Latest / The ACL Athlete Podcast / 285 | The Mental Toll of ACL Rehab Nobody Talks About

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285 | The Mental Toll of ACL Rehab Nobody Talks About · The ACL Athlete Podcast

• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome everyone to the ACL Athlete Podcast.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is the podcast where we talk about everything related to the ACL, whether that's the injury itself, the rehab process, return to sport, and more.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Robbie Patel, performance physical therapist and coach.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Between myself and fellow guests and experts, you'll learn through the lens of the patient, the healthcare professional, and the coach.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: The goal of this podcast is to equip you, the athlete, with the education to make the best informed decision about your care and your ACL journey.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's dive into today's episode.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: What is up, team?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Today I just want to get straight into it.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I've been doing a lot of thinking, and at this point, I've taken thousands of ACL athlete calls across the entire world, different places in the process from post-injury all the way to years and years out.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking could be a year out, could be two years out, could be 20 years out.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: You'd be surprised.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I've just been reflecting on these conversations with these ACLers.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Some we are fortunate to work with, and some that are just ones that don't want to move forward.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that could be for a number of reasons.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I just think about a lot of these conversations.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like these things, I am just always reflecting on and just thinking about what is just the premise of these, like what are people dealing with?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it's so hard for me to not connect myself into what is happening in these stories because of just how many challenges that people are going through in this process.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: And recently it's just something about maybe the nature of what we do, and people are just like running out of options, and so then they are just looking for help.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe we are also just naturally seeing these really hard cases and complex cases.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's of course the ones that might be on the front end being proactive, which we love to jump into, but we see a lot of hard cases, y'all.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like the ones that people see three, five, even ten providers over a course of their rehab, and they don't get any results, or they don't get the results that they want.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: And they're just trying to find these options that exist, and we are fortunate to be one of those for some people.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just one of these things that when I'm talking to a lot of these ACLers, there is something that is going on in terms of just what they're dealing with and just what they're not prepared for.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot, and as you guys know, I share a lot of this through the podcast, a lot of the just misnomers in this space, just the things that really miss the mark.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing I want to talk about today, more than anything, and this is just myself going through this twice, through very hard injuries, through hard recoveries, but then through these thousands of conversations with ACLers, is that no one prepares you for the mental toll of ACL rehab.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: They just don't do it.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: It just doesn't happen.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're fresh off the injury, you might be just out of surgery listening to this, you're months out or even years into this thing, and you're listening to this right now.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Every phase has its own challenges.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: As soon as someone thinks that they're through the post op, the next challenge comes up, right?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's just life, man.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: And ACL rehab is just such a good example of life.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: But every phase is gonna have its challenges, but they all share one thing in common, and that's nobody really warns you how hard this would be mentally.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: The surgery, the injury gets all the face time, the physical rehab gets all the face time.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: What almost no one talks about is what this does to your head.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: So today, that's just the episode, it's the mental side.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're feeling it right now, I want you to hear this from me early before we go anywhere else in this conversation.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: I see you guys, I see you specifically, and just know that it's just one of these things that like really weighs on my heart a lot, and it's a very personal thing for me.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: So weird.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is making me emotional.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um but here's the thing about this injury it takes something from you you care about, and it puts it on a shelf, right, for well over a year, sometimes a whole lot longer, depending on your journey.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And as much as we, you know, use this nine to twelve month range, it's not always the common thing.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And there's people who rarely ever finish earlier than that, and there's a whole lot of you who finish much beyond the 12 months.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yes, we use this range, but in reality, it spans the widest range of people taking, you know, 18 months, 24 months, longer than that to really get there.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean there, right?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Where this injury is not truly a barrier to them.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing is, is that when you put it on a shelf, right?
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: It takes that court, it takes the field, it takes the slopes, it takes the trail, whatever that thing is that gives you life and makes you you.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: And when you get that taken from you, you lose a big part of yourself.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I have experienced this so much in my life, so much.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that's essentially why this podcast exists, and that's why our company exists, because we are trying to give you back that thing.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: And whether that's equipping you guys for being able to take on the journey with whoever your team is, or if you want us to help you with that, then amazing.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, like we are just wanting to make sure you get there because this thing really takes a lot away from you, and you lose that big part of yourself whenever you have this injury.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times people don't realize it, they don't realize it until they're in the thick of it.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And some days it does feel like you're moving mountains just to literally get through a normal day.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: The stuff you used to do without thinking about.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure, on paper, this is like rehabbing a knee, but it's also rehabbing your your head space, your mindset, your psychological, just overall brain.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Those those things, the two things from like rehabbing a knee and you know, your mindset and the just psychological aspect of it, those two things are happening at the same time, but only one of them really gets talked about.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: You think about as soon as you injure it, yeah, there's all the pain swelling, all the limitations.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Then you go, you know, you go to the surgeon, usually you get an MRI, and then you talk about the surgery, you talk about the rehab, a timeline is giving to you.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Even with the physical therapy, you're working on all the things that are the physical rehab side of things.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: How many times is your surgeon or your physical therapist actually touching on the mental health side of things?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: How much are they talking about mindset and how much of this is mindset?
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: You got all these mindset coaches who help with sports and you know, with trauma that people deal with and maybe getting through these barriers in life.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: And for some reason, this long-term injury that influences so much of your life is now just focused on the physical.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's all smoke, it's all smoke and mirrors.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's literally just the physical side of it that you're given.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: And even that doesn't necessarily always really hit where you need it to.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: That typically misses the mark in most traditional physical therapy.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I get it, we're physical therapists, and we are here to help rehab the need.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is the thing we see, and we're helping guide you with this.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: But it is a complete disservice to not also be able to tap into the mental side and to talk to you about how you're doing, how we're navigating things, the expectations.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: And this is across the board.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: If you look at our education when athletes start with us, you'd be blown away with how much education there is.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And we're not like education, you know, fire hosing you, but we are setting the foundation, no matter where you are in this process.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: I can't tell you how much we have to work on the mindset first before we can really tap into this physical side.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: And this starts from day one, whether you're prehab, post op, or you are that person who is 10 months or two years out, we're still talking about mindset.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And every single week there is something for us to tap into from the mindset side of things, whether it's reflections-based, whether it's like being able to review certain philosophies, whether it's to do these certain exercises, whether it is a conversation with your coach, these are things that are really, really, really important.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: And the physical side of this is just the thing that gets 99.9% of the FaceTime.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then you might have, you know, the mindset side that's tapped into.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: And people think this recovery is clean, it's linear.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times people are like, oh, well, I'll be the exception.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'll crush this thing, I'll work really hard.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: I can outwork a setback, and so then therefore, I'm not gonna be the typical, which is you're gonna deal with a roller coaster ride of this process.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing is, is that there's no one that is immune to this.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Not even you professional athletes, not to anyone who is the type A most organized person, because we're also dealing with life, we're dealing with human biology, and you can't control every single aspect of this thing.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so, this linear thing that you think is happening, it's not going to happen.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: And as most of you guys know, that's truly the case.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing is, is that it's this roller coaster, and it's not just for the few months or post op, it's the whole way through.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: You could be riding high one day, feeling like you finally turned a corner, and then the next day your knee decides, let me swell up on you and get grumpy and drops you into a big low.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that low can cause a spiral, and you're like, Okay, great, now I'm gonna be set back for the next you know, two months, right?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'm never gonna get to that thing, or you know, I've been here before, and this is what's gonna happen again.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: The negative thoughts start talking, and here's what's messed up about it.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Despite all your wins, the negative thoughts hit harder.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: They always do.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Think about your failures versus your wins.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Which one hits harder for you guys?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: I know for me personally, the things that I missed, the things that I did not achieve, the things that I quote unquote failed at are the things that hit the hardest, no matter if I still had the amazing thing afterwards.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's still true today as a parent, as a husband, as a business owner, as a leader, as a you know, just person who is just trying to manage athletes and our team, like the the downfall is hit harder.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the same thing with this process.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember feeling that all the time, all the time.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it might not even just be a bad day.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're just kind of burned out as well.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: You've been at this for a long time.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: The progress doesn't feel proportional to everything you poured into it, and you're currently pouring into it, and that's real too.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: We have so many athletes who are pushing hard, they're like, if I could just do more, they're following the plan, they're doing all the things, and they are just dealing with a knee and biology and life that is not necessarily just optimal, and there's nothing that they could fully do about it besides keep nudging and keep trying to move the needle forward with consistency.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is all real, and I'm sharing this with you guys because I'm I just really hope that this is hitting, I hope that this is connecting for you and that you're feeling seen.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because I just don't think that this is something that's shared enough, and it's just been really weighing on my heart to share with you.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so, what I want you to do is just kind of picture this whether you're eight months out, you're 10 months out, you could be 11, 12 months, maybe 18 months out.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: You look down and your quad still isn't all the way back.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: You're still not on the field, you're not on the court, the slopes, the trails, you know, whatever environment it is, maybe you're rock climbing, maybe you're free diving, you know, it could be anything, y'all.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever your thing is, the anxiety and the fear are still riding shotgun with you.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: You got it right next to you.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it feels like this never-ending tunnel.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I know everyone uses like the tunnel with the light at the end of it, but if we're honest, at some points it feels like it's completely dark.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what I need you to hear in that moment.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's more normal than y'all think.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: It is way more normal.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: Most of you listening are dealing with some version of exactly this.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's the majority, it's not an exception, it's not a minority.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: I promise you that.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying this from the outside looking in.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: As I've shared, I've felt all this in my bones.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: I have had two ACL tears of my own, one in high school, one in college.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: They were not the smoothest recoveries, and I had challenges with those and a lot of also mental health-related issues that came out from those.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And most recently, I had a major hip procedure.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: I had essentially a total hip replacement with, you know, the caveat of not getting part of it taken, but I had my hip popped out and I had a metal implant put in because I had osteoarthritis that was not improving, and it was limiting my life drastically.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so that dropped me right in the back in the same head space.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I am a little over a year after this, and I'm not fully there.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: There have still been lows, there's still things I do in the gym that sometimes make me revert back of whether it was worth it or not.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: But when I look back, I have stayed consistent.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: I have had a coach in my corner guiding me, and I am trusting the plan, and it is way better.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I am in a much better place than pre-surgery, and that is really important.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: But it has not been sunshine and rainbows.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: But the thing is, is like I still have those things of if I will ever feel normal again.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I I kind of did quotes in my hands with normal because I have to redefine what my normal is, not because I am scared of what that looks like, but more so of knowing like my hip is a little changed, my knees are a little changed from a surgical procedure, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm gonna cut myself short in terms of my goals and what I want to do, right?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's really important.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna still strive towards that.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: And going through the ACL injuries twice didn't make it any easier, it made it harder.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: I know that tunnel of just like the never-ending, not any light, because I've stood in it, I'm technically standing in it still.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: I personally do see light at the end of the tunnel with where my hip is at this point, but I've been working really hard.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing is, is that that's the thing that I want you guys to lean into is that while it feels dark, there will be light that shows up.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so when I talk about this, it's not just it's just not theory.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not a physical therapist telling you your knee will get better.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: I've lived this thing, and I have like walked this and I have observed this from hundreds and thousands of ACLers at this point.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: And there's this other part that just nobody warns you about this process, especially a physical surgery rehab like this.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: At some point, people stop asking.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that brace comes off, the crutches go away, the visible markers disappear.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I've talked about this before, but everyone around you assumes you're good now.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: You look fine, so you must be fine.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: And these are the people who are like, it's Bertha who like has no idea about ACLs and is like, oh, you're you're probably back to playing soccer now, or you know, you're you're back to being able to go on your skis again.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like you're only two months in, but you're not on crutches, and you don't have a brace on, so they can't really understand this.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: But you're still in it, you're in the thick of it, still stuck in it with what feels like a long-term rehab and a purgatory.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: And now you're in it more quietly.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: No one around you is checking in as much, but the world feels like it's moved on.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: But you personally are still in it, the thick of it.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a super lonely place to be.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: And we see it constantly.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: ACLers who are 12 months out, 18, 24 months out, some of them years out, still carrying this.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: We have had recent ACLers start up with us and they are in these time ranges.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And this is not out of the norm for us.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we have the pre-op and the post-surgery that join us, and we love it.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: We love to be able to start with you whenever we can as early as possible.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: But as I said, we also get the hard stuff that people have like worked and worked and worked with others, and then we are fortunate enough to be able to get an opportunity, and they have had yes, a year, two years, three years, multiple, multiple years out who are still looking for help.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: And they're carrying this, right?
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: So if that's you, hear me clearly that in this situation of being months out or years out, you're not broken, and you didn't fail somewhere.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there could be a chance that it's like a system issue or physical therapy issue or a surgeon guided you wrong.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: There could be a lot of those things.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: We see that a lot.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: But this is not your fault.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Unless you just didn't show up, you didn't work, you didn't try to do things, then yeah, there is ownership to take on your own part.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: But let's say you leaned into it and you're doing the part and you're just feeling like you're misled or the guidance isn't there, or the knee is just not responding correctly.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Just know that it's not you necessarily failing, right?
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: And you're dealing with the part of this that no one handed you a roadmap for.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I wish that there was a direct roadmap for, especially the mental health side of the things.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: But there should be a roadmap for the physical side.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: I will say that there should always be a roadmap of like what this looks like, and typically the mindset mental side of this, we are tracking and we are also being able to see how is that compared to the physical rehab and how you're doing.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing because this was never just a physical rehab to begin with, it's mental and psychological rehab too, and that's really important to share.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's the same recovery, two halves, and the mental half is the one that gets ignored.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: When for a lot of you, it is the harder of the two.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're feeling all of this, here's what I want you to walk away with.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: You're not the only one, you're not weak for any of it, and you are not alone.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's the majority of us who go through this exact thing.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to carry it by yourself.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: Tell someone, lean on the people in your corner who are on your team, especially.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: I can't tell you the number of athletes we're just kind of talking to on a regular basis to be able to help put anxieties at bay, to help put just the unknown nature of things at bay.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that's our goal is like we want to make sure you have clarity every single step of the way.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: And whoever you're working with, your rehab provider, your coach, your physical therapist, they should be guiding this path.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: They should be like that Sherpa on taking Everest, y'all.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what this is.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: And they need to be able to tell you, okay, like these are the conditions, this is what we're gonna do.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna pause here, we're gonna slow things down.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: They need to do that, and they need to be able to be five steps ahead of you so you can prevent whatever issues that are ahead.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the thing that's really important is have your team dialed in.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever we start talking with the athletes and they're like, man, I just I'm exhaling right now because I just feel like I don't have to completely feel the weight of this, or be on Instagram or YouTube putting exercises together, or just being like, man, my PT is not good enough, or like I feel like I'm just kind of piecing it all together.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing that messes with your head the most is that the further and further you get out in this process, the more you feel like you should be capable of handling it.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: And especially if you've been cleared or discharged by PT or your surgeon, but you and your gut know you're not there yet.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's the thing that's always so challenging with this.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: So you always need to make sure that this is something that you can communicate to someone you trust on your team.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if you don't trust that person, find a new person.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: Find a new person.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: No one should be going at this alone, no matter where you are in this process.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: And if it's getting really heavy, if it's getting dark, I really want you to talk to someone who can actually help you carry it, whether that's a person you trust or a professional.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: We have people we work with from the psychological side of things, mental health therapists, psychologists, like who we refer people to, especially if this is becoming a thing that is a very challenging part of this process, which everyone is going to deal with.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's just a matter of if it becomes a major barrier to progressing forward.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: And we see that often.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: Or let's take the person who's injured it two or three times, they have high ambitions.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: This could be one of those bottlenecks in the process.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: So we always want to make sure that that is available to any of our athletes, but we're also working through this, we're talking through this, we have objective measures in the process that is assessing this as well.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: That is very, very vital in ACL rehab and in a physical recovery like this, especially where reinjury rates are super high still.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: So when you see a professional or talk to someone you trust, that's not a step backwards, y'all.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: Just know that it's not a step backwards in rehab.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's a part of your rehab and it's what it should be.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we are trying to be here at the ACL athlete.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Someone who sees the whole thing, the knee, your mindset, this entire recovery that is in the trenches with you the entire way, every single step.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just the first few months of this process, or if it's just one little piece of it.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's the whole thing, it's the entire journey until you are feeling like yourself and you're feeling resilient, yoked, strong quads, big quads, and feeling like yourself in the things that you want to do.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want that help, we are here to help.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not here to pitch like we are here to just basically support you in this.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: And our goal is to just make sure that you especially feel heard in this.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is one of those episodes that I was debating to do, but then it was just kind of weighing on me.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm probably in the all feels of just being a dad now and just hearing these conversations and stories.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know, man.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: There's just like something about it that like really hit me this week.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I just wanted to share this with you guys because I do see you.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: I see what you guys are doing, I see all the things that are not talked about.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so to every ACLer who's grinding through the hard part right now, who is not getting the mental side acknowledged, I see you guys.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: Please keep going one step at a time.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: Celebrate your small wins, and I will see y'all in the next episode.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, this is your host, Robbie Patel, signing off.