Episode 17: Backstory: The Injury That Changed Everything

In this season premiere, I’m sharing the full story of what’s been happening in my life over the past few months—and why this season is all about recovery, resilience, and the comeback. I took a break after season one without knowing that when I returned, I’d be coming back with the biggest and most humbling story of my life so far.

What started as mild back pain after a workout quickly spiraled into something far more serious. I pushed through pain, ran a 10K I probably shouldn’t have, and tried to convince myself I was fine—until everything came to a complete halt. Within weeks, I went from training and living an extremely active life to being unable to move, sleeping on couches in excruciating pain, and making multiple urgent care and emergency room visits.

This episode walks through the moment everything changed: worsening numbness, a middle-of-the-night ambulance ride, an MRI that revealed a severely herniated L4–L5 disc, and the realization that I needed emergency spinal surgery that same day. I talk about learning that my condition—cauda equina syndrome—was a medical emergency that could have led to permanent nerve damage or paralysis if left untreated.

And somehow, that still wasn’t the end of it. After surgery, I faced unexpected complications, including blood clots in both legs and both lungs, repeated hospital stays, intense chest pain, fainting episodes, and a difficult recovery process that tested me physically and mentally. I share what it felt like to wake up pain-free after surgery, only to be met with new challenges, uncertainty, and fear around my body and my future.

This episode is about more than injury and surgery—it’s about identity, independence, and being forced to slow down when your life has always revolved around movement. I talk about the mental toll of recovery, the exhaustion of starting over, the vulnerability of asking for and receiving help, and the deep gratitude I feel for my family, friends, and medical team who carried me through the hardest weeks.

Season two will be me documenting this recovery in real time—physical therapy, mindset shifts, rebuilding trust in my body, and redefining what strength and success look like moving forward. I’ll also be bringing on guests who are navigating their own difficult seasons, so we can explore what recovery really looks like in all its forms.

If you’re going through something hard, feeling stuck in your body, or wondering how to come back after everything falls apart, this season is for you.

This is Convergence.

This is season two.

And this is the comeback.

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