Road to Recovery

Recently, I had a total knee replacement on my right knee. The surgery went well and I have begun my outpatient physical therapy and that is certainly not any walk in the park. But I have begun to feel some improvement and before long I should be back to normal. However, my appetite is not the best and I find it especially difficult to fall asleep. But again, knee replacements can be complicated things and patients like me have to keep their composure and be patient with the process.

As I have been going through my recovery, which includes being limited in my activities, I have begun to think of others that have permanent conditions that will not improve in just a week or two or three. I think of the kids who have served in the military in Iraq and Afghanistan and have lost limbs like hands, legs and arms and how their lives have been permanently changed. Many of them are just kids, some in their teens or just barely in their twenties. Think of what they and their families and their girlfriends and boyfriends and husbands and wives must be going through. Furthermore, just think of the mental anguish, the loneliness and the isolation many of our heroes must be enduring. If we have our health, if we have all our body parts and if we live in the good old United States, we need to be thankful.

Over the years, I have met many wonderful people in the healthcare industry and one of those is a gentleman and good friend, Ed Eckenhoff. Ed is a special person who has inspired me over the years because of his positive attitude and absolute courage. I talked about him at last year's Boot Camp training. Many years ago when he was a freshman in college, his roommate asked him to go with him to retrieve his wallet which he had left in his girlfriend’s dorm. Ed agreed and about one mile down the road the roommate had driven his car into a telephone pole and was killed outright. Ed remembers nothing except laying out in a field unable to move his legs. That condition would last for the rest of his life.

The doctors told his parents to take him home, make him comfortable because he would never walk again. After a few months laying in bed, Ed Eckenhoff’s father came into his room and asked him what he planned to do with his life. Ed told me, “My father talked to me like I was dealing with a bad cold. My mother behaved the same way. I returned to college and graduated with my class.” He then went on to get his Master’s in healthcare administration, earned a doctorate along the way and achieved all sorts of honors as an exceptional healthcare executive. He has served on the American Hospital’s Board of Trustees as well as on many other boards and committees. He is an accomplished golfer and currently serves as the CEO of the renowned Washington Rehabilitation Hospital.

Think of the mental challenges anybody who has been severely handicapped must endure. Think of the dark moments and the great courage and endurance so many of them show by going on to do absolutely incredible things that only make us shake our heads in wonderment. So many of us on the other hand have at our disposal everything we need to achieve success and don’t realize how lucky we are. Maybe we’ve become spoiled or even lazy, and, yet, we should rejoice with the fact that with the right attitude, anything is possible. Seize opportunity now, don’t wait for everything to be just right. Go out and make things happen. Ed Eckenhoff did just that and didn’t let a bad turn take his eye off the ball.

Go for the gold and make things happen.


Chuck