How CMH Helped Me Rehab After an Injury (Guest Blogger, Meredith Rodkey)

I love bracelets. Ropy, friendship type bracelets; cuff bracelets; sparkly bracelets; leather bracelets with studs and zippers, I have a collection. I like to mix them up like party guests, arm parties if you will, and introduce new pairings to see who hits it off.

But there’s one bracelet I wear daily that I think of as my party host — my Count Me Healthy bracelet; you can (sort of) see it here holding court at a recent party:

It was given to me by a very dear friend almost 2 years ago, and I still wear it almost daily.

At the time it was given to me, I had recently blown out my knee, and to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t in a great place. Up until my injury, I had played hockey for 10 years, it was a source of many friendships, great exercise, and it’s even how I met my husband.

I’d just had surgery; I felt vulnerable, adrift, and weak. I knew I’d walk again, obviously, but I doubted I’d play hockey again, which broke my heart. I was juggling a high-pressure job and two physical therapy appointments a day. I had to complete 12 sessions every week; they were excruciatingly painful and were typically bookended by tears. But at the end of each one, I would move a bead from the right side of my Count Me Healthy bracelet to the left, until the end of the week, all the beads were gathered together in their own little bead party within a bracelet party.

I used my bracelet that way for two months as I went through my rehabilitation. When I was released into my own care, I kept using it for another 6 months. Eventually, slowly but surely, I regained my strength.

Today, I’ll admit, I use it less for counting and more as a source of inspiration. I don’t play hockey anymore, but I truly worked hard to get back on my feet, and I wear a reminder of that hard work on my wrist every day — I’m strong, and I’m healthy.

Meredith Rodkey also blogs about health news and fitness for Pure Matters and curates her own personal blog at MeredithRodkey.com. In her spare time, she enjoys watching Internet videos of kittens and songs by indie rock bands.