Today

Saturday, March 29, 2014

 



 

It's been a long time since I have posted, but then I have been kind of busy! After my surgery the fall of my junior year, my high school team won the  NC 4A State Championship.   I ended up with a great season, batting .421 with a conference leading 6 homeruns.  I made several All-State teams. 

I also signed to play baseball at NC State after I finish my senior year at South Meck High School.

 

Last year ways an incredible year in so many ways.  My hamate surgery is a "thing of the past"  I have no lingering issues with my hand or the incision site.  In fact, all I have to remind me of the hamate surgery is a faded scar.  Pretty cool!

First game back

Saturday, October 20, 2014

Finally!  It was my first tournament back with my travel team, the Panthers.  We played at the UNC and NC State fields.  I was so excited to be back on the field for a game, especially playing here.  I was being recruited by NC State and I really wanted to do well.  Unfortunately, I still couldn't hit, but I caught two games.  I played great, especially after not catching for a while.  My hand still feels weird. I hope this goes away soon!  I want to feel like my old self again!  I guess it's just "baby steps".

Bullpen

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

I caught Earl in my first bullpen today since surgery. It went pretty well even though my hand and wrist are still sore and achy.  The only time it was really painful was the one high pitched ball that I had to reach way up for.  Other than that, everything seems to be getting better, even though this is taking much longer than I thought.  I was making progress though and that's all that matters.

1st Swing

Monday, October 15, 2012

Finally I was able to swing the bat today at practice.  I wasn't able to actually hit the ball, just swing the bat.  It felt so weird, like something was missing in my hand.  It felt different and I don't know if I like that.   It didn't hurt so much, but I didn't make any contact.  My wrist felt really sore and tight.   I just made a few practice swings.  All kinds of thoughts started running through my head.  Would I be as strong of a hitter as I was before my the surgery?  Baseball recruiting for college and kids in my grade had begun.  I missed the fall travel circuit where university coaches come to watch. Will I still have an opportunity to play baseball in college? 

Physical Therapy

Thursday, October 4, 2012

I went to physical therapy today at Architech.  I have been going here for various injuries and rehab since the 8th grade. Dr. Perlik wanted me to see a PT so that I could regain flexibility in my wrist.  I had no idea that my wrist would be so stiff.  I can barely move it.  Even though the hamate is technically located in the wrist, if you are looking at your hand, it appears to be located at near the base of the palm. Jason worked with me on some basic exercises, gave me some to do at home, and warned against hitting until my flexibility came back.  This is getting to be a real pain!

First day back to fall school practice

Thursday, October 2, 2012

Now that my stitches are out, I am able to attend fall practice with my high school team, South Meck High School.  This is technically travel ball season and I play games all over the southeast for my travel team, South Charlotte Panthers.  But, during the week, I have unofficial practice (8 mans) at school and workouts in the weight room.  I did go to practice after class and did what I could, which was not much. I really can't catch balls yet because I still have a lot of pain at the incision site. When a ball comes in hard, it would hurt like crazy.  I also can't swing the bat. My hand isn't healed and I know that the bottom of the bat pressing on the area of  my hand where the hamate was removed, would probably hurt like crazy!  Also, my wrist is really sore.  I was itching to pick up a bat and see if the surgery had changed things for my hitting, which is one of my strengths, but had to wait at least the three weeks Dr.Perlik required. 

Stitches out

Monday, October 1, 2012

Went to Orthocarolina today to get the stitches out of my hand. Dr. Perlik took a look and said everything looked good,and asked how I felt.   My pinky finger and ring finger on my left hand are really numb.  That worried me a little, but Dr. Perlik said that was completely normal since during the surgery he had to do so much tugging on the nerves and tendons in my hand to even get to the hook that was removed.  He said sometimes, it could take a long time for full and normal sensation to come back to the fingers.  He told me that I could go to practice and participate in running and exercise, but warned against swinging the bat for at least three weeks so that the soft tissue around the surgery site and incision could heal.