Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Pain.

Today has been pretty damn rough.

One of the things about being involved in the Warrior Games is that all of us whom are here have experienced some type of lasting injury to our bodies.

I have a fairly large amount of nerve damage in my lower abdomen and groin area. 4 abdominal surgeries including scar tissue removal, nerve re-sectioning, and a couple of hernia repairs all contribute to chronic pain that I will have to deal with the rest of my life.

If you do not have chronic pain, and have never dealt with constant pain for an extended period of time, you may not understand how it alters your life.

Every aspect of your body can be influenced by chronic pain. Pain changes your attitude and prevents you from just being happy.

It has changed my sleep patterns, created bouts of depression, and made me much more quick to snap at people whom I interact with.

I have used acupuncture, hot stone massages, yoga, chiropractors, meditation, and a myriad of pharmaceuticals, all with little to no success.

Even as I site here working on this entry, I am fighting a large amount of pain.

Sitting volleyball really works on your groin, lower abdomen and hip muscles. It takes great tenacity to play the sport and even those with very mild injuries sometimes struggle to get the hang of it.

I spent a large amount of this afternoons practice helping the team workout while avoiding stressing my hips. My body might be able to handle wheelchair basketball due to the fact that my legs eventually go numb, but the sitting volleyball is uniquely demanding.

 Tomorrow I will get to experience the shooting team and get familiar with the different weapons we will be using during competetion.

I hope that I can get some sleep tonight, but only time will tell.

I'm off to sit in the sauna and attempt to decompress.

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