I am going to shorten some of this, but on the first day at home, I could only walk to the mailbox and back. Day 2 I made it to the end of my street and back. On day three, I walked one mile, and by the end of the first week, I was walking three miles. Also to note during the first week, I was able to pedal on my bike trainer for 15 minutes. I had set my mind to being able to do this, and although it was not very pretty or comfortable, I made myself do these things to achieve my goals. If you recall, I want to be able to run and hike without pain, weakness, or my legs going numb. The surgery went so well that I only took 1.5 weeks off from work, and by getting back in the office, it made me do things I did not want to do but it established a routine that I needed to accelerate my recovery. In addition to all the other activities to actively manage my recovery, getting back in the office as soon as possible was probably the single best mental barrier. It really hurt and was extremely
28 MAY- JUNE 2025 | ARFF NEWS
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker