Corendon Kinheim, Hoofdklasse Honkbal Kampioen!

If you can read Dutch, then you would be able to understand the title of this entry and if you can't, you're about to find out. The team I played for in Holland, Corendon Kinheim are now the champions of the National League in Holland!

I left just before the playoffs and Kinheim had qualified for the playoffs in 3rd place behind Amsterdam and Neptunus, and just ahead of the Pioneers. The way the playoffs work in the league is that each team will play each other 3 times, and the best two records after all those games, goes through to the Holland Series, which is the name of the finals.

After a rough start to the playoffs where Kinheim got swept in the series by Neptunus, they found themselves in a tough hole to dig out of. They dug out of that hole quite easily by winning 4 of the next 6 games to seal their spot in the Holland Series.

That momentum kept rolling as they took down Neptunus in amazing fashion, winning the series 4-0 and crowning themselves the 2012 champions. I really wish I could have been there with the boys to celebrate and be apart of the win, but I knew all along they could do this and I'm extremely proud of all of them. Hopefully I'll be back there next season and we can make it back-to-back championships!

Since I've Been Home

It's been over a month since I've been home and even longer since I've last posted on here, so I thought it would be good to update everyone on my injury. I would love to update more but with the use of only one arm, typing on a keyboard takes quite a long time.

I arrived home from the Netherlands on the 19th of July and I didn't have much time to enjoy being home as I had doctors appointments lined up over the next few days. The day after I arrived home my mum and I went to see the first specialist. The initial diagnosis from him was that there was irreparable damage, and even after surgery my arm would never be back to the way it used to be. Safe to say, I didn't really like this guy too much. Two days later we went to see another specialist and he was much more positive and my mum and I got good vibe from him. He explained what happened to my elbow, how they would operate on it and the process of recovery. Mum and I decided to go with this doctor and that I would have surgery the next day.

I underwent elbow reconstruction surgery on the 24th of July. The surgeon cleaned out the shattered bone, fixed the radial head using some of the shattered bone, which is now held together by a screw and a tiny anchor, and also he repaired the torn ligaments. The surgery took nearly two hours and when I finally woke up I was in no mans land. My left arm was completely numb and in a cast and I was so drugged that you could have held a gun to my head and I would have laughed at you. I spent one night in hospital before I was allowed to go home. My instructions from the doctor were to relax and do nothing. It was perfect timing as well because I could relax and do nothing, whilst watching the Olympics.

One week post surgery

Two weeks post surgery I went back to the doctors for a check up. The cast came off and I was put into a brace. The brace is used to stabilize my arm while it gives it a restricted range of motion. My first thought of when he put the brace on my arm is that if Forrest Gump needed a brace on his arm instead of his legs, he'd look exactly like me. The main problem with the elbow now is not the bones that have been repaired, but getting rid of the stiffness in the elbow. Since my arm was sitting in a cast for two weeks, the ligaments tighten up and need to be stretched out. That's where all my rehab time will go to, straightening out my arm and being able to supinate and pronate. Since I got out of the cast I have been to the physiotherapist 3 times a week and we've been making slow improvements. Like I always say, slow improvements are better than no improvements! I'm very lucky because my physio has a background in baseball and was the team physio when I played on an U17 Australian team. Not going to lie, the physio sessions do hurt a lot, but like the old saying goes, "No pain! No gain!". One good thing about the brace though, is that I can take it off and I no longer needed to wear a rubbish bag on my arm when I shower.

My first scar

My brace, makes me look bionic

Well, today I went back to the surgeon for another check up and received some very encouraging news. I took new x-rays to him of the repaired elbow and he said everything looks great and the progress I'm making has been good. The best news he said was that if I push myself, I may be ready to resume baseball activities in a months time! This is perfect because Sydney Blue Sox Spring Training begins on the 18th of September and the season begins in the first week of November. I set myself a possible return to baseball in maybe mid December, but I'm extremely excited now that I could be ready to start the season with the Blue Sox.

I would like also like to thank all the support I've been receiving from my Twitter family, all your kind words really help!