Hey all the She Riderz Out there!
My name is Camilla, but you can call me Millan. A Swedish girl living next door to the mountains of southern Lapland in Sweden.
I am stoked to be part of the She Riderz Main Babes team!
To quote Vin Diesel: “I Live for this shit!”
I couldn’t be happier to do what I love doing, supporting, and encouraging others to achieve their goals, and see that confidence grow! Wow! What a feeling!
A bit about me: I’m 31 years old, and sledding hasn’t always been in my life, but I WISH it was! As a kid I was always dreaming of surfing that fresh pow and the ability to own a sled. After years of hard work entering adulthood, I could finally afford one!
Can’t really say I’m a natural at sledding as it earned me plenty of injuries as well. The first time I fell down a cliff 15 meters with my sled landing on nothing but hard rock with my body…I thought I was about to die and it felt like I fell for minutes and not seconds. Life was literally flashing before my eyes. But someone had other plans for me! I walked out of that accident with a crushed elbow, broken ribs and some torn muscles. One thing I learned from that is to NEVER GIVE UP. Keep on trying! Challenge those demons and fears in your head.
Now I’m actually struggling with another injury that’s been a problem for some time. Stupid me needed to have a summer hobby as well. Guess what I bought? A dirt bike! And that dirt bike has been ****ing up my knee time after time! First injury was 7 years ago. I twisted my left knee and tore apart my ACL tendon. Got surgery — All well after that! And again about 2 years ago, guess on what again? Yes, a dirt bike. Tore the same ACL band again! Same old show once again: got surgery, and a few months later–4 months to be exact–I tore it again!
But I don’t regret that moment at all! Well, maybe the landing… BUT I conquered my demons and returned to make such a bad ass drop with my sled! I was so proud of myself and happy that I had the courage to do it, and the fact that I did it! It’s easy to be wise afterwards as I really had to do it two more times and ended up injuring my knee in the last landing.
This time, the doctors admitted they had done a poor job, thinking I wasn’t such an active person as I was, so they’d had their fingers crossed it would hold. But the ACL band was weak and that’s why it tore again. By now my meniscus had been damaged in several spots as well and I couldn’t walk properly or run. At this point I was feeling so lost and frustrated. I love to live a busy life and be on the move all the time. Working out and running.
When She-Riderz started the #Fitsheriders summer challenges, that was exactly the push I needed right then and there. By that time I had a few months until my next scheduled ACL surgery.
So I joined the workout program and it was such a joy to get the work outs done together with the other girls supporting one another. I had about two months of workouts done before the first surgery and wow! What a difference it made to be prepared! Because of Covid-19 I had to do the surgeries in two stages; in June they took out pieces of my meniscus so I could move my knee better, and now in September they did the ACL reconstruction surgery.
After the meniscus surgery I could walk right away. I never needed the crutches and was feeling stronger than ever. Did some light work outs to start with and a lot of biking and walking. After two weeks I was back at it with the real workout again, and I even surprised myself by running 5K within a few weeks! The body is a curious thing to take so much beating and still be strong.
Finally , the day came to do the real deal surgery. I have been preparing for months now with workouts and yoga. It’s really good to work your mindset as well before something like this – it needs to be just as strong.
As I was put to sleep for the surgery I was smiling, and at the same time really nervous. Are they finally able to fix this thing now? Before the surgery I had a long talk to my doctor as some extra measures were taken. Due to the previous surgery they might have to take a piece of my pelvic bone to make bone plugs. They didn’t know if the holes they attached to the old ACL were getting too big by the time they drilled the bolts out. They obviously don’t have a large assortment of bolds, and as a mechanic, I found that quite funny.
I woke up from the surgery too early. They didn’t even roll me out of the surgery room yet, and even worse, the anesthesia they gave me hadn’t kicked in yet so the pain I felt was REAL. Every inch of drilling in my bones and cutting in my flesh, I felt it for real. They quickly gave me a shot of something as I couldn’t even breathe because of the pain, and I fell asleep again. I awoke in my room later with manageable pain and checked my body, they had only cut into my knees. Puh!
The doctor came in to tell me the surgery went well, and they didn’t need to make plugs of my bone, the bolts were drilled out perfectly fine. Whew!
Now it has been about six weeks since my surgery and things are getting better and better every day! I find that keeping my body strong helps keep my mind strong. After the first week I was walking with crutches.
Thank goodness for my parent’s warm home where I went to recover.
By the end of the week 1 was using only one crutch and stopped taking my strong painkillers.
Second week, I felt life was returning to me and I was taking short walks outside with my crutches to maintain my balance.
Third week, I was able to walk without crutches and even helped my father harvest his potato field.
By the fourth week, I felt strong enough to take care of myself, so I left my parent’s house and headed home to the mountains again.
Now I keep on working with rehab and taking one day at a time, enjoying life. My physiotherapist has me working a full-time job just doing exercises five times a day! Hopefully I’m soon strong enough to get going with some real work outs.
Trust me, an ACL injury is something I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. The time it takes to come back from it is enormous. It takes about two years until it fully recovers! And the ACL band is as its strongest now right after surgery. After about four months, it is at its weakest, and then starts to grow again. So I understand now after so many injuries, that the rehab is SO important and that you take the time to heal. A tip for you ladies! WEAR protective gear on your knees when sledding and do your work outs. The stronger the legs, the better you protect your body from serious injury.
Of course I’m gonna be sledding, just not that much as I would want to. I’m dedicated this year to fully help and support other girls in their sledding. Putting myself and my own sledding aside this season for my knees sake and hope to be back next season stronger than ever!
I have some plans with She Riders this winter to do some really cool stuff for you girls! And I’ll be back with more on that later on the season.
You girls can find me on IG under the name : @millanberglund (Queen of fucking everything)
And don’t be shy if you have any questions at all, I promise to answer every one of them. In fact, I’m also a bad ass mechanic, so ask away!
The She Riderz family is here for you!
xoxo Millan