Alex Smith becomes real about his injury, fear and pain treatment

Certain days are high in the world of sport. The fans remember that they celebrated a championship during the day. The players never forget when they went through the Draft Day phase and officially became a professional.

But some memories are much worse. And for the former NFL Quarterback Alex Smith, November 18, 2018, everything has changed.

“I didn't know when I was obviously woken up this morning [it] Would be a kind of crucial day in my life, ”he said Newsweek. “But no, it was the game day in the NFL. And game days are something special, is right? They only play once a week. As a start quarters in the NFL, it is incredibly special.

“But it was a wonderful day in DC.

Everything had turned upside down within a few hours. Smith was released in the third quarter of the game against the Houston Texans. In a situation that was the former quarterback by Washington Joe Theismann, who was in the stands that afternoon, the signal histor suffered an ugly leg injury. He was taken to a hospital with a Tibia and Fibula fracture and quickly oriented himself to the operation.

While no one would wish this situation on another, it seemed pretty standard for a professional athlete who had suffered a serious injury. But the story soon took an ugly turn.

“I had an emergency operation that night and awoke to great news in the hospital that the bone was really well -oriented. They put three plates and screws like 30. And I had to stay for the observation for a few days and luckily never made it out of the hospital,” Smith recalled.

“And a severe infection that has used necrotizing fasciitis that is a unusual word for carnivorous bacteria in my leg. And I have been brought to a number of other emergency operations in the next few weeks to cut out the infection and save my leg and my life.”

Things even reached the point where the amputation became a reality.

“And yes, it was there. I mean, shortly afterwards I was there that I woke up with the decision to cut off my leg or choose many other operations, without guaranteeing my leg,” he said. “And luckily I had an amazing Care team that was able to successfully save my leg.

“It was a two -year process of several operations that moved body parts down there, about a large part of the last tissue that I had lost again through the infection, and wore a steel cage for almost a year. I mean, I was in a wheelchair for a long time and was in a wheelchair for a long time.”

But even after leaving the hospital, the challenges were not over. In addition to the physical obstacles of everyday life, Smith wore an external stabilizer that had ordinary tasks such as more comfortable or climbing out of bed – he also had a less visible problem: pain. And that wasn't really discussed.

“When we went home and [were] Half bags with drugs and a brochure that is as thick as you know, direction, and one of them was a rescue medication, “he said. And again my wife and I was afraid. Right. Lust not to know how to deal with it. Did we want to screw it up?”

Experience formed the prerequisites for Smith's new endeavors, spoke about the realities of the pain and encouraged people to have a schedule when life calls an unexpected audible.

“These were not conversations that we had, and at that time nobody had their medical team,” he said. “So, [I’m] Proud to work with Vertex pharmaceuticals to try to change this narrative. This is a pain for all of us universal again. But also so personally. …

“We all have to do with injuries and pain in life and encourage everyone to have these conversations again. If it appears, have these conversations – there are more options than you think – with your doctor, you break the stigma that break the stigma. [I’m] Proud to work with Vertex to change the narrative about it. “

Feel pain and fear

As a professional athlete, Smith knows everything about picking up a brave face and coming forward. Football players, especially quarterbacks, should enforce the pain and lead their team to victory. The fans remember heroes who merged their teeth and made things happen, not the guy who had ended up in an injured reserve.

But the former first overall selection in the 2005 draft can now be open about pain and where it could have done things a little different. After all, taboos are only divided through speaking about the topic.

Fear is also a piece of Smith's story that would normally have been observed for a professional athlete. Beyond his journey with the pain – he remembered, for example, was afraid to ask his medical questions, which could appear stupid – feared that he appeared when he returned to the field. Despite all recovery and rehab, fear remained in the background.

“I remember how scared I was,” he said about the release of returning to football. “What is what if you're wrong? What if I get out and my leg is going, it breaks again. What if it is not strong enough?

At that moment, however, a support system made the difference.

“These were all fear I had with which I dealt with,” continued Smith. “And I remember that she told me, like two years ago, when they were in the hospital bed, and they received all this bad news when you hear something to have this option available.

Smith finally got his opportunity and returned to the field during the 2020 campaign. He joined everyone on October 11, 2020 for an injured Kyle. He had to appear in eight games this season and earned the honor of the comeback player of the year before he described it as a career.

And while most of us have no potential award that is waiting at the end of their trip, the pain does not look at their curriculum vitae before it rose. If at all, the average person has less support for them than a professional athlete.

There spoke things about which Smith spoke – open to fear, the stigma in relation to pain management and a schedule for their own injury.

“I wish I could go back beforehand and have these conversations in advance and be more proactive,” he said. “And again, really open to my story and hopefully others, to help others, not to make some of these mistakes now.

“If someone is surprised out there, what is available, and find help, you know to do these conversations …[go to] paingameplan.com. There are a number of resources out there because I think that even one of the things when I look back when they make it spiral and get out of control can really get to a bad place. “