May 5th, 2025

Hello, everyone. I apologize for not writing in my blog since may 1st, I have been a bit preoccupied with life which feels great to say after the couple of weeks I’ve had. Some of you guys even asked what happened to the blog or when I am posting again, and I have to say I am stoked to hear and see that you guys are taking this well. I am going to continue writing and posting videos on my instagram (@shanen.t if you don’t follow me already) in conjunction to continue to document my recovery.

As far as recovery goes, I am in a much better spot than I have been with my knee. I have my follow up appointment in two days and that is such a relief to say. Even a week ago it felt like it was going to take forever to get to this point. With that, I will get my 25 staples from surgery removed along with a fancier knee brace (goodbye shitty velcro brace), and I’ll get to start physical therapy! Recovery feels as though it is only up from here, and I can’t wait to see where I am at after my follow up appointment. I can already feel my knee regaining function. When I took off my dressing to shower, I noticed that my swelling has gone down and there is some definition around my knee now, and it isn’t just flush to my thigh and my calf creating a cylindrical mass of inflammation and pain. Something that I am looking forward to at the end of all this is how cool the scar will be. It’ll be the biggest one I have, going from the top of my shin to the bottom of my thigh all the way up my knee. Like I said, it took 25 staples to stitch me back together. The more time goes on, the more I can feel each individual staple. Suffice to say it will certainly be a process to get each staple out of my leg. Anyways, I am just grateful that physical recovery is hopefully going really well, and that I am on a good track to fully recover by June.

My mental state has also been getting better and better. I feel more up to activities, like kendama with the weekly kendama club I go to. We recently had our third monthly team dinner, where we all get together with food and drink and just have a great time playing kendama together. Having the kendama community and that outlet through this whole ordeal has been life saving. I truly don’t know where I’d be without it.