Wednesday, October 14, 2009

No news is not good news. At all.

So can it still be called an update if you have nothing new to report? Or nothing good at least...

It's been mighty quiet on the boxing front as of late. As I've eased my way back into "full-time" training, my job also has transitioned back into "full-time overdrive super busy agency" mode, leaving me a bit short on time and energy the past week. A few days I've had to abandon my original plans to hit the boxing gym hard and instead resorted to just cross-training on my own. I don't know whether or not being so busy contributed to me getting sick this past weekend, but I was a few germs short of death for a few days and the only boxing I wanted to be a part of was on the "Latin Fury" card I was fortunate to attend live in New York. Speaking of which, did any of you all catch it on PPV? Lopez/Mtagawa has my early vote for Fight of the Year and Yuriorkis Gamboa still never ceases to amaze me. Even the most casual fight fans would enjoy these two bouts, so check them out if you can.

But anyway, work, a long weekend in NYC and a horrific, 72-hour variation of the 24-hour flu bug slowed my in-ring escapades to a near halt since last Saturday - which, fittingly was a great sparring session.

Which, unfortunately, might have been one of my final sparring sessions for awhile...

Because earlier today I visited a doctor about my recurring sinus problems and learned that I have a severely deviated septum. The doctor's descriptions ranged from comparing it to "an accordian," "a pretzel" and "a true boxer's septum," which I for some reason found to be a bit flattering. (Hey, you'd be trying to find something positive about it too...) The only treatment for a deviated septum is surgery, which then requires a recovery period involving 2 weeks with no strenuous activity and at least 4 weeks of no boxing.

In a way, I'm a little lucky that this is the extent of my first legit boxing-related injury in 8+ years, seeing how I've been living with the symptoms and can choose when I put boxing on hold and have the surgery...but man this sucks.

I'm now deciding whether I want to have the surgery ASAP(the doctor said the earliest he can schedule it would be early November) or just...sort of wait a bit and see. This whole breathing through one nostril thing is a super inconvenience and all, but, well, I want to box. (This much we know.) I still have goals I want to accomplish in the short-term, and I'm just three weeks removed from being a regional semifinalist in a tournament. I should be continuing to move forward, not taking a giant hiatus and leap backwards. It will be hard to step away not just from the ring but the gym altogether for a full month.

So until I decide when I'm going to suck it up and go under the knife, I'm working out at a feverish pace - enjoying it while I can, I guess - and trying to convince myself that I'm breathing just fine. Which I am, of course. Just...through a nostril that randomly starts whistling. And plugs up when the wind blows. But aside from that, nothing but clear breathing for this guy.

Here's to this next week being more productive in the ring than the last - or at the least, not confirming another unforeseen but unavoidable setback.

2 comments:

NerdOfSteel's Boxing Tips said...

I thought I had a deviated septum for a while, but in my case, it was just residual swelling that took a while to go down. When my nose swells 90% of the swelling goes down within a week, but the other 10% (and the whistling) can literally take a month to go away.

I know a few guys that had the surgery. They both said they slept a lot better afterwards, which dramatically increased their energy levels. I heard recovery is a bitch though.

Jonathan Moreland said...

Good feedback. I too have heard recovery is slow and kind of painful, but the benefits are well worth it. I just don't want to go through all this and deviate it again as soon as I get back in the ring. I was hoping it was just swelling like you have or a break, but alas, he says my nose is in super rough shape and the airways won't clear up unless he goes in and opens them up himself.

At least this explains why I've been bleeding so easily the past few months too...