Meet Kylee Slack
Hi! I’m Kylee Slack. I’m a 14 yr old active softball player. I learned the hard way you’ve GOT to listen to your body & take pain seriously. I’ve been in love with softball since as long as I can remember. I started playing when I was about 6, joined a travel ball team when I was 8 or 9 & have been with travel ball since. I just started playing for High School this year too. Excited for that. My positions are pitcher & short stop or second. I’m really a utility player-I’ll play any position on the field except catcher.
I’m the type of player that when told to take it easy I smile & say sure thing-but I don’t listen. I play thru all my pain. After all-my team needs me & the pain will go away right? One more game won’t hurt. One more practice-may it’ll start to feel better if I push thru. I’m young-my body will heal real quick. Rest is for the weak. All of these things I’ve said & done on numerous occasions. I couldn’t push off the pain in my shoulder any longer-as I’m a pitcher & need that shoulder.
My shoulder started bothering me in August-September, 2017. I kept quiet thinking it would go away. It wouldn’t. I finally said something to my mom & we went to the orthopedic. He said I needed to keep still-NO BALL-for 4-6 weeks, do physical therapy 3x a week, & take Aleve 2-3x a day or Motrin steadily. He said my shoulder was inflamed which made my tendons rub & cause pain. In true Kylee fashion-I didn’t stop right away…I only had 2 more tournaments for the season-what’s 2 more… From November-December we were doing the meds & PT. Nothing was getting better. I kept thinking maybe I should’ve stopped right away. Did I injure myself worse?
Went back to orthopedic again in January & this time they did an MRI thinking a possible tear. The MRI thankfully showed my shoulder socket isn’t the way a normal socket should be & my ligaments are very loose. All things combined caused the inflammation in my shoulder. Again-lots of drugs & PT was prescribed. The doctor said if the pain is still there after this round of PT & drugs (which I wasn’t going to take at all) then he’d want to go in for exploratory surgery to see if there is a tear the MRI missed.
My mother didn’t like me taking so much medicine on a daily so she searched other options. She was looking to see if Cryotherapy could help bring the inflammation down. This is how we found Maryellen @ Infinity Healing in Lusby, MD. I was really excited & nervous to stand in this thing & be blasted with crazy cold air. I did it though, and couldn’t wait to do it again. We sat & talked to Maryellen about what could be coming if the pain doesn’t go away, which was the exploratory surgery. She right away didn’t want that for me-I didn’t want that for me either. That would mean no softball for my freshman year of high school. Wasn’t having that.
Our second visit for cryo Maryellen approached us & asked if she could use me as a scenario. I was excited for the opportunity. I’d visit every day for two weeks & she’d run me thru all these therapies that had weird names & do energy work on me. I remember just thinking- sounds fun to chill at a spa after a day of school & what’s energy work? I learned REAL quick how truly amazing & healing it all is.
Everyday I’d get hooked up to the HRV, which would determine what therapies my body needed that day. The first day was Uriel Tones, the NovaThor bed, & the float room. The NovaThor bed was interesting. I wasn’t sure just how impactful this bed would be for my recovery. Uriel Tones was different in how it made me completely forget what was going on. I’m slightly ADD & don’t know how to turn my brain off. Uriel Tones totally relaxed me. I went into the float room after Uriel Tones & when I was done I was ready for bed. I was so relaxed & my entire body felt really loose. I was totally relaxed that night & slept so well. I woke up the next morning more energetic than I had been-maybe ever.
On my 4th day of therapy I was pain free in my shoulder. Nothing hurt. It felt great. I wanted to go back to pitching right away but knew I had to still let my shoulder rest. My favorite therapy by far is the NovaThor bed. It’s nice and warm. I don’t mind laying there for however long I need. That makes my entire body feel better. I tried to understand the process of the red lights & what it does to the body-but it didn’t matter because I truly believe it helped heal my shoulder.
The energy work Maryellen did was amazing. I didn’t think I’d feel anything from it. I was so wrong. I can physically feel energy moving throughout my body. It is a really neat sensation my body feels during our sessions. I looked forward to the days we added some energy work. I felt so much lighter by the end of the session. It really is amazing-mind boggling.
We ended up also starting to follow a diet. Low inflammation diet. At first I thought there was no way I could follow this. I’m a total junk food eater. I surprised myself and actually did really well following the diet plan. I will say I kept a cheat day for myself, but I did extremely well eating foods I would normally say no way too.
As I write this-I’m preparing for my softball game tonight. I missed just the first couple days of practice because my follow up to be released wasn’t until a couple days after the start of the season. I got flying colors & was told I could resume normal play-NO RESTRICTIONS. I haven’t heard no restrictions for a LONG TIME. Because I’ve learned the hard way-I WILL BE taking things slow. I’m now rebuilding the strength in my shoulder. I’m stretching a lot more before practice & games. I’m continuing with the routine I’d do in PT to strengthen my shoulder. I’m no longer going to take my body for granted. Most of all-I’m continuing to use the therapies at Infinity Healing. We plan on maintaining a weekly or bi weekly therapy. I’m not going to wait for a problem to arise this time.
Infinity Healing is more than just therapies I have been talking about. They become instant family. They care. They get involved. Maryellen, Jamie, & Alysha I can’t thank you enough for making me feel so cared for & becoming part of my family. Everyone there truly believes in “Healthy People Thriving Communities”. Thank you for gifting/showing me there is different way for pain management. Thank you for choosing me! Off to the ball field I go!
