I'm Back! The Story of The Past Three Months

It's been three months since I wrote on this blog.  I've missed writing here so much, but struggled with deciding whether or not I should come back.  You see, when I moved out of my house and to college more then three months ago, I didn't really know what to expect.  But I ended up having the best and worst first semester possible.  

Let me explain.

The Highlights:

1) I moved in during the big hurricane that hit the northeast during August.  I know what you're thinking, how is this a highlight?  And it actually was terrible.  I had no umbrella because apparently that was the one thing I forgot and the power went out on our second day, leaving us with no way to charge our phones and eventually no hot water to shower.  However, the fact that we had no power made me able to meet some of my best friends in college.  With nothing to do, we ended up just walking into each others room and introducing ourselves.  I think without the hurricane issue, we wouldn't have been so eager to meet each other.

2) I was already recruited to swim at my college back before I got accepted, but being a part of the team was one of the best experiences ever.  I'm so glad I decided to be a part of the team, because I met some of my other best friends.  Our memories were really great.

 There's so many other highlights, way too many to even explain.  From the 1 AM trips to wawa with my friends, to the time I fell all the way down a flight of stairs at a party and ended up with a massive bruise on my butt, to homecoming.  It was really a wonderful first semester and I'm really excited to go back at the end of January....

.... which brings me to the lowlights.  Most swimmers have to go back in the beginning of January to train. Let me explain why I won't be going back then....

The Lowlights

1) The second week of school I got bronchitis.  This isn't really news for me, because I get it a lot, and I actually have it now too so it really isn't a huge deal.

2)  Towards the end of October, I started experiencing intense shoulder pain when I trained for swimming. I had experienced some pain in April of this year, but nothing like this.  I kept swimming, just modifying when I needed to.  But in the beginning of October, I couldn't sleep at night and could barely lift my arm over my head.  Not good.  Over fall break, I got an MRI and was told that I had a multidirectional problem. I was told I'd be out of swimming through December and would need to do physical therapy.  I was obviously upset that I wouldn't be able to compete in our first few meets, but I took it very seriously.  I was also told if it didn't improve I would most likely need surgery in January.  As the weeks went by, I went to one hour of PT everyday in our sports medicine department.  I also continued training, kicking in the pool or biking for 90-120 minutes everyday.  But my shoulder wasn't getting any better, and surgery seemed like the only viable option.  I set up a second appointment with a doctor in NYC to get another opinion.  He told me I had been misdiagnosed and that I had a nerve impingement in my shoulder.  This means a sac in my shoulder is filled with fluid, causing rubbing with the bone and nerve and thus causing intense pain.  He told me if I had been diagnosed correctly I would have been back in the pool, but because I wasn't I'd be out until March.  It was incredibly upsetting to hear this, but I planned to just focus on next season and continue to bike and kick.

3)  I didn't get a chance to do that though.  The day I got back from Thanksgiving, I tripped on the stairs coming out of my Psych class and heard a huge crack in my foot.  Apparently, but luck got worse because I broke my foot.  They thought I was going to need surgery on that too, but again, I got lucky.  

I know I should be incredibly happy I won't need surgery in either of my injuries, but it's hard.  I can't work out my upper body due to the nerve damage in my shoulder and I can't work out my lower body because of my broken foot, so I've basically been doing 500-800 ab exercises every day in an attempt to stay somewhat in shape.  It's hard, because I've always been such an active person, and now I can't do anything.

Oh and I got the flu in October.  But that's minor compared to everything else.  

Either way, it's been a great semester, but I am hoping next semester has maybe a little less injury and a little more recovery.

Either way, I have had trouble about whether or not continuing blogging would be worth it.  But then I thought about how this season is my absolute favorite time to blog.  I love doing gift lists {I'll be doing a last minute one tomorrow} and the year in review.  It really is my favorite time of the year and I love sharing it with everyone.

Plus, I started reading everyone's blogs again and I remembered why I love blogging.  Some of the blog friends I've made are amazing, and I can't wait to keep meeting people.
So I hope you're ready to be a part of my life again.  I'm sure ready to be a part of all of yours.

Here are some photos from the past three months at school:

Across from my dorm is an Italian place owned by a Greek family.  Weird, but so good.

Pre-Bio final studying

The day I broke my foot

That time we got six inches of snow in October.

One of my friend's birthdays.  We baked her a cake.

Homecoming 2011

Victory!  When we won a football game.

My best friend on the swim team Sidney and I

How have all of you been?  xo