I’ve been able to train these last couple of weeks, but the search for what has caused the problems in my arm has continued as well. Recent tests have not clarified whether the cause is compartment syndrome or not. So that’s not clear yet. 
We’re also trying to find out if low blood pressure might have something to do with the injury (we recently discovered that mine is low), so that seems to be an interesting track as well.

The specific tendon injury in my elbow might not be the cause of the tightness in my arm, but rather the consequence of the thing we are searching for now.
Sorry, a bit confusing… for me as well! ?

In Klimax, Puurs! ?
So cool to compete on the Goldfinger wall where as a child I used to watch and cheer when the world’s best climbed on it (for those who remember the Masters comps that were being held here back in the day ?).

Glad nothing went wrong with my arm and happy with the climbing I was able to do; being focused, yet enjoying it as well!

With me on the podium: @chloe_caulier and @heloise_dmt. And congrats @nicolascollinclimber for your first Belgian senior title!

My first senior Belgian Championship (with a wild card :).

Tomorrow it’s Nationals again! 
It’s tough to climb with this strange condition in my arm, but doctors say that there is no danger of making things worse. So I will participate tomorrow.
Time to compete!

After the comp, the search for the cause of the injury will continue. One of the options is compartment syndrome where the membrane (fascia) around the muscle group is too narrow.

…the answer is easy: Great! ?
“But how’s the elbow?”
Well… Not so good unfortunately.
The cause of the injury is still not known. Really weird!

Tendinosis is one of the symptoms, but there is definitely more going on. The rehab exercises and therapies for tendinosis don’t seem to have helped and I’m having problems with my whole injured arm, not only with the tendons in the elbow.

So over the past weeks examinations and doctor appointments have stayed a part of my schedule.
It seems that a major artery (a. brachialis) is squeezed between 2 (strong) muscles (m. brachialis and m. pronator teres).
This means that there is no (or restricted) blood flow to my forearm when I use it.
Unfortunately all of this is still pretty unclear.

In the meantime I’m glad I can still climb and I try to enjoy what I’m able to do!

? by Claudia Ziegler @claudia.ziegler

My injured arm, on the other hand, is not feeling the best. It got worse again and bothers me while climbing.
But… through all the uncertainty and tough stuff, there are some beautiful things that my eyes are being opened to.
I’m learning so much these days!
And my character is being shaped, I can learn to be more dependent on God, to put my trust in him and rely less on my own abilities.
That gives me a reason to smile. ?

…and training continues. I’m trying to combine climbing and physio exercises in a wise way since my elbow is not feeling the best yet.

There has definitely been some healing going on in the tendons and muscles of my arm (clearly visible on the ultrasound scan) and I’m happy with that. But the signs of the injury are still there and my arm does not feel as good as I would like.No need to be miserable though, life is too exciting for that. ?

Photo from training in @ivyclimbinggym some time ago & taken by @paullahayephotography

And first time back in the climbing gym…
I got some good news from the physio! After 2,5 months of rehab exercises, my elbow might be ready to do some climbing again.
It will obviously be done veeeery carefully and I will continue doing plenty of physio exercises (no complaining, I like doing them), but this looks like a move in the right direction! ?
Let’s see how it feels today…

?: L. Thomas – PlanetGrimpe.com @mondialescalade World Cup Briançon 2016