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A day after surgery, she already walked 3 kilometers with crutches; three days later, she walked with one crutch; at one month post-op, she was back doing lessons with Coach Andrea; at three months, she was doing running in intervals.
In between, she did hyperbaric chamber therapy and cryotherapy three times a week, not to mention the ‘yucky soup’ her mom asked her to take regularly [a high-collagen mix of chicken feet, litid, bone marrow, and ligaments mixed with a half liter of soymilk, high dose Vitamin C, dairy products] plus eight kinds of supplements ( collagen, amino acid, probiotics, vitamin C, D, B, Chinese mushroom, and magnesium).
“I really don’t know if all these are clinically proven but my mom said she researched about this and think it will help me recover faster,” she said smiling.
Whether that concoction was effective or not, Esteban got the green from orthopedic surgeon Dr. Edgar Eufemio to go back to training and competition five months after surgery, when ACLs normally take eight months minimum to heal.
“I knew I had to do more than what most athletes do,” Esteban said. “I wanted to be back as soon as I can, plus time is of the essence since the Olympic qualifiers are just around the corner. I need to be ready by then.”
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