Post by bigfan on Sept 9, 2005 10:39:14 GMT -5
After two injuries, Childester is ready
Frank Burlison
Call it "rehabilitation," "rehab" or "just getting myself healthy." Erika Chidester has had enough of it. After a couple of summers during which she has spent a whole heck of a lot more time inside the trainers' room at Long Beach State instead of lounging on a beach, Chidester has become an expert of sorts on how an athlete recovers from setbacks that, not so long ago, might have spelled an end to his or her on-court or on-field endeavors.
In the summer, fall and winter of 2004, the 49ers volleyball standout tried to nurse an aching right shoulder into the kind of condition that would allow her to play a senior season that, ultimately, was put on hold by a year.
Then, just as she thought she was rip-roaring and ready to go for the 2005 season, she suffered a torn meniscus in her left knee last May that sent her back into rehab mode.
She could probably slap together a pretty good "how-to' guide on the rehabilitation for athletes if she had the time and inclination.
She isn't armed with either.
"No way," she said after practice in the Walter Pyramid early Wednesday evening, ice packed on the aforementioned shoulder and knee.
"I don't want to think about it (rehabbing) again."
And why should she?
After playing in just the 2004 opening match, it became apparent to Chidester, a 2003 all-Big West Conference selection, that the shoulder injury, diagnosed as a "slightly torn' rotator cuff after the 2003 season, hadn't healed enough to allow to her to play pain-free.
By the time spring workouts rolled around, the 6-foot-3 Chidester was going full tilt, playing in four weekend tournaments.
But during a practice in May, she soared above the net for a spike, only to come down upon a teammate's foot.
"I landed on it (the left leg) kind of funny and there was immediate pain," she said. "But I didn't tell a lot of people. I thought I had twisted it, and I'd just get through the final three weeks (of spring drills) before summer break."
When the pain failed to subside, LBSU head trainer Dan Bailey recommended an MRI.
"I had just taken my last final," she said, "and was in my car when Dan called me and told me I had a torn meniscus. I just broke down (emotionally) and had to pull alongside the road."
She underwent surgery in June, thinking that because the tear was "slight," a piece of the meniscus would be shorn off and that she'd be able to
be on the volleyball floor in four weeks.
No such luck.
The tear proved to be much more extensive than had been believed, meaning it had to be repaired, with a new target date for a return to match action four months later.
"When I woke up (from the anesthesia) and they told me I was going to be out for four months, I started puking," she said.
Thoughts of those grueling hours in rehabilitation and the emotionally draining nights on the sidelines watching her teammates in action while she had been reduced to a cheerleading status … well, they were both heart-and stomach-wrenching.
Very quickly, though, self-determination overpowered self-pity.
"As soon as I got out of the hospital, I told myself I was going to bust my butt and do everything I had to in order to get back sooner (than the original Oct. 1 target date)," she said.
Sure enough, Chidester was on the floor when practice began last month, doing everything other than jumping that her teammates did in double-days.
And, after spending the opening weekend matches (vs. Long Island and Sacramento State) on the sidelines for the 49ers, coach Brian Gimmillaro finally called her number last Friday night in Columbus in the third game of the match with Michigan. The next night she played about two games' worth of the 3-0 loss to Ohio State.
"Saturday morning, I woke up (in the Columbus hotel), got out of bed and didn't feel any pain (in her knee) that was awesome," she said.
Chidester figures to get plenty of action in the three matches the 49ers (3-1 and ranked No. 22) play this weekend in Las Vegas, beginning with a 5 p.m. contest today at UNLV against Rutgers.
Gimmillaro said her return to play was "way, way ahead of schedule.
"But to expect too much from her after being out (for so long) is unfair. She is doing what she can and is getting better every day but we don't want any setbacks. We need to be patient until she can get back her competitive edge."
Frank Burlison
Call it "rehabilitation," "rehab" or "just getting myself healthy." Erika Chidester has had enough of it. After a couple of summers during which she has spent a whole heck of a lot more time inside the trainers' room at Long Beach State instead of lounging on a beach, Chidester has become an expert of sorts on how an athlete recovers from setbacks that, not so long ago, might have spelled an end to his or her on-court or on-field endeavors.
In the summer, fall and winter of 2004, the 49ers volleyball standout tried to nurse an aching right shoulder into the kind of condition that would allow her to play a senior season that, ultimately, was put on hold by a year.
Then, just as she thought she was rip-roaring and ready to go for the 2005 season, she suffered a torn meniscus in her left knee last May that sent her back into rehab mode.
She could probably slap together a pretty good "how-to' guide on the rehabilitation for athletes if she had the time and inclination.
She isn't armed with either.
"No way," she said after practice in the Walter Pyramid early Wednesday evening, ice packed on the aforementioned shoulder and knee.
"I don't want to think about it (rehabbing) again."
And why should she?
After playing in just the 2004 opening match, it became apparent to Chidester, a 2003 all-Big West Conference selection, that the shoulder injury, diagnosed as a "slightly torn' rotator cuff after the 2003 season, hadn't healed enough to allow to her to play pain-free.
By the time spring workouts rolled around, the 6-foot-3 Chidester was going full tilt, playing in four weekend tournaments.
But during a practice in May, she soared above the net for a spike, only to come down upon a teammate's foot.
"I landed on it (the left leg) kind of funny and there was immediate pain," she said. "But I didn't tell a lot of people. I thought I had twisted it, and I'd just get through the final three weeks (of spring drills) before summer break."
When the pain failed to subside, LBSU head trainer Dan Bailey recommended an MRI.
"I had just taken my last final," she said, "and was in my car when Dan called me and told me I had a torn meniscus. I just broke down (emotionally) and had to pull alongside the road."
She underwent surgery in June, thinking that because the tear was "slight," a piece of the meniscus would be shorn off and that she'd be able to
be on the volleyball floor in four weeks.
No such luck.
The tear proved to be much more extensive than had been believed, meaning it had to be repaired, with a new target date for a return to match action four months later.
"When I woke up (from the anesthesia) and they told me I was going to be out for four months, I started puking," she said.
Thoughts of those grueling hours in rehabilitation and the emotionally draining nights on the sidelines watching her teammates in action while she had been reduced to a cheerleading status … well, they were both heart-and stomach-wrenching.
Very quickly, though, self-determination overpowered self-pity.
"As soon as I got out of the hospital, I told myself I was going to bust my butt and do everything I had to in order to get back sooner (than the original Oct. 1 target date)," she said.
Sure enough, Chidester was on the floor when practice began last month, doing everything other than jumping that her teammates did in double-days.
And, after spending the opening weekend matches (vs. Long Island and Sacramento State) on the sidelines for the 49ers, coach Brian Gimmillaro finally called her number last Friday night in Columbus in the third game of the match with Michigan. The next night she played about two games' worth of the 3-0 loss to Ohio State.
"Saturday morning, I woke up (in the Columbus hotel), got out of bed and didn't feel any pain (in her knee) that was awesome," she said.
Chidester figures to get plenty of action in the three matches the 49ers (3-1 and ranked No. 22) play this weekend in Las Vegas, beginning with a 5 p.m. contest today at UNLV against Rutgers.
Gimmillaro said her return to play was "way, way ahead of schedule.
"But to expect too much from her after being out (for so long) is unfair. She is doing what she can and is getting better every day but we don't want any setbacks. We need to be patient until she can get back her competitive edge."