WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam (RVD) recently discussed a variety of topics on an episode of his podcast, “1 Of A Kind.” One key point he touched on was receiving help and advice from fellow WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page regarding how to manage arthritis.
RVD said, “And I’ve asked DDP, I’m like, ‘What about like arthritis?’ You know what I mean? Like when Jake [Roberts] couldn’t even get down, you know, without screaming that his arthritis hurt, and I asked, you know, DDP is because I think arthritis, isn’t that just something that’s just always going to be there? It’s like it’s like cartilage that kind of hardens and turns to bone and and grows in weird places where you get stiff and you don’t want it there, but you got to live with it, right? And DDP has a belief that you break up the scar tissue and you work your way through it. He’s always said that. He’s always said that. And I’ll be damned if he doesn’t always prove it. When it comes to that, you know, starting out small, you know, one step at a time, I heard something I heard something that I thought could it motivated me and I thought if I say it, maybe anybody listening, maybe Frankie, maybe this could be inspiring to you, but the journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step.”
On his recovery from injury:
“It’s discouraging because it didn’t used to hurt like it hurts now. And it didn’t used to be as much work. But you know what? You’ll also find some encouraging moments, too, if you keep at it. [ __ ] yeah, man. I feel like my old self again. I’m getting back there. And and then little gains, you know, with with my feet, you know, my I broke both a both both heels in April and in the first four or five weeks I couldn’t even stand up on them, you know, so I was crawling everywhere and uh and then eventually, you know, I got a wheelchair and this and that, but it’s just even with that like little things, you know, because first I could I had to wear I couldn’t wear any shoes and then I found I got some orthopedic shoes and I could wear them with big padding in it. And then eventually I worked down to where I was able to take the padding out of it and and not and and then eventually I was able to get back into my old shoes without the padding as the swelling went down. Every little thing just feels like a milestone, like yes. Going downstairs is still hard, without going sideways or backwards, you know, going down regularly. That’s, you know, little things like that, each time, each time you’re able to do something that you haven’t done in a long time, you know that you’re on the right track and that you’re getting better, and it’s really encouraging. It’s a good, it’s a really big bolt of good energy when you can just say, ‘Boom! Yes, I’ve crossed another line, and I’m not going back.’”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
