A Journey With Cerebral Palsy

I had spent three weeks working on healing an injury. The injury was in the upper half of my right leg and inhibited my ability to bend at the waist. When this injury original popped up and started becoming an issue, it was the end of April. I knew, at that point in time, my weekend trip to play golf in La Grande was coming soon. The trip was planned for the first week in June. This was going to be the fifth year of making the annual trip. To have incurred an injury within such close proximity to the trip was worrisome. It left me somewhere around four weeks to heal the muscle, as much as would be achievable. My goal was to be pain free by the time I left for La Grande. Even though, something inside of me realized that was probably a dream. Information came back that healing the injury would probably take between four and six weeks. If I made it a priority, maybe I could achieve good recovery around the shorter end of the time scale. With my passion for golf and excitement over this trip, each year. I was resolute in doing the work to reduce the amount of pain in my right leg. With the help of chiropractic care and work with a trainer. It was also suggested to use a foam roller on the leg each day. While, keeping to the routine with chiropractic care and the trainer would be nothing out of the ordinary. The challenge in discipline for me, would be sticking to the daily foam rolling. 

My foam rolling happened each evening in the month of May. Only missing on one of those evenings. Keeping with the discipline of working through the injury was a success. I had come to the third week of the month experiencing steady improvements in my right leg. Historically, during the previous years of traveling for the La Grande tournament, I would play golf leading up to the weekend. Usually, including a couple day trips to play at my favorite course. The ritual of playing some golf in May had become another thing about the La Grande trip, I had gotten used to being excited about. This year wasn’t going to look the same, as years previously. With my work being done to reduce the pain of my injury, I didn’t know if I would play golf in May. When time began running out on the opportunity to play before going, I began getting concerned. It felt to me, as though trying to play at least one time in May, was important. I felt it was important to put my leg through the test of golf, prior to leaving for La Grande. Whatever might occur on the golf course, I was ninety percent sure, canceling wasn’t going to be necessary. What I did feel, was the necessity of finding out how painful it might be to play golf. Keeping in mind that, even following the playing of golf, I would still have about a week of time to continue my recovery process.  I set out to play golf during the latter part of the third week, in May.

The entire drive up to Suncadia on that Thursday afternoon, was full of anticipation. Along with the feelings of anxiety over how painful the day might be. Questions even circled around my mind regarding making it through the entire round. I had brought the Advil, just in case the pain got to be too great. However, the other parts of my emotions quietly reminded me of the progress being made in the previous weeks. My right leg was truly starting to come along in feeling better. Providing me with the confidence of testing the right leg out, with an afternoon of golf. When I arrived on the first tee, to start play for the afternoon. There was a strong feeling that I was about to face a moment of truth. The first swing of the golf club was going to answer some questions about the pain of the day. I walked up to the teeing ground and bent at the waist to place the tee in the grass. This part, I knew was going to cause pain, because everything involving bending at the waist, had become painful. Still, the teeing up of the ball on the first tee, didn’t feel so bad. At least, not as painful as I was expecting. Once the golf ball was set on the tee and ready to be struck. I stood and backed away from the elevated golf ball. The moment of truth was upon me, to take my first practice swing. 

It probably would have been smart to take a couple practice swings before driving all the way up to Suncadia, but I didn’t try that. So, now I had placed myself in a relatively awkward position. Having already paid for a round of golf, without truly knowing how swinging a club would feel, on a pain scale. I thought if the golf swing hurt too much, I could take Advil, and hopefully continue playing. When I placed the tee in the ground and stood back. It was time for me to take my first practice swings, since the injury occurred. My heart felt heavy with concern. I wanted to enjoy my round of golf with minimal pain and hoped for signs that traveling to La Grande for the tournament would work out positively. I took the club back to begin my first swing. There was no pain in my rotation to complete the back swing. Hopefulness filled my emotions as I reached the extension of taking the club back. Embracing for the acceleration of firing the golf club through the hitting zone. I figured simulating the motion of impacting the golf ball could be a painful aspect of playing. In finishing my golf swing the information came back to my brain clean. There was no pain involved in my first full golf swing, since the injury. Feeling the absence of pain, I took another couple practice swings in succession. Still, there was no pain during my full golf swing. The next question would be stepping up to hit the golf ball. 

With the confidence gained from the painless practice swings. I stepped up to the teed-up golf ball on the first hole, hoping the impact with the golf ball would result in no pain, as well. When I accelerated through the hitting zone, the ball went flying in an ideal arc. Landing in the middle of the first fairway. There would be no pain involved with hitting the ball off the tee. The pain struck me again, when I bent over to pick the tee off the grass. Another bend at the waist causing pain in the hip. The biggest lesson learned from that first golf shot was, the painful part of playing golf, wasn’t going to be the actual swinging of the golf club. The most painful aspect of playing golf was going to occur when bending at the waist. Which, happened to include the time spend trying to balance the golf ball on the tee top. However, when I got a few holes into the day of golf. My playing partner gave me something to provide ease when trying to balance my golf ball on the tees top. I was handed a kind of tee that I had never used before and had only vaguely heard of its existence. The form of tee is called a margarita tee, which has a larger top, than a regular wooden golf tee. It helped me place the ball on the tee top without spending the extra time of making sure the ball was balanced. The golf ball sat on the margarita tee easily, giving me the ability to lean down and stand up more quickly. Taking any added pressure of balancing off the right leg. The margarita tee helped ease my pain during the golf day.

There was a final step to the experiment of playing golf before the La Grande trip. Something I didn’t think about happening until thinking back on the day. I was having trouble with accepting impact with the ground. Most of my golf swings with an iron in my hand, weren’t being struck well. Most of them were being hit thinly, mostly being topped. I was having trouble bringing myself to experience full impact with the fairway. Something almost impossible to avoid if I want to hit a good shot, with an iron. Throughout the day, I found myself reaching for a fairway wood or hybrid club whenever possible. Using those types of golf clubs causes more of a sweeping motion, to get good contact. Saving me from making too much direct impact with the ground. My hip was still sore and the pain was increasing with each bend of the waist. That soreness and fatigue left my right hip feeling weak. I didn’t feel the strength to drive my right hip through the zone of impact. Especially, if it could get a jolt from the impact of the turf. The strange aspect of the scenario was making these adjustments without really thinking about them. I was striking good shots off the teeing ground, with both my woods and irons, but was having trouble when the ground came into play, on the fairway. It took me reflecting back on the round of golf to realize the precautions I was automatically executing to protect my right hip and leg.

Even with that extra bit of caution in the fairways. The day of golf showed the distance I had traveled with my injury. The work of foam rolling my right leg, each day in the first few weeks of May, had worked. The leg would not be pain free by the time I traveled to La Grande. As my trial day of golf showed that pain still persisted when bending at the waist. The day did prove I could make a number of golf swings without feeling the pain. Sure, my full authority when swinging a golf club would not be in place. With the injury limiting my explosiveness with my right hip and leg. However, I found the ability to play and contribute in La Grande, would not be taken. The use of the margarita tee would also help my cause on the golfing trip. It was a huge help for my playing partner to place the alternate type of tee in my hands. The margarita tee would limit the pressure of bending at the waist on the trip. Saving me time of balancing, while trying to place the golf ball onto the normal wooden tee top. On the drive, back home from the golf in Suncadia, the feeling inside was one of relief. Yes, I was feeling pain in my leg from the day of golf, but happy with the knowledge that I would be able to play. I still had another week of foam rolling my injury before our departure. The trip was a go and I could finally look forward to it, without worry.