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cityviewmag.com 99
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
many days out I could deal with that
soreness, because you’Äôre always
more sore a few days after you do
something like Crossfit.’Äù
For mental healing, says Maddux,
’ÄúI had to keep telling myself, ’ÄòIt’Äôs
gone. All we’Äôre doing is healing.’Äô’Äù
But ’Äúall we’Äôre doing is healing’Äù is
not easy for someone accustomed
to playing tennis five days a week
for hours at a time. ’ÄúIf you’Äôre used
to that,’Äù she explains, ’Äúand then
you stop, and there are stitches
involved’Ķ you have to change gears.
It’Äôs hard to do.’Äù
Maddux’Äôs reconstructive surgeon,
Dr. Kathleen Herbig, helped her
understand how the reconstruc-
tion process works and prepared her
for the many steps: Surgery. Wait.
Weekly visits. Wait. Next steps.
Wait.’ÄúWhat kept my feet on the
floor is just to remember howmany
ways this could have been worse,’Äù
says Maddux.’ÄúThat brings a lot of
reality to the picture. You count your
blessings, and it makes you humble.
Anything you’Äôre having to take on
becomes a little easier.’Äù
The drains were one thing she had
to take on. She had two coming out
of each side for about six weeks. The
drains hung down to her knees, so
she would tuck them into a messen-
ger bag to keep them out of sight.
Maddux completely finished the
reconstruction process onMay 10.
Her first match was June 19. She had
planned to attend clinics and work
back into competition, but a friend
called the day before the match, in
need of a sub. Maddux added her
name to the roster.
She was looking forward to the
particular challenges of tennis
after the challenge of nursing
herself. ’ÄúMy heart was beating very
fast. I was trying not to put too
much pressure on myself to come
out of the gate swinging. I was in
the clear to resume activity, but I
had to remind myself that I could
do this,’Äù she explains. ’ÄúI’Äôd been
told ’Äòno’Äô so much, when it was
time to play, I had to tell myself,
’ÄòDon’Äôt hold back.’Äô I’Äôm not going for
Wimbledon or anything, but it was
a personal hurdle I had to address.’Äù
She was anxious her swing
would be affected by the long time
away. It wasn’Äôt. ’ÄúAs soon as I got
out there and stretched a little, I
was rusty, I was slower and got
winded faster, but I was surprised
how natural it was.’Äù
Once again, she was dramatically
shifting gears.
The first serve in her first game
back tops other memories of tennis:
’ÄúThat was the doorway of finishing
my life. This is what I was doing
before I was the girl getting over
cancer. This is me, going forward.’Äù
And, she adds, ’ÄúThe cherry is that
we did win.’Äù
Maddux worked
with oncologist
Dr. John Bell and
reconstructive sur-
geon Dr. Kathleen
Herbig [pictured,
left] at the Univer-
sity of Tennessee
Medical Center.
She ultimately
opted for a pre-
ventative double
mastectomy to
prevent her cancer
from recurring.
AnAlabama native, MeghanMcDonald has
lived, hiked, and gardened in Knoxville for the
past three years. She is a regular contributor
to
Cityview
.