Originally, the doctors had decided to install some rods in his back to help keep the spine straight. This "hack job," though, as he termed it, had failed miserably. The rods had ended up irritating some nerve endings, making it nearly impossible for him to spend an entire day fishing. Accordingly, the doctors had gone in again and removed the rods, with hopes to eliminate his pain.
It was while he was recovering from this latest surgery that the mind games had started.
"After recuperating for about three weeks, I was up and walking," he said, "though very slowly at first...and with the aid of a cane. My mind began telling me it was time to get back on the boat and do what I felt like I was born to do: bass fishing."
Deciding he was going to take the bull by the horns, he grabbed a handful of medications, hooked up the boat to his truck, and proceeded to the boat launch.
"My thought process at the time was that there is no doctor in the world who can tell you if you're ready for a day on the lake after a surgery. Only you will know if you're ready...and I felt ready."
Soon after launching his boat and running a couple of miles to a honey hole that had produced for him in the past, he picked up his rod with a shallow-diving crankbait tied on it, reared back, and let the bait fly. He instantly knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he had made a BIG mistake.
"Not only did I feel like every nerve in my back had split wide open, but I was left in a bent-over position from which I couldn't recover," he explained. "I felt like the last three weeks of recovery never had happened. More precisely, it was as though I just had left the hospital the day before.
"Somehow, I mustered up the strength to lift the trolling motor and start back to the boat ramp," he continued. "I knew from that first cast I was not ready to be out on the water and now had to find a way to get the boat home. Thankfully, I now have some great new friends who came to my rescue after arriving back at the launch site.
"They approached me, asking how I had done, as they were just heading out. I explained my situation to them, and they were only too happy to help me put the boat back on the trailer. I also was very lucky to live just seconds away from the boat ramp.
"In retrospect, when I thought I was ready to be out there on the water, I wasn't. I needed more time to heal.
"Whatever the reason, be it physical or mechanical, don't let your mind play tricks on you. Make sure you are ready to be out there. Otherwise, you could set your recovery back so far you might never be able to go again. I was lucky and only needed another couple weeks of healing before I was back on the water.
"I learned that it's probably best to consult with your doctor and follow his advice about when it's safe to get back on the water. Just because you're tired of being laid up, and your mind may be telling you one thing when the truth is something else doesn't mean you should act on those thoughts."
The wise man remembers this saying: "He who acts as his own doctor has a fool for a patient." Words all would do well to live by.
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