July 2, 2025 • 47 mins
In this episode of the Braun Performance & Rehab Podcast, Dan is joined by Alexa Degan to discuss her recovery from 2 ACL injuries. Alexa Degan is a resilient and driven ice hockey player currently competing at the collegiate level for Long Island University. A 2023 graduate of Morristown-Beard School, Alexa played four standout seasons of varsity hockey, helping her team secure three state championships and one co-championship. Over her freshman and sophomore seasons, she tallied seven goals and 25 assists, earning first-team all-state honors before overcoming the challenge of two ACL injuries that sidelined her.In addition to hockey, Alexa competed in two varsity lacrosse seasons and demonstrated strong leadership off the field as well. She co-captained a fundraising campaign that raised an impressive $122,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, showcasing her commitment to making a broader impact.Alexa is the daughter of Christa and Sean Degan and has two brothers, Justin and Ayden. Her story is one of perseverance, leadership, and dedication—both on and off the ice.For more on Alexa, be sure to follow @torn2triumphant*SEASON 6 of the Braun Performance & Rehab Podcast is brought to you by Isophit. For more on Isophit, please check out isophit.com and @isophit -BE SURE to use coupon code BraunPR25% to save 25% on your Isophit order!**Season 6 of the Braun Performance & Rehab Podcast is also brought to you by Firefly Recovery, the official recovery provider for Braun Performance & Rehab. For more on Firefly, please check out https://www.recoveryfirefly.com/ or email jake@recoveryfirefly.com***This episode is also powered by Dr. Ray Gorman, founder of Engage Movement. Learn how to boost your income without relying on sessions. Get a free training on the blended practice model by following @raygormandpt on Instagram. DM my name “Dan” to @raygormandpt on Instagram and receive your free breakdown on the model.Episode Affiliates:MoboBoard: BRAWNBODY10 saves 10% at checkout!AliRx: DBraunRx = 20% off at checkout! https://alirx.health/MedBridge: https://www.medbridgeeducation.com/brawn-body-training or Coupon Code "BRAWN" for 40% off your annual subscription!CTM Band: https://ctm.band/collections/ctm-band coupon code "BRAWN10" = 10% off!Ice shaker affiliate link: https://www.iceshaker.com?sca_ref=1520881.zOJLysQzKeMake sure you SHARE this episode with a friend who could benefit from the information we shared!Check out everything Dan is up to by clicking here: https://linktr.ee/braun_prLiked this episode? Leave a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of the Brown Performance and
Rehab Podcast powered by Isofit and Firefly Recovery. Isofit is
my go to for all things isometric strength training. For
more on Isofit, be sure to check out isofit dot com.
Episodes like this are made possible by Firefly, the official
recovery provider of the bron Performance and Rehab Podcast. For
(00:22):
more on Firefly, be sure to check out Recoveryfirefly dot com.
This episode is powered by doctor Ray Gorman, founder of
Engage Movement. Learn how to boost your income without relying
on sessions. Get a free training on the Blended practice
model by following at Ray Gorman DPT on Instagram. Joining
me today on the podcast is Alexa Deagan. Alexa and
(00:44):
I are going to dive into her journey as an
athlete in sport and surrounding her recovery from not one,
but two ACL injuries. We talk about all of that
and more in this episode Really good one. I know
you're going to enjoy it. Alexa, Welcome to the podcast.
I'm super excited to work with it today. For people
who aren't familiar with you and your incredible backstory. That way,
(01:05):
whether that's relating to hockey, whether that's relating to the
knees and everything in between. Would you mind film a
little bit about who you are and all the stuff
you have going on.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, of course, Thanks Dan. I'm super excited to be
on today. So I'm twenty years old. I'm from New Jersey.
I tore both of my ICLs in high school. So
I tore my left ACL in my ending of sophomore
year on the field in lacrosse, and that was the
(01:34):
contact injury. I tore my ACL, MCL, PCL, and meniscus,
and in the surgery, doc tightened my IT band also.
And then shortly after recovering from my left ACL, I
tore my right ACL in an ice hockey game and
(01:55):
that was just my ACL. So yeah, i had both
my knees done, and now I'm at Long Island University
playing ice hockey, has finished up my sophomore season, and
I'm studying finance.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
There so much to unpack with that, and we'll start with,
first off, the fact that you play hockey. And contrary
to what people on TikTok might think or what some
of these other people might think, when we say hockey,
we mean ice hockey for you. We don't mean field
hockey or anything like that, Like you play ice hockey.
And I think that a lot of people just don't
(02:28):
understand or don't even know about this world of ice
hockey for a woman. I think a lot of times
people think, oh, yeah, NHL or something like that, but
they forget, like, oh my gosh, like there's so many
phenomenal women's teams, and women's ice hockey is insanely fast
paced and exciting as well. That way, so kind of
walk me through how the heck did we get into
(02:50):
ice hockey growing up that way? And what made you decide, like,
you know what, this is it for me? Like I
definitely want to play this in college, you know, and
so on that way.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, So my dad honestly just brought me and my
older brother one day to the rink and we theyd
learned to skate, and then we did some stick and
pucks and then we got into private lessons. But I
really just fell in love with the sport, like just
being able to play it with my older brother. I
think that was like the biggest thing for me. It
(03:19):
was just something fun and then we would have like
a net at our house that we could shoot on
and we would roller blade, so that was super fun.
But yeah, I just fell in love with the sport
at a really young age. I started when I was seven,
my brother was eight, so we played together for a
few years until you know, he had to play with
(03:41):
the guys and do all the checking, and then I
switched to an all girls team. But I think it
was just a great bonding experience for me and my
brother and we just really fell in love with it absolutely.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
I love that you were able to kind of share
that growing up that way, and it sounds like that
sport in particular played such an integral part of you
just growing up and becoming who you are today.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
That totally yeah. And my dad he didn't even play,
but he just enjoyed bringing us to the rink and
it was just really easy for him to go there
and watch us have this fun on the ice. He
started playing in like a men's league, so that was
cool to go with my brother and just you know,
hit the ice with him and then be able to
(04:25):
see my dad do it too. So yeah, it was
so much fun.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Absolutely. And you were saying about the ACL injuries, and
you said two of them, one in the left one
and the right knee, and you said they both stemmed
from high school, so you were kind of going into
college with them. Walk me through those acl injuries, and
I mean the one. It sounds like you had a
multiple structures in the knee injury, Like you mentioned a
lot of different things that way. And it's funny because
(04:50):
when I'm talking with people about the knee injuries, I'm like, well,
you know, if you're gonna do it, you might as
well get your money's worth and get like three or
four things out of it, right, Like get this, get
that repaired, like go all in. You know. I call
it good for the plot. I don't know if that's
the correct technical term for it, but it definitely makes
the plot line a little bit interesting. So walk me
through a little bit more about the knee injuries and
(05:12):
what all that entailed that way.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah. So I'm from a small town in Jersey. It's
still Water, it's called and I went to school at
Morristown Beard, which is a private school. It was about
an hour away from where I lived, and I went
to this school because of the hockey program. Bruce Driver
is the head coach there and he's just an amazing coach.
(05:35):
He's a former Devil's player and captain. So I mainly
went there to play hockey, and I played hockey there,
I played lacrosse and I played tennis, but hockey was
is my main sport, and tearing my first ACL on
the field playing lacrosse wasn't the most ideal thing, especially
(05:57):
because it's like my side sport, just some thing that
I'm doing for fun and just to stay fit inactive.
So that was a little frustrating to have tour my
first ACL on the field. But when I tore my
a CL, like I said, it was contact, so it
was need and knee in a running motion. And I
(06:21):
had no idea at this point like what an ACL was.
I was so uneducated. So when I tore it, I
heard my knee pop, and then I tried to walk
on it. I like hobbled off to the sidelines, and
then I was just sitting there and I was like, hmm,
like what could that have been? Like that I just
(06:41):
did to my knee, and I had no idea what
an ACL was. So I just went home, went to sleep,
and I thought I was gonna be fine the next day.
But my knee absolutely blew up and it was just
so inflamed. And the next day I still went to school.
I walked on it, but I was in a lot
(07:01):
of pain. So I just I called my mom and
I was like, there's something seriously wrong, and yeah, we
went to the doctor, got an MRI, and we got
it back a few days later. She was like, yeah,
you have a you have an acl tair and a
few other things that are torn in there too. And
I honestly had no idea what an acl tair entails
(07:23):
at all, Like I didn't know that it was known
as a career ending injury, and I didn't know how
serious it was at that point. But yeah, that's kind
of how that went about. So yeah, I didn't know
how serious it was at that point. And then I
did a little bit of research and I realized, wow,
like this is gonna be a journey for me. So
(07:45):
I kind of just sit back and I I got
ready for what I was about to go through there.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Absolutely, And it's interesting to bring that up because I
feel like once people hear the words ACL tear, they
understand pretty quickly like, oh my gosh, this is not good.
But to your point, there's a lot of things that
people don't quite grasp and understand about the injury, about
the process, about how it happens, and so on that way.
(08:12):
So what did that kind of like self education side
of things look like for you? How did you go
about kind of learning more about the injury, more about
the recovery, and more than more on that kind of
stuff yourself that way?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yeah, I think first off, I was just kind of
asking around, like just to see if I knew anyone
that had turned their ACL And at the time, I mean,
this was a few years ago, it wasn't that common
in you know, people my age. I didn't really see
it that common in my friends or anything. So that
was a little tough for me. But I looked up
(08:47):
and researched a lot about it, and I remember like
looking at like NHL players, NFL players and just seeing
like that they got back to their sport after And
that's really helped motivate me, just seeing that, you know,
online there are some people that its career ending, but
at the same time, there are these people that are
(09:09):
getting back and are coming back to sport after their
ACL TAR and that's what really helped me.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
You kind of alluded to it's a very common injury
in the sports world, the athletics world in particular that way,
and I think it's important to be able to have
other individuals and other stories that you can lean on
just to kind of help yourself throughout the process, because,
as you know all too well, it's a long, grilling
process and there's days where it's just really freaking challenging,
(09:37):
and it's like, you know, if you don't have someone,
even if it's just a story of someone else who's
been through something similar to kind of like lean on
during that time, or you don't have like a robust
support system built up around you, it makes the process
a lot more difficult in my opinion, because, as you mentioned,
there's a lot of information that goes into it, and
(09:58):
there's also, you know, for every piece of good information
out there, I've seen a fair amount of poor information
out there as well. You know, there was just an
individual I was working with the other day whose doctor
told her, you know, for the first month up to
six weeks after surgery, stay at home, don't do anything
after her acl surgery because her body needs to recover,
(10:18):
And unfortunately she ended up getting a whole second surgery
shortly after that because of the amount of scar tissue
that built up in her knee and she wasn't able
to get her range of motion back because she just
didn't know to start moving her knee. So I think
that for all the information that's out there, as I mentioned,
there's also poor information, and I think making sure that
(10:38):
you go about the process of surrounding yourself with great people,
but also building a support system and including some other
success stories of individuals in that support system to know
and kind of remind yourself like, hey, you know, this
is not the first time this has ever happened, Like
other people have overcome this before. I can also so
(11:00):
do it. I just need to kind of keep my
foot on the gas. I think those little regular reminders
are really really essential for you.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Yeah, totally, I agree. I mean, like you said, there
was a lot of like false information out there on
you know, how to deal with an ACL recovery. Doctors
have all these different methods, and I think that was
the biggest challenge that I went through in my first surgery,
was just not knowing what was right and what was
(11:29):
wrong of me to do post surgery. So that was
really hard for me because you know, one doctor is
telling you to do one thing, one PT is telling
you to do another, and it's like you really want
to have everybody on the same page and you want
to be getting the right information in that and I
just felt like I wasn't really getting that. So that
(11:50):
was the hardest thing.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
How were you able to sort through that for yourself?
What was that process like for you of figuring out
who your PT is going to be, who your surgeon's
going to be, What kind of things did you look for?
What well, what maybe could have been better?
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yeah, I mean it was a lot of trial and error.
I think bedside manner for with the doctor is just
huge for me, and just having pt that are there
for me mentally and can help me through this, you know,
because it's not just like a physical injury. It's so mental.
(12:24):
So having people there to support me, you know, I
don't I don't want to be looked at as, you know,
just another patient, Like I want them to be there
for me. I want them to know me. I want
to be able to call them and ask them these
questions and I want answers. So I think that's the biggest.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Thing, absolutely having someone that's there that can support you
throughout the process is absolutely essential, and someone who believes
in you, right, You don't want someone who's going to
come in and say, like, well, you know, I don't
think this is going to be a good idea. You'll
never play sport again. Like, no one wants to hear that.
That's not the energy we're here for. Those are not
good vibes. So it's like, I'm not personally going to
(13:03):
surround myself with people like that, Like that's just not
the kind of people we need in our life. Unfortunately,
and this rehab process, even though it can be a
long time, right nine to twelve months, it's still too
short to have the wrong influences in the picture during
that time. So I think to your point, making sure
you surround yourself with the best people who support you,
(13:25):
who know you can get back. We're going to help
you get back, and even those that have helped others
get back, right, like look at their resume. Like I've
mentioned this on a podcasters the other week. I encourage
patients to interview their pts and their surgeons to the
same effect that they're interviewing you, to try and understand
what happened and how they can help you right. You know,
ask them questions, have they worked with individuals like yourself
(13:49):
in the past, If so, what went well, what could
they have done better? And I think the more open
and honest they are about that, the better you're going
to be able to determine who you're right. People are
to kind of form that team around you, whether that
be surgeon, rehab provider, or whatever that way. And I
think just their willingness to take the time and answer
those questions and sit with you through those things, we'll
(14:12):
also tell you a lot about their character and the
effect that they can have during your rehab process.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Yeah. I agree. And after my second ACL, I had
a great physical therapy like staff that I worked with.
You know, I remember coming there after school and just
being so bummed out and so feeling so low, just
just having an off day. And you know the biggest
(14:37):
thing for me was, you know, having these people able
to make me laugh and just like genuinely ask me
like how are you? And I remember, you know, when
people would ask me how how I was, I would
just you know, I would just be like, yeah, I'm good.
But they would dig deeper and they would be like,
are you really okay? Today, and that's really what I needed,
(15:01):
Like I just needed somebody to pull it out of
me that you know, you know, you're not having the
best day and why is this? And I think that's
what helped me mentally, and it put it helped me
physically too, because you know, once you fix the mental aspect,
I think that that helps a lot with your physical
(15:21):
aspect too well.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
I would assume there's almost a little bit of a
identity crisis that occurs following an injury like this. Like
you mentioned you were playing hockey since seven years old,
and now not only are you trying to navigate your
teenage years, which for some people can be you know,
a little bit of a roller coaster that way, but
you've also got to deal with this effect of a
debilitating injury. And now I'm going, you know, about a
(15:46):
year roughly without the sport that I've played for, you know,
as long as I can remember, that way, So I
think it just creates this like a little bit of
an identity crisis, and I don't think people give it
enough credit for how impactful this time can be for
athletes that way, Like it's challenging, it's trying, don't get
(16:07):
me wrong. But also I think if you take advantage
of this time as an opportunity to step back, reassess
everything and figure out, hey, you know what can I
do to kind of help myself dial in now? You
know what can I do to rebuild myself not just
physically but mentally, emotionally and so on as well during
this time?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, I agree, I think like you mentioned, I mean,
the biggest part was just having to sit out of
the sport that I loved for you know, not only
one season, but three seasons. So I missed my junior
season of hockey, my senior season of hockey, and then
I missed my freshman season at college. I red shirted there.
(16:51):
And I think it was just like the easiest thing
was being a cheerleader for my teammates, like that is
something that I absolutely love and I love seeing my
teammates succeed. But I think the hardest thing was like
me not being able to touch the ice and to
work on the sport that I've been working so hard
on for all these years and just not being able
(17:14):
to get back like in that moment. That was tough
for me.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Absolutely. But to your point, it sounds like you were
around your team, which obviously it's difficult being around them
and not playing, as you mentioned, but it sounds like
you're able to be a part of the team still,
which is something that I feel like we need to
all collectively do a better job of. Is a lot
of times athletes when they're injured, they feel like they're
(17:37):
separate from the team and they're no longer part of
the team that way, and it's like, you know, I
feel like we can change the narrative on that, like
even if you're just you know, going to the practices,
going to the games, not playing but still watching, Like
I feel like the more inclusive we can be of
keeping you as part of the team, the better off
everything is going to be.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yeah, I totally agree. I think that's the biggest thing
that you know, it was hard going to the rink
and not being able to go on the ice put
my gear on, Like of course that it is hard,
but it's just awesome to be there for your team,
and I think that's that's your obligation as a teammate.
(18:16):
That's one of the most important parts. I mean, when
I'm not able to hit the ice, like it's fun
just being able to watch my team win, it's I mean,
it's okay to watch my team lose too, Like we
have to get through these things together. And I think
a hard thing is that I've seen people tear their acls,
(18:36):
whether it's on the ice or in another sport, and
they do kind of exclude themselves from the team, and
that does isolate you mentally and it hurts you, I
think definitely, because having my team there for me while
I was going through this was so helpful. Everybody was
(18:56):
just so supportive, and just making sure that you have
a team that is in that way for you is
so important because you know, you need to make sure
you have a good team that's going to be for
you through this injury, especially because it's so it's such
a big injury.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Absolutely, And you mentioned before that after you returned to
sport following the initial knee injury, you shortly afterwards injured
the right side. Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Yeah, that's correct.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
And you said it was what like three or five games.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Yeah, it was. I mean, it was just I think
it was twelve months after my first ACL, like I'm
just recovered, just hitting the ice again, and we had
a showcase. It was in the summer and we were
in Connecticut, and yeah, I just I tore it there.
It was like my third game back, and it was
(19:49):
really disappointing.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
That makes the second knee recovery journey more difficult than
the first because you were just getting back just in
that excitement of emotion wave in and then oh my gosh,
now I've got to go through this all over again.
Or was it a little bit easier because hey, I
already had this happen, I know what the process looks like,
(20:11):
I know what it's going to entail that way. What
was that kind of like for you?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
I think it was honestly a mix of both. I
think the biggest thing that was tough for me was
just like, all right, this is like another season of
no hockey. That was like the hardest thing for me.
But I think I was way more educated this time around,
and I just understood the rehab part of it. I
(20:38):
knew what I did wrong in the first time and
what I wanted to do right the second time around.
So I think just knowing my stuff and just being
comfortable with it at this point was super helpful for me.
And also like being able to switch my mindset was
huge this second time. Around.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Absolutely absolutely, And it sucks that you had to go
through it twice, but it sounds like you were able
to learn a lot in the process, just about yourself
and about so many other aspects of life. For lack
of a better way to put it, just throughout this
extended rehab time, if you.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Will, totally. I think switching your mentality, especially going through
you know, a big injury like ACL, is just super important.
That's going to push you in PT in all your
rehab in the gym, on the ice, on the field,
and that's just super important. But yeah, I think that
(21:36):
both of my injuries just really opened my eyes and
just gave me like this new perspective of like life, honestly,
and I've learned so much throughout my two surgeries that like,
I will take with me forever, So I'm so grateful
for them.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Does that impact or influence what you want to do
in the future at all? Right? Does this make you
want to be like an orthopedic surgeon or a PT
or something like that, or.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Well not really, I haven't. I mean I've been asked
that a lot, honestly, but maybe like a personal trainer.
I've thought about that, but I am studying finance right now,
and I've been on that track for you know, two
years now. But yeah, I think personal training would be
(22:25):
really really cool. Right now. I actually work with Athlete
to Athlete. I don't know if you've heard of that company,
but I meet young female hockey athletes and I mentor
them every week and we just hop on a zoom
and I tell them, you know, my experience as a
hockey player, as somebody who's been injured, who's experienced all
(22:49):
these obstacles, and I just try and you know, help
them through what they're going through at their career point. So, yeah,
I think that's really fun for me. And my injuries
have helped me be able to want to share my
story and help others.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Yeah, And I'd imagine there's nothing more fulfilling than being
able to turn around, get back and help others that way.
And I think that's something you also do quite a
bit through the power of social media as well. Correct.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah. So after my first ACL, and I just got
the news back that I toured my second ACL, me
and my mom were sitting on the couch and I
was just I was a little bommed about, you know,
tearing my AICL again, and I was just like, what
can I do right now to turn this negative thing
(23:40):
into something positive and to help me and to help
others through what I'm experiencing. And I just sat there
and I was like, Mom, I think I want to
make an Instagram or I want to start like a
social and I was like, can you help me with
a need for it? I just I want to create
this account where I share my progress on my journey.
(24:04):
And she helped me with the name and she was like,
I think torn to Triumphant would be a great name
for this instagram. And I was like, oh my gosh,
I think that that's awesome. Like I love that because
I think it has like such a great story behind it,
because not only am I torn physically, you know, and
(24:25):
then I'm building up to being triumphant physically, but it's
also the mental aspect to it that I love too,
because you are so torn when you find out that
you have this injury, and you're torn for months and
months and months, and then you eventually like crack the
code and you're like, wow, like I made it out
(24:47):
of this, and you know there is a light at
the end of the tunnel. So I think that making
this instagram and just sharing my story and being able
to connect with people that are going through sim things
or maybe not even you know ACL, but other injuries,
and being able to help them mentally. I think that's
(25:09):
just super important to me. Like you said, to just
give back because my first d ACL, I feel like
I didn't have someone to turn to and ask questions,
and that's what made it super hard, super lonely, and
I just felt like I was going through it by myself.
But I think the main thing was to create this
instagram so that I could be somebody that people can
(25:32):
turn to and like lean on and ask questions. So yeah,
that was the importance behind.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
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you get free access to the complete training DM my
name Dan to at Ray Gorman DPT on Instagram and
receive your free breakdown on the model. What's been your
process for kind of building that up? Because I've noticed
you've done a lot of different things. You've had people
do account takeovers and all that sort of thing. How
did you get to this point and what's kind of
your process to continue to grow that and have the
(26:40):
impact that you're after.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Yeah, Well I just started off by posting just the
two acls and how they happened and kind of where
I was at in the process and along my journey.
I just you know, daily I post, you know, how
my knees are feeling, what I'm doing PT and just
(27:03):
rehab wise, what I do in the gym, what I
do nutritionally, I mean being a Division one athlete too.
Like I just show like my day to day with
that and like my struggles, my obstacles that I go through.
So I think it's just super important to share like
the mental side of things, you know, the physical side
(27:24):
of things, and knowing that, you know, my situation is
different than everyone else's, but just being able to share
my story because maybe I could touch someone else and
help them in a way. And also just being able
to reach out to other people. So that's just huge
for me. Like the takeovers. I was at Long Island
(27:46):
and I was just asking a few athletes like in
the physical therapy rooms, and I was just like, I
really want to hear your story, and I think that
other people would love to too, Like would you want
to take over Instagram and just you know, show what
you're all about, like what you went through. And I
think that was just super fun for me and just
(28:09):
so fun to see, you know, their story and what
they went through.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Absolutely absolutely, I love that it becomes that power of
building a platform and allowing others to use that platform
to share their own journey, their own experiences, their own successes,
their own failures, and just all the obstacles that came
in their way during that process. Because obviously you're going
to grow through what you go through during this time
that way, outside of the physical and mental components of
(28:38):
you know, obstacles that way, was there anything else that
really challenged you in particular during this time and how
did you overcome that? Because I've had some individuals tell
me that they feel like ACL recovery is like death
by a thousand paper cuts. It's like, can't be with
the team, you know, not playing sport, you know, stock
in pt all these different things that way, and then
(29:00):
these other life storms that just kind of form and
find their way into the picture that way. For lack
a better way to put it, they just feel very
overwhelmed by the whole thing. And how have you been
successful in the process of overcoming all of those different
things along the way.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Yeah, I love this question. So as I was going
through my first ACL, a very close friend of mine
actually passed from suicide, and I think that that was
something that totally changed my perspective on life and just
(29:37):
what I was going through because I just I remember
like going through this hard thing, this ACL injury, and
then this happens in my life and I'm like, wow,
like nothing can get worse than losing someone to suicide
and just realizing that like somebody is going through something
(30:00):
thinks so much harder than you know, what I'm going through.
And that's really what pushed me every single day in
the gym on the ice NPT, like doing rehab was
just realizing that this is something so little compared to
like you know, what other people are going through mentally,
you know, to have to take their life. And I
(30:23):
think that's what helped me. And you know, obviously it
was really hard, and it was like a blessing in
disguise because it made me so grateful for you know what,
for my life and what I was going through. So
I think that's what helped me, like just totally change
my mentality of things and just always look positively.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Absolutely power positivity and trying to find the brighter side
of gray, because to your point, it's very difficult sometimes,
especially when you're dealing with the loss the friends, family,
loved ones, whatever it is. That way is that stuff
never comes, there's no good time for that to ever
occur that way, and it's difficult, it's challenging, but I found,
at least for myself, when stuff like that happens, it's
(31:08):
that opportunity kind of like you said, pause, reflect and
just realize like, oh my gosh, I have so much
to be thankful for. I have to have so much gratitude. Like,
you know, how many people have all these different dreams
and goals and aspirations, but for whatever reason, unfortunately life
doesn't give them the opportunity to pursue them. But guess what,
I have the opportunity to do that. I have the
(31:29):
opportunity to pursue them. And yes, I've got some setbacks
along the way. Yes there's some challenges, but what a
blessing it is to be able to experience those things, right,
How awesome is it that you get to experience the
highs and lows and the full spectrum of everything that
life has to offer. You know, obviously we don't wish
bad things on anyone. However, if you're someone who goes
(31:52):
through bad things and overcomes them and beats them back
and just continues on your path, like it gives you
this newfound energy for life and everything that comes with
it that you're not going to get anywhere else. Like
the amount of athletes I've worked with following acl injuries
that look at me afterwards when they're back to sport
and playing and back to that life is good, that
(32:12):
look at me and say, you know, I'm thankful this
happened to me. And at the time, the first couple
of times it came up, it kind of like just
left me speechless. I was like, are you sure, like
you're glad this happened. But after a while I started
to connect the dots and it's like, you know, there's
something about I don't know if it's the power of
delayed gratification or what the you know, technical term is
(32:34):
for this. There's something about this process of literally going
from like I can't even walk all the way back
to your sport and beyond in a year that has
some kind of powerful transformative effect on people.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
I think, yeah, I totally agree. And going off of that,
like just seeing yourself be so high and then be
so low, you know, along this journey is just what
helps like strength like and show you that there are
these obstacles that are just going to like appear out
of nowhere and like you are going to overcome them.
(33:07):
And I think that just helped me. Yeah, just look
at life differently and just realize that this is what
life is like. There are going to be so much bigger, harder,
challenges that I'm going to face, and just knowing that,
like I can get through them is the biggest thing.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Absolutely. It's like, well, look at how far I've come,
Look at how much I've overcome already. You know, the
next thing that gets thrown your way, you're like, well,
you know, I've been through all of this, so this
is nothing to me. This is easy. I can push
that back, no problem.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
One of the many things that I found, and this
is nothing in comparison to the difficulties that come with
acl or that come with losing someone close to you
that way, But one of the things I've found difficult
for at least myself, and it comes up a lot
when I'm talking with athletes as well, is they recognize
how powerful of a tool social media can be. But
(34:01):
for some reason, there's something within them. I don't know
if it's a fear or what it is, that they
don't want to create a social media profile and share
their journey. They don't want people to see them when
they're at their lowest moments that way. What gave you
the courage to do that and what advice do you
have for other athletes who are going through stuff? Similar
to what you've been through about just sharing you know,
(34:24):
the highs and lows and just everything that comes with
that journey.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Yeah, I mean I wasn't. I didn't have that fear
of like not wanting to show like how hard it
is and like the difficulties that I'm going through and
maybe like to show, you know, the days that I'm
having no progress or you know, I'm very low. I
enjoy like showing that because I know that other people
(34:51):
are going through the same thing, and people I would
get that like positive feedback, like people would be like, wow,
like you're going through this because this just happened to
me and I feel the exact same way. And I
kind of like loved hearing that and seeing that because
it gave me comfort that I'm getting someone else comfort.
(35:11):
So I think that was like the biggest thing for me,
is because like they're supporting me and they're seeing that,
like I'm going through this hard thing and I'm sharing
like the raw, you know, downside of you know stuff,
and you know, they're coming back at me and they're
being like wow, Like I really had no idea that
other people were dealing with this and going through this.
(35:33):
So I think That was the biggest thing was seeing that, like,
you know, people are also going through what you're going
through and the hard stuff.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
That was absolutely absolutely there's other people that are in
similar situations, and again it's a matter of how do
we help those individuals. And I think it again, it
takes a certain level of comfort and confidence in order
to do these things right, Like you have to open
yourself up from a vulner ability standpoint first, Like you
(36:02):
have to show the world that, hey, look, I'm not
always at one hundred percent, but that's okay, because no
one is always at one hundred percent, right, Like I
feel like sometimes we look at social media like this
highlight reel of just all the highs and all the
things that are going well, and I mean, we're all
guilty of it to a certain extent, but it's like
it's also sometimes important to show and remind people that hey,
(36:23):
it's not all sunshine and rainbows. There's bumps in the road,
and if you're someone who's experiencing those bumps in the road,
you're not alone and it's okay, and you know, we're
going to kind of build a little community around this
and get through it together.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yeah, And also some advice that I would give that
Helton v Along. You know, my journey was just that
it's you versus you the entire time. Every single day.
I would I just always say this to myself, it's
you versus you, whether I'm on the ice, whether I'm
in school, no matter what I'm doing, if I you know,
(37:00):
fall down, to not stay down and just to build
myself right back up and just compare yourself to you,
not the person next to you, because they're going through
a totally different thing. And to ensure that you are
going to make progress, you just need to like face
yourself and just be like, I want to beat you,
(37:21):
and like that's what I would just say to myself.
I just want to beat the yesterday me. And that's
what helps me throughout my journey.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Absolutely making it an internal competition instead of you trying
to compete with other people. There is plenty of time
to compete with others. Once you're back to sport, right,
You're going to want to win. You're gonna want to
win games and that sort of thing, and that's great,
But when it comes to some of these other personal things,
like I think to the point you made, it makes
a lot more sense to me anyways to make it
you versus you instead of you versus everyone else, because
(37:53):
everyone's journey is different. There's surgeons different, there's different graph types,
there's all these different factors that go into it, and
it's like you really can not compare one person's journey
to another because there's just so many different factors that
go into it. I mean, even with that said, you know,
I guess we didn't even talk about like what graph
you had and different things that way and what went
into that, you know, and there's a lot of different
(38:14):
considerations that go into that, but you end up with
like a quad graph, p teller tendon graph could have
or hamstring and what was kind of the thought process there.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
So my left my left ACL CLPCL meniscus and it
band surgery that was quad and then my right ACL
was patella and I had I had two different surgeons
for my injuries, so they both recommended, you know, the
(38:43):
different graphs, and that's why I went with two different ones.
Uh So that was kind of how that happened.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
It's a surgeon comfort piece as well, Like there's a
surgeon that I really like who does not do quad
tending graphs, So naturally, if someone goes to him and
ask for a quad ten and graft, it's not necessarily
the right fit that way. So I think it comes
back to what we talked about before, knowing the people
that you surround yourself with, knowing what they're comfortable with,
(39:10):
what their experience is, and so on. That way, it's
really just taking all these different puzzle pieces and putting
them together in a way that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Yeah. Absolutely, And you know, I think, like I love
the quad graph for my left asio. I mean, I
know I got a lot done in that surgery, but
the quad graft I don't have much patel aten and itis.
But I noticed that with my patellograph I have a
lot more peloten and itis. And I'm not sure if
(39:39):
it has to do with like the different graphs, but
that's just something that I picked up along like my rehab.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Typically, what I hear from people is the quad ten
and graft is less painful. However, they feel like it's
more difficult for them to get their quad strengths back,
especially early on. Now you having the experience of literally
having one of each that way, which one was more
difficult for what reason? That way? Like what obstacles or
(40:09):
challenges to the left present that the right didn't and
vice versa.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
I have to say, I think my right was more
difficult physically just because of the compensation and then being
like back to back from each other. I think that
was like the hardest thing because you know, I was
just recovered, like just recovered from my first ACL, and
then I tour my second ACL, so it was like,
(40:37):
I don't know all the compensation. I think that like
it was just hard for me to continue to build
like a muscle in my left ACL that was just
getting back and now having to like completely go from
like you know, zero percent and build up to one
hundred percent strength in my raight ACL. Two.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Absolutely. And you mentioned before too about nutrition and fitness
and gym and all these different things that play into
it as well. What does that all look like for you?
Like are we hitting plates? Are we crushing the weights
in the gym? You know, some little bench press that
sort of thing. What's the nutrition like like walking kind
of through all these other factors that go into it
as well.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Yeah, I mean I think that nutrition and just being
active are so important, and I've made it such a
lifestyle for me, and like, I'm not just doing you know,
eating right and going to the gym just for my
hockey career, but I'm doing it for my life and
doing it for my lifestyle. So I think typically for
(41:40):
me is like just being active like once or twice
a day and making that a habit is huge. If
I can't get to the gym, I'm going you know,
for a walk, a long walk with five mile walk.
But I love lifting, I've done pilates, I've tried it out.
I love plates. I've only done it like once, but
(42:03):
like I love yoga, anything active and anything physical just
to make my body feel good is super important for me.
And nutritionally, I would say just whole foods. I love
like just you know, going to the grocery store and
being able to buy like fruits and like the organic stuff.
(42:24):
So that's really important for me. But I also had
a really hard time freshman year like understanding you know,
you're the macro nutrients that you need to have on
your plate. So that played a huge role with what
I was going through too with ACL because your nutrition
(42:44):
is so important when you're recovering in your rehab just
to make your body feel good. So I did some
research on that, and we also have like a team nutritionist,
so she was super helpful. But I started to understand
like carbs are so important, and protein is so important,
fat is so important, fiber are so important, so all
(43:08):
of this stuff like I started to incorporate in my
day to day life and I realized, wow, like this
is really helping me feel good mentally physically, And I
just made it a habit to go to the gym
even when I'm not feeling motivated and you know, I'm
not having a great day, but making sure that I
(43:29):
get to the gym and move my body in some
sort of way, whether that it's just stretching or it's
just going for a walk, or it's you know, lifting weights.
So yeah, I think that was super important for me.
And just taking pride in how I feel mentally and
just how I feel physically was super important throughout you know,
(43:50):
my ACL injuries and just rehabbing from them.
Speaker 1 (43:55):
Absolutely. I love everything about that. I mean, as you mentioned,
just dialing in every thing from the nutrition to the
fitness and beyond. And it sounds like you're able to
set yourself up for success beyond just sporting career as
you mentioned it's not just about sport or performance. It's
about actually being active for life and being healthy for life.
And it sounds like, again kind of like we talked
(44:15):
about before using this opportunity, using this as an opportunity
to dial in all those areas. I mean, it sounds
like you did that exceptionally well.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Yeah, and I've just absolutely loved it. I mean it's
been a lot of trial and error just figuring out
like what my body, you know, likes to take in
and what kind of activities I like. And also another
thing that was tough after my first ACO was definitely
like overloading my body just doing like too much and
(44:47):
not letting my body rest because I'm just I'm just
like a go go go person. Like I love the gym,
I love being on the ice, I love being active.
But when you are recovering, I realized that like being
go go, go, go go, and just like pushing your
body too far, that can set you back. And it
(45:07):
did set me back a few times. And my physical
therapists and even like people at school, like my coaches,
they were like, all right, you gotta like you gotta chill,
you gotta like stay off the peloton. After we just
did a team workout and after you had physical therapy,
And it was really hard for me to do that
mentally because my escape was, you know, being on the
(45:32):
peloton or you know, going for a long walk. But
you know, the next day there would be repercussions and
I would be sure I would be swollen, and they
would be like, why do you think you feel like this?
And I would be like, well, I did this, this, this,
and this yesterday and they were like, okay, that's why.
So I think that was also a huge challenge that
(45:54):
I went through the first time around after surgery. But
I learned that, like I need to relax sometimes, especially
going through ACL injury.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
Absolutely, absolutely, sometimes we move forward faster if we actually
take our foot off the gas a little bit. And
it's a very difficult concept to learn and grasp, but
it definitely holds true a lot of the time that way.
I actually I realized we could probably talk about this
all day long that way, because there's just so much
that falls into this world of you as a person,
(46:27):
your sports career, your injuries, and so on. That way,
Is there anything we missed as we were chatting today?
Speaker 2 (46:33):
Honestly, I think we hit a lot of great points.
I loved everything that we talked about. I don't think
that we missed anything.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
Awesome. For people who want to find out more about you,
find you on Instagram and find out more about the
work that you do with Athlete to Athlete or the
stuff you do through Athlete Zone, whether that's the Toe
to Triumphant stuff or the long lived Leny stuff. Where
can they find you all at?
Speaker 2 (46:58):
Yeah, so my link is just going to be my name,
which is Alexa Degan, d E G A N is
my last name, and Torn to Triumphant is just torn,
and then it's actually the number two, which symbolizes me
having both my ICLs done and then Torn to Triumphant.
(47:19):
And then yeah, my Instagram is just Alexa Degan. So
that's where you guys can find me. Awesome.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
We'll link to all of that in the description below.
That way, if you didn't quite catch it, you can
just click there and find Alexa on all the different platforms. Alexa,
this is awesome. I really appreciate your time, thanks for
being here.
Speaker 2 (47:37):
Thank you so much, Dan. I had so much fun
and I appreciate you so much.
Welcome back to another episode of the Brown Performance and
Rehab Podcast powered by Isofit and Firefly Recovery. Isofit is
my go to for all things isometric strength training. For
more on Isofit, be sure to check out isofit dot com.
Episodes like this are made possible by Firefly, the official
recovery provider of the bron Performance and Rehab Podcast. For
(00:22):
more on Firefly, be sure to check out Recoveryfirefly dot com.
This episode is powered by doctor Ray Gorman, founder of
Engage Movement. Learn how to boost your income without relying
on sessions. Get a free training on the Blended practice
model by following at Ray Gorman DPT on Instagram. Joining
me today on the podcast is Alexa Deagan. Alexa and
(00:44):
I are going to dive into her journey as an
athlete in sport and surrounding her recovery from not one,
but two ACL injuries. We talk about all of that
and more in this episode Really good one. I know
you're going to enjoy it. Alexa, Welcome to the podcast.
I'm super excited to work with it today. For people
who aren't familiar with you and your incredible backstory. That way,
(01:05):
whether that's relating to hockey, whether that's relating to the
knees and everything in between. Would you mind film a
little bit about who you are and all the stuff
you have going on.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, of course, Thanks Dan. I'm super excited to be
on today. So I'm twenty years old. I'm from New Jersey.
I tore both of my ICLs in high school. So
I tore my left ACL in my ending of sophomore
year on the field in lacrosse, and that was the
(01:34):
contact injury. I tore my ACL, MCL, PCL, and meniscus,
and in the surgery, doc tightened my IT band also.
And then shortly after recovering from my left ACL, I
tore my right ACL in an ice hockey game and
(01:55):
that was just my ACL. So yeah, i had both
my knees done, and now I'm at Long Island University
playing ice hockey, has finished up my sophomore season, and
I'm studying finance.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
There so much to unpack with that, and we'll start with,
first off, the fact that you play hockey. And contrary
to what people on TikTok might think or what some
of these other people might think, when we say hockey,
we mean ice hockey for you. We don't mean field
hockey or anything like that, Like you play ice hockey.
And I think that a lot of people just don't
(02:28):
understand or don't even know about this world of ice
hockey for a woman. I think a lot of times
people think, oh, yeah, NHL or something like that, but
they forget, like, oh my gosh, like there's so many
phenomenal women's teams, and women's ice hockey is insanely fast
paced and exciting as well. That way, so kind of
walk me through how the heck did we get into
(02:50):
ice hockey growing up that way? And what made you decide, like,
you know what, this is it for me? Like I
definitely want to play this in college, you know, and
so on that way.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, So my dad honestly just brought me and my
older brother one day to the rink and we theyd
learned to skate, and then we did some stick and
pucks and then we got into private lessons. But I
really just fell in love with the sport, like just
being able to play it with my older brother. I
think that was like the biggest thing for me. It
(03:19):
was just something fun and then we would have like
a net at our house that we could shoot on
and we would roller blade, so that was super fun.
But yeah, I just fell in love with the sport
at a really young age. I started when I was seven,
my brother was eight, so we played together for a
few years until you know, he had to play with
(03:41):
the guys and do all the checking, and then I
switched to an all girls team. But I think it
was just a great bonding experience for me and my
brother and we just really fell in love with it absolutely.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
I love that you were able to kind of share
that growing up that way, and it sounds like that
sport in particular played such an integral part of you
just growing up and becoming who you are today.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
That totally yeah. And my dad he didn't even play,
but he just enjoyed bringing us to the rink and
it was just really easy for him to go there
and watch us have this fun on the ice. He
started playing in like a men's league, so that was
cool to go with my brother and just you know,
hit the ice with him and then be able to
(04:25):
see my dad do it too. So yeah, it was
so much fun.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Absolutely. And you were saying about the ACL injuries, and
you said two of them, one in the left one
and the right knee, and you said they both stemmed
from high school, so you were kind of going into
college with them. Walk me through those acl injuries, and
I mean the one. It sounds like you had a
multiple structures in the knee injury, Like you mentioned a
lot of different things that way. And it's funny because
(04:50):
when I'm talking with people about the knee injuries, I'm like, well,
you know, if you're gonna do it, you might as
well get your money's worth and get like three or
four things out of it, right, Like get this, get
that repaired, like go all in. You know. I call
it good for the plot. I don't know if that's
the correct technical term for it, but it definitely makes
the plot line a little bit interesting. So walk me
through a little bit more about the knee injuries and
(05:12):
what all that entailed that way.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah. So I'm from a small town in Jersey. It's
still Water, it's called and I went to school at
Morristown Beard, which is a private school. It was about
an hour away from where I lived, and I went
to this school because of the hockey program. Bruce Driver
is the head coach there and he's just an amazing coach.
(05:35):
He's a former Devil's player and captain. So I mainly
went there to play hockey, and I played hockey there,
I played lacrosse and I played tennis, but hockey was
is my main sport, and tearing my first ACL on
the field playing lacrosse wasn't the most ideal thing, especially
(05:57):
because it's like my side sport, just some thing that
I'm doing for fun and just to stay fit inactive.
So that was a little frustrating to have tour my
first ACL on the field. But when I tore my
a CL, like I said, it was contact, so it
was need and knee in a running motion. And I
(06:21):
had no idea at this point like what an ACL was.
I was so uneducated. So when I tore it, I
heard my knee pop, and then I tried to walk
on it. I like hobbled off to the sidelines, and
then I was just sitting there and I was like, hmm,
like what could that have been? Like that I just
(06:41):
did to my knee, and I had no idea what
an ACL was. So I just went home, went to sleep,
and I thought I was gonna be fine the next day.
But my knee absolutely blew up and it was just
so inflamed. And the next day I still went to school.
I walked on it, but I was in a lot
(07:01):
of pain. So I just I called my mom and
I was like, there's something seriously wrong, and yeah, we
went to the doctor, got an MRI, and we got
it back a few days later. She was like, yeah,
you have a you have an acl tair and a
few other things that are torn in there too. And
I honestly had no idea what an acl tair entails
(07:23):
at all, Like I didn't know that it was known
as a career ending injury, and I didn't know how
serious it was at that point. But yeah, that's kind
of how that went about. So yeah, I didn't know
how serious it was at that point. And then I
did a little bit of research and I realized, wow,
like this is gonna be a journey for me. So
(07:45):
I kind of just sit back and I I got
ready for what I was about to go through there.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Absolutely, And it's interesting to bring that up because I
feel like once people hear the words ACL tear, they
understand pretty quickly like, oh my gosh, this is not good.
But to your point, there's a lot of things that
people don't quite grasp and understand about the injury, about
the process, about how it happens, and so on that way.
(08:12):
So what did that kind of like self education side
of things look like for you? How did you go
about kind of learning more about the injury, more about
the recovery, and more than more on that kind of
stuff yourself that way?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yeah, I think first off, I was just kind of
asking around, like just to see if I knew anyone
that had turned their ACL And at the time, I mean,
this was a few years ago, it wasn't that common
in you know, people my age. I didn't really see
it that common in my friends or anything. So that
was a little tough for me. But I looked up
(08:47):
and researched a lot about it, and I remember like
looking at like NHL players, NFL players and just seeing
like that they got back to their sport after And
that's really helped motivate me, just seeing that, you know,
online there are some people that its career ending, but
at the same time, there are these people that are
(09:09):
getting back and are coming back to sport after their
ACL TAR and that's what really helped me.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
You kind of alluded to it's a very common injury
in the sports world, the athletics world in particular that way,
and I think it's important to be able to have
other individuals and other stories that you can lean on
just to kind of help yourself throughout the process, because,
as you know all too well, it's a long, grilling
process and there's days where it's just really freaking challenging,
(09:37):
and it's like, you know, if you don't have someone,
even if it's just a story of someone else who's
been through something similar to kind of like lean on
during that time, or you don't have like a robust
support system built up around you, it makes the process
a lot more difficult in my opinion, because, as you mentioned,
there's a lot of information that goes into it, and
(09:58):
there's also, you know, for every piece of good information
out there, I've seen a fair amount of poor information
out there as well. You know, there was just an
individual I was working with the other day whose doctor
told her, you know, for the first month up to
six weeks after surgery, stay at home, don't do anything
after her acl surgery because her body needs to recover,
(10:18):
And unfortunately she ended up getting a whole second surgery
shortly after that because of the amount of scar tissue
that built up in her knee and she wasn't able
to get her range of motion back because she just
didn't know to start moving her knee. So I think
that for all the information that's out there, as I mentioned,
there's also poor information, and I think making sure that
(10:38):
you go about the process of surrounding yourself with great people,
but also building a support system and including some other
success stories of individuals in that support system to know
and kind of remind yourself like, hey, you know, this
is not the first time this has ever happened, Like
other people have overcome this before. I can also so
(11:00):
do it. I just need to kind of keep my
foot on the gas. I think those little regular reminders
are really really essential for you.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Yeah, totally, I agree. I mean, like you said, there
was a lot of like false information out there on
you know, how to deal with an ACL recovery. Doctors
have all these different methods, and I think that was
the biggest challenge that I went through in my first surgery,
was just not knowing what was right and what was
(11:29):
wrong of me to do post surgery. So that was
really hard for me because you know, one doctor is
telling you to do one thing, one PT is telling
you to do another, and it's like you really want
to have everybody on the same page and you want
to be getting the right information in that and I
just felt like I wasn't really getting that. So that
(11:50):
was the hardest thing.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
How were you able to sort through that for yourself?
What was that process like for you of figuring out
who your PT is going to be, who your surgeon's
going to be, What kind of things did you look for?
What well, what maybe could have been better?
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yeah, I mean it was a lot of trial and error.
I think bedside manner for with the doctor is just
huge for me, and just having pt that are there
for me mentally and can help me through this, you know,
because it's not just like a physical injury. It's so mental.
(12:24):
So having people there to support me, you know, I
don't I don't want to be looked at as, you know,
just another patient, Like I want them to be there
for me. I want them to know me. I want
to be able to call them and ask them these
questions and I want answers. So I think that's the biggest.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Thing, absolutely having someone that's there that can support you
throughout the process is absolutely essential, and someone who believes
in you, right, You don't want someone who's going to
come in and say, like, well, you know, I don't
think this is going to be a good idea. You'll
never play sport again. Like, no one wants to hear that.
That's not the energy we're here for. Those are not
good vibes. So it's like, I'm not personally going to
(13:03):
surround myself with people like that, Like that's just not
the kind of people we need in our life. Unfortunately,
and this rehab process, even though it can be a
long time, right nine to twelve months, it's still too
short to have the wrong influences in the picture during
that time. So I think to your point, making sure
you surround yourself with the best people who support you,
(13:25):
who know you can get back. We're going to help
you get back, and even those that have helped others
get back, right, like look at their resume. Like I've
mentioned this on a podcasters the other week. I encourage
patients to interview their pts and their surgeons to the
same effect that they're interviewing you, to try and understand
what happened and how they can help you right. You know,
ask them questions, have they worked with individuals like yourself
(13:49):
in the past, If so, what went well, what could
they have done better? And I think the more open
and honest they are about that, the better you're going
to be able to determine who you're right. People are
to kind of form that team around you, whether that
be surgeon, rehab provider, or whatever that way. And I
think just their willingness to take the time and answer
those questions and sit with you through those things, we'll
(14:12):
also tell you a lot about their character and the
effect that they can have during your rehab process.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Yeah. I agree. And after my second ACL, I had
a great physical therapy like staff that I worked with.
You know, I remember coming there after school and just
being so bummed out and so feeling so low, just
just having an off day. And you know the biggest
(14:37):
thing for me was, you know, having these people able
to make me laugh and just like genuinely ask me
like how are you? And I remember, you know, when
people would ask me how how I was, I would
just you know, I would just be like, yeah, I'm good.
But they would dig deeper and they would be like,
are you really okay? Today, and that's really what I needed,
(15:01):
Like I just needed somebody to pull it out of
me that you know, you know, you're not having the
best day and why is this? And I think that's
what helped me mentally, and it put it helped me
physically too, because you know, once you fix the mental aspect,
I think that that helps a lot with your physical
(15:21):
aspect too well.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
I would assume there's almost a little bit of a
identity crisis that occurs following an injury like this. Like
you mentioned you were playing hockey since seven years old,
and now not only are you trying to navigate your
teenage years, which for some people can be you know,
a little bit of a roller coaster that way, but
you've also got to deal with this effect of a
debilitating injury. And now I'm going, you know, about a
(15:46):
year roughly without the sport that I've played for, you know,
as long as I can remember, that way, So I
think it just creates this like a little bit of
an identity crisis, and I don't think people give it
enough credit for how impactful this time can be for
athletes that way, Like it's challenging, it's trying, don't get
(16:07):
me wrong. But also I think if you take advantage
of this time as an opportunity to step back, reassess
everything and figure out, hey, you know what can I
do to kind of help myself dial in now? You
know what can I do to rebuild myself not just
physically but mentally, emotionally and so on as well during
this time?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, I agree, I think like you mentioned, I mean,
the biggest part was just having to sit out of
the sport that I loved for you know, not only
one season, but three seasons. So I missed my junior
season of hockey, my senior season of hockey, and then
I missed my freshman season at college. I red shirted there.
(16:51):
And I think it was just like the easiest thing
was being a cheerleader for my teammates, like that is
something that I absolutely love and I love seeing my
teammates succeed. But I think the hardest thing was like
me not being able to touch the ice and to
work on the sport that I've been working so hard
on for all these years and just not being able
(17:14):
to get back like in that moment. That was tough
for me.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Absolutely. But to your point, it sounds like you were
around your team, which obviously it's difficult being around them
and not playing, as you mentioned, but it sounds like
you're able to be a part of the team still,
which is something that I feel like we need to
all collectively do a better job of. Is a lot
of times athletes when they're injured, they feel like they're
(17:37):
separate from the team and they're no longer part of
the team that way, and it's like, you know, I
feel like we can change the narrative on that, like
even if you're just you know, going to the practices,
going to the games, not playing but still watching, Like
I feel like the more inclusive we can be of
keeping you as part of the team, the better off
everything is going to be.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yeah, I totally agree. I think that's the biggest thing
that you know, it was hard going to the rink
and not being able to go on the ice put
my gear on, Like of course that it is hard,
but it's just awesome to be there for your team,
and I think that's that's your obligation as a teammate.
(18:16):
That's one of the most important parts. I mean, when
I'm not able to hit the ice, like it's fun
just being able to watch my team win, it's I mean,
it's okay to watch my team lose too, Like we
have to get through these things together. And I think
a hard thing is that I've seen people tear their acls,
(18:36):
whether it's on the ice or in another sport, and
they do kind of exclude themselves from the team, and
that does isolate you mentally and it hurts you, I
think definitely, because having my team there for me while
I was going through this was so helpful. Everybody was
(18:56):
just so supportive, and just making sure that you have
a team that is in that way for you is
so important because you know, you need to make sure
you have a good team that's going to be for
you through this injury, especially because it's so it's such
a big injury.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Absolutely, And you mentioned before that after you returned to
sport following the initial knee injury, you shortly afterwards injured
the right side. Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Yeah, that's correct.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
And you said it was what like three or five games.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Yeah, it was. I mean, it was just I think
it was twelve months after my first ACL, like I'm
just recovered, just hitting the ice again, and we had
a showcase. It was in the summer and we were
in Connecticut, and yeah, I just I tore it there.
It was like my third game back, and it was
(19:49):
really disappointing.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
That makes the second knee recovery journey more difficult than
the first because you were just getting back just in
that excitement of emotion wave in and then oh my gosh,
now I've got to go through this all over again.
Or was it a little bit easier because hey, I
already had this happen, I know what the process looks like,
(20:11):
I know what it's going to entail that way. What
was that kind of like for you?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
I think it was honestly a mix of both. I
think the biggest thing that was tough for me was
just like, all right, this is like another season of
no hockey. That was like the hardest thing for me.
But I think I was way more educated this time around,
and I just understood the rehab part of it. I
(20:38):
knew what I did wrong in the first time and
what I wanted to do right the second time around.
So I think just knowing my stuff and just being
comfortable with it at this point was super helpful for me.
And also like being able to switch my mindset was
huge this second time. Around.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Absolutely absolutely, And it sucks that you had to go
through it twice, but it sounds like you were able
to learn a lot in the process, just about yourself
and about so many other aspects of life. For lack
of a better way to put it, just throughout this
extended rehab time, if you.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Will, totally. I think switching your mentality, especially going through
you know, a big injury like ACL, is just super important.
That's going to push you in PT in all your
rehab in the gym, on the ice, on the field,
and that's just super important. But yeah, I think that
(21:36):
both of my injuries just really opened my eyes and
just gave me like this new perspective of like life, honestly,
and I've learned so much throughout my two surgeries that like,
I will take with me forever, So I'm so grateful
for them.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Does that impact or influence what you want to do
in the future at all? Right? Does this make you
want to be like an orthopedic surgeon or a PT
or something like that, or.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Well not really, I haven't. I mean I've been asked
that a lot, honestly, but maybe like a personal trainer.
I've thought about that, but I am studying finance right now,
and I've been on that track for you know, two
years now. But yeah, I think personal training would be
(22:25):
really really cool. Right now. I actually work with Athlete
to Athlete. I don't know if you've heard of that company,
but I meet young female hockey athletes and I mentor
them every week and we just hop on a zoom
and I tell them, you know, my experience as a
hockey player, as somebody who's been injured, who's experienced all
(22:49):
these obstacles, and I just try and you know, help
them through what they're going through at their career point. So, yeah,
I think that's really fun for me. And my injuries
have helped me be able to want to share my
story and help others.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Yeah, And I'd imagine there's nothing more fulfilling than being
able to turn around, get back and help others that way.
And I think that's something you also do quite a
bit through the power of social media as well. Correct.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah. So after my first ACL, and I just got
the news back that I toured my second ACL, me
and my mom were sitting on the couch and I
was just I was a little bommed about, you know,
tearing my AICL again, and I was just like, what
can I do right now to turn this negative thing
(23:40):
into something positive and to help me and to help
others through what I'm experiencing. And I just sat there
and I was like, Mom, I think I want to
make an Instagram or I want to start like a
social and I was like, can you help me with
a need for it? I just I want to create
this account where I share my progress on my journey.
(24:04):
And she helped me with the name and she was like,
I think torn to Triumphant would be a great name
for this instagram. And I was like, oh my gosh,
I think that that's awesome. Like I love that because
I think it has like such a great story behind it,
because not only am I torn physically, you know, and
(24:25):
then I'm building up to being triumphant physically, but it's
also the mental aspect to it that I love too,
because you are so torn when you find out that
you have this injury, and you're torn for months and
months and months, and then you eventually like crack the
code and you're like, wow, like I made it out
(24:47):
of this, and you know there is a light at
the end of the tunnel. So I think that making
this instagram and just sharing my story and being able
to connect with people that are going through sim things
or maybe not even you know ACL, but other injuries,
and being able to help them mentally. I think that's
(25:09):
just super important to me. Like you said, to just
give back because my first d ACL, I feel like
I didn't have someone to turn to and ask questions,
and that's what made it super hard, super lonely, and
I just felt like I was going through it by myself.
But I think the main thing was to create this
instagram so that I could be somebody that people can
(25:32):
turn to and like lean on and ask questions. So yeah,
that was the importance behind.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
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(26:19):
you get free access to the complete training DM my
name Dan to at Ray Gorman DPT on Instagram and
receive your free breakdown on the model. What's been your
process for kind of building that up? Because I've noticed
you've done a lot of different things. You've had people
do account takeovers and all that sort of thing. How
did you get to this point and what's kind of
your process to continue to grow that and have the
(26:40):
impact that you're after.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Yeah, Well I just started off by posting just the
two acls and how they happened and kind of where
I was at in the process and along my journey.
I just you know, daily I post, you know, how
my knees are feeling, what I'm doing PT and just
(27:03):
rehab wise, what I do in the gym, what I
do nutritionally, I mean being a Division one athlete too.
Like I just show like my day to day with
that and like my struggles, my obstacles that I go through.
So I think it's just super important to share like
the mental side of things, you know, the physical side
(27:24):
of things, and knowing that, you know, my situation is
different than everyone else's, but just being able to share
my story because maybe I could touch someone else and
help them in a way. And also just being able
to reach out to other people. So that's just huge
for me. Like the takeovers. I was at Long Island
(27:46):
and I was just asking a few athletes like in
the physical therapy rooms, and I was just like, I
really want to hear your story, and I think that
other people would love to too, Like would you want
to take over Instagram and just you know, show what
you're all about, like what you went through. And I
think that was just super fun for me and just
(28:09):
so fun to see, you know, their story and what
they went through.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Absolutely absolutely, I love that it becomes that power of
building a platform and allowing others to use that platform
to share their own journey, their own experiences, their own successes,
their own failures, and just all the obstacles that came
in their way during that process. Because obviously you're going
to grow through what you go through during this time
that way, outside of the physical and mental components of
(28:38):
you know, obstacles that way, was there anything else that
really challenged you in particular during this time and how
did you overcome that? Because I've had some individuals tell
me that they feel like ACL recovery is like death
by a thousand paper cuts. It's like, can't be with
the team, you know, not playing sport, you know, stock
in pt all these different things that way, and then
(29:00):
these other life storms that just kind of form and
find their way into the picture that way. For lack
a better way to put it, they just feel very
overwhelmed by the whole thing. And how have you been
successful in the process of overcoming all of those different
things along the way.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Yeah, I love this question. So as I was going
through my first ACL, a very close friend of mine
actually passed from suicide, and I think that that was
something that totally changed my perspective on life and just
(29:37):
what I was going through because I just I remember
like going through this hard thing, this ACL injury, and
then this happens in my life and I'm like, wow,
like nothing can get worse than losing someone to suicide
and just realizing that like somebody is going through something
(30:00):
thinks so much harder than you know, what I'm going through.
And that's really what pushed me every single day in
the gym on the ice NPT, like doing rehab was
just realizing that this is something so little compared to
like you know, what other people are going through mentally,
you know, to have to take their life. And I
(30:23):
think that's what helped me. And you know, obviously it
was really hard, and it was like a blessing in
disguise because it made me so grateful for you know what,
for my life and what I was going through. So
I think that's what helped me, like just totally change
my mentality of things and just always look positively.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Absolutely power positivity and trying to find the brighter side
of gray, because to your point, it's very difficult sometimes,
especially when you're dealing with the loss the friends, family,
loved ones, whatever it is. That way is that stuff
never comes, there's no good time for that to ever
occur that way, and it's difficult, it's challenging, but I found,
at least for myself, when stuff like that happens, it's
(31:08):
that opportunity kind of like you said, pause, reflect and
just realize like, oh my gosh, I have so much
to be thankful for. I have to have so much gratitude. Like,
you know, how many people have all these different dreams
and goals and aspirations, but for whatever reason, unfortunately life
doesn't give them the opportunity to pursue them. But guess what,
I have the opportunity to do that. I have the
(31:29):
opportunity to pursue them. And yes, I've got some setbacks
along the way. Yes there's some challenges, but what a
blessing it is to be able to experience those things, right,
How awesome is it that you get to experience the
highs and lows and the full spectrum of everything that
life has to offer. You know, obviously we don't wish
bad things on anyone. However, if you're someone who goes
(31:52):
through bad things and overcomes them and beats them back
and just continues on your path, like it gives you
this newfound energy for life and everything that comes with
it that you're not going to get anywhere else. Like
the amount of athletes I've worked with following acl injuries
that look at me afterwards when they're back to sport
and playing and back to that life is good, that
(32:12):
look at me and say, you know, I'm thankful this
happened to me. And at the time, the first couple
of times it came up, it kind of like just
left me speechless. I was like, are you sure, like
you're glad this happened. But after a while I started
to connect the dots and it's like, you know, there's
something about I don't know if it's the power of
delayed gratification or what the you know, technical term is
(32:34):
for this. There's something about this process of literally going
from like I can't even walk all the way back
to your sport and beyond in a year that has
some kind of powerful transformative effect on people.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
I think, yeah, I totally agree. And going off of that,
like just seeing yourself be so high and then be
so low, you know, along this journey is just what
helps like strength like and show you that there are
these obstacles that are just going to like appear out
of nowhere and like you are going to overcome them.
(33:07):
And I think that just helped me. Yeah, just look
at life differently and just realize that this is what
life is like. There are going to be so much bigger, harder,
challenges that I'm going to face, and just knowing that,
like I can get through them is the biggest thing.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Absolutely. It's like, well, look at how far I've come,
Look at how much I've overcome already. You know, the
next thing that gets thrown your way, you're like, well,
you know, I've been through all of this, so this
is nothing to me. This is easy. I can push
that back, no problem.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
One of the many things that I found, and this
is nothing in comparison to the difficulties that come with
acl or that come with losing someone close to you
that way, But one of the things I've found difficult
for at least myself, and it comes up a lot
when I'm talking with athletes as well, is they recognize
how powerful of a tool social media can be. But
(34:01):
for some reason, there's something within them. I don't know
if it's a fear or what it is, that they
don't want to create a social media profile and share
their journey. They don't want people to see them when
they're at their lowest moments that way. What gave you
the courage to do that and what advice do you
have for other athletes who are going through stuff? Similar
to what you've been through about just sharing you know,
(34:24):
the highs and lows and just everything that comes with
that journey.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Yeah, I mean I wasn't. I didn't have that fear
of like not wanting to show like how hard it
is and like the difficulties that I'm going through and
maybe like to show, you know, the days that I'm
having no progress or you know, I'm very low. I
enjoy like showing that because I know that other people
(34:51):
are going through the same thing, and people I would
get that like positive feedback, like people would be like, wow,
like you're going through this because this just happened to
me and I feel the exact same way. And I
kind of like loved hearing that and seeing that because
it gave me comfort that I'm getting someone else comfort.
(35:11):
So I think that was like the biggest thing for me,
is because like they're supporting me and they're seeing that,
like I'm going through this hard thing and I'm sharing
like the raw, you know, downside of you know stuff,
and you know, they're coming back at me and they're
being like wow, Like I really had no idea that
other people were dealing with this and going through this.
(35:33):
So I think That was the biggest thing was seeing that, like,
you know, people are also going through what you're going
through and the hard stuff.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
That was absolutely absolutely there's other people that are in
similar situations, and again it's a matter of how do
we help those individuals. And I think it again, it
takes a certain level of comfort and confidence in order
to do these things right, Like you have to open
yourself up from a vulner ability standpoint first, Like you
(36:02):
have to show the world that, hey, look, I'm not
always at one hundred percent, but that's okay, because no
one is always at one hundred percent, right, Like I
feel like sometimes we look at social media like this
highlight reel of just all the highs and all the
things that are going well, and I mean, we're all
guilty of it to a certain extent, but it's like
it's also sometimes important to show and remind people that hey,
(36:23):
it's not all sunshine and rainbows. There's bumps in the road,
and if you're someone who's experiencing those bumps in the road,
you're not alone and it's okay, and you know, we're
going to kind of build a little community around this
and get through it together.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yeah, And also some advice that I would give that
Helton v Along. You know, my journey was just that
it's you versus you the entire time. Every single day.
I would I just always say this to myself, it's
you versus you, whether I'm on the ice, whether I'm
in school, no matter what I'm doing, if I you know,
(37:00):
fall down, to not stay down and just to build
myself right back up and just compare yourself to you,
not the person next to you, because they're going through
a totally different thing. And to ensure that you are
going to make progress, you just need to like face
yourself and just be like, I want to beat you,
(37:21):
and like that's what I would just say to myself.
I just want to beat the yesterday me. And that's
what helps me throughout my journey.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Absolutely making it an internal competition instead of you trying
to compete with other people. There is plenty of time
to compete with others. Once you're back to sport, right,
You're going to want to win. You're gonna want to
win games and that sort of thing, and that's great,
But when it comes to some of these other personal things,
like I think to the point you made, it makes
a lot more sense to me anyways to make it
you versus you instead of you versus everyone else, because
(37:53):
everyone's journey is different. There's surgeons different, there's different graph types,
there's all these different factors that go into it, and
it's like you really can not compare one person's journey
to another because there's just so many different factors that
go into it. I mean, even with that said, you know,
I guess we didn't even talk about like what graph
you had and different things that way and what went
into that, you know, and there's a lot of different
(38:14):
considerations that go into that, but you end up with
like a quad graph, p teller tendon graph could have
or hamstring and what was kind of the thought process there.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
So my left my left ACL CLPCL meniscus and it
band surgery that was quad and then my right ACL
was patella and I had I had two different surgeons
for my injuries, so they both recommended, you know, the
(38:43):
different graphs, and that's why I went with two different ones.
Uh So that was kind of how that happened.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
It's a surgeon comfort piece as well, Like there's a
surgeon that I really like who does not do quad
tending graphs, So naturally, if someone goes to him and
ask for a quad ten and graft, it's not necessarily
the right fit that way. So I think it comes
back to what we talked about before, knowing the people
that you surround yourself with, knowing what they're comfortable with,
(39:10):
what their experience is, and so on. That way, it's
really just taking all these different puzzle pieces and putting
them together in a way that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Yeah. Absolutely, And you know, I think, like I love
the quad graph for my left asio. I mean, I
know I got a lot done in that surgery, but
the quad graft I don't have much patel aten and itis.
But I noticed that with my patellograph I have a
lot more peloten and itis. And I'm not sure if
(39:39):
it has to do with like the different graphs, but
that's just something that I picked up along like my rehab.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
Typically, what I hear from people is the quad ten
and graft is less painful. However, they feel like it's
more difficult for them to get their quad strengths back,
especially early on. Now you having the experience of literally
having one of each that way, which one was more
difficult for what reason? That way? Like what obstacles or
(40:09):
challenges to the left present that the right didn't and
vice versa.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
I have to say, I think my right was more
difficult physically just because of the compensation and then being
like back to back from each other. I think that
was like the hardest thing because you know, I was
just recovered, like just recovered from my first ACL, and
then I tour my second ACL, so it was like,
(40:37):
I don't know all the compensation. I think that like
it was just hard for me to continue to build
like a muscle in my left ACL that was just
getting back and now having to like completely go from
like you know, zero percent and build up to one
hundred percent strength in my raight ACL. Two.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Absolutely. And you mentioned before too about nutrition and fitness
and gym and all these different things that play into
it as well. What does that all look like for you?
Like are we hitting plates? Are we crushing the weights
in the gym? You know, some little bench press that
sort of thing. What's the nutrition like like walking kind
of through all these other factors that go into it
as well.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Yeah, I mean I think that nutrition and just being
active are so important, and I've made it such a
lifestyle for me, and like, I'm not just doing you know,
eating right and going to the gym just for my
hockey career, but I'm doing it for my life and
doing it for my lifestyle. So I think typically for
(41:40):
me is like just being active like once or twice
a day and making that a habit is huge. If
I can't get to the gym, I'm going you know,
for a walk, a long walk with five mile walk.
But I love lifting, I've done pilates, I've tried it out.
I love plates. I've only done it like once, but
(42:03):
like I love yoga, anything active and anything physical just
to make my body feel good is super important for me.
And nutritionally, I would say just whole foods. I love
like just you know, going to the grocery store and
being able to buy like fruits and like the organic stuff.
(42:24):
So that's really important for me. But I also had
a really hard time freshman year like understanding you know,
you're the macro nutrients that you need to have on
your plate. So that played a huge role with what
I was going through too with ACL because your nutrition
(42:44):
is so important when you're recovering in your rehab just
to make your body feel good. So I did some
research on that, and we also have like a team nutritionist,
so she was super helpful. But I started to understand
like carbs are so important, and protein is so important,
fat is so important, fiber are so important, so all
(43:08):
of this stuff like I started to incorporate in my
day to day life and I realized, wow, like this
is really helping me feel good mentally physically, And I
just made it a habit to go to the gym
even when I'm not feeling motivated and you know, I'm
not having a great day, but making sure that I
(43:29):
get to the gym and move my body in some
sort of way, whether that it's just stretching or it's
just going for a walk, or it's you know, lifting weights.
So yeah, I think that was super important for me.
And just taking pride in how I feel mentally and
just how I feel physically was super important throughout you know,
(43:50):
my ACL injuries and just rehabbing from them.
Speaker 1 (43:55):
Absolutely. I love everything about that. I mean, as you mentioned,
just dialing in every thing from the nutrition to the
fitness and beyond. And it sounds like you're able to
set yourself up for success beyond just sporting career as
you mentioned it's not just about sport or performance. It's
about actually being active for life and being healthy for life.
And it sounds like, again kind of like we talked
(44:15):
about before using this opportunity, using this as an opportunity
to dial in all those areas. I mean, it sounds
like you did that exceptionally well.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Yeah, and I've just absolutely loved it. I mean it's
been a lot of trial and error just figuring out
like what my body, you know, likes to take in
and what kind of activities I like. And also another
thing that was tough after my first ACO was definitely
like overloading my body just doing like too much and
(44:47):
not letting my body rest because I'm just I'm just
like a go go go person. Like I love the gym,
I love being on the ice, I love being active.
But when you are recovering, I realized that like being
go go, go, go go, and just like pushing your
body too far, that can set you back. And it
(45:07):
did set me back a few times. And my physical
therapists and even like people at school, like my coaches,
they were like, all right, you gotta like you gotta chill,
you gotta like stay off the peloton. After we just
did a team workout and after you had physical therapy,
And it was really hard for me to do that
mentally because my escape was, you know, being on the
(45:32):
peloton or you know, going for a long walk. But
you know, the next day there would be repercussions and
I would be sure I would be swollen, and they
would be like, why do you think you feel like this?
And I would be like, well, I did this, this, this,
and this yesterday and they were like, okay, that's why.
So I think that was also a huge challenge that
(45:54):
I went through the first time around after surgery. But
I learned that, like I need to relax sometimes, especially
going through ACL injury.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
Absolutely, absolutely, sometimes we move forward faster if we actually
take our foot off the gas a little bit. And
it's a very difficult concept to learn and grasp, but
it definitely holds true a lot of the time that way.
I actually I realized we could probably talk about this
all day long that way, because there's just so much
that falls into this world of you as a person,
(46:27):
your sports career, your injuries, and so on. That way,
Is there anything we missed as we were chatting today?
Speaker 2 (46:33):
Honestly, I think we hit a lot of great points.
I loved everything that we talked about. I don't think
that we missed anything.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
Awesome. For people who want to find out more about you,
find you on Instagram and find out more about the
work that you do with Athlete to Athlete or the
stuff you do through Athlete Zone, whether that's the Toe
to Triumphant stuff or the long lived Leny stuff. Where
can they find you all at?
Speaker 2 (46:58):
Yeah, so my link is just going to be my name,
which is Alexa Degan, d E G A N is
my last name, and Torn to Triumphant is just torn,
and then it's actually the number two, which symbolizes me
having both my ICLs done and then Torn to Triumphant.
(47:19):
And then yeah, my Instagram is just Alexa Degan. So
that's where you guys can find me. Awesome.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
We'll link to all of that in the description below.
That way, if you didn't quite catch it, you can
just click there and find Alexa on all the different platforms. Alexa,
this is awesome. I really appreciate your time, thanks for
being here.
Speaker 2 (47:37):
Thank you so much, Dan. I had so much fun
and I appreciate you so much.
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