A month ago, UFC strawweight veteran, Angela Magana was set to make her Combate Americas debut at Combate 36: Reinas on April 26 against Kyra Batara.
Unfortunately, an emergency surgery to take care of a herniated disc took a turn for the worst.
“So, what happened was I had this herniated pulled disc or whatever,” Magana told BJ Penn Radio. “I was trying to treat it with a pain blocker. Well after the pain blocker, I had this onset of symptoms that they were concerned about when I went back in. It got worse. You go in if anything happens, gets worse, you go back in. So I went in and they weren’t too happy with the symptoms that were happening so the emergency admitted me and wanted to cut me open for something called ‘cauda equina’ which is a really nasty neurological disease, this thing that can happen to you.
“Well, they did some nerve testing and stuff and that wasn’t it, but there was a spot on my spinal cord from when I broke my back before that they were concerned about, the spinal cord damage that could be presenting the issues because they couldn’t see the problem with what they were thinking. Further down on my spine I also had a herniated disc that needed to be done because that was also causing a lot of nerve pain and they didn’t want that nerve to die. They didn’t want permanent damage.
“So, they went in and they removed the disk herniation and they thought the whole disk was dead and they were ready to put a cadaver disk in, which I guess is kind of a newer procedure,” she continued. “When they went in, they realized that my body had regenerated my own disc by itself and they said that’s usually only with stem cell that that happens. They never really had seen anything like this. So, miraculously my body did what it’s supposed to do and heal and I really believe that’s because I have a really good diet and I exercise and I’m a very healthy person. And I believe the mind has a lot to do with healing and sometimes a placebo effect works better than the actual medicine. A lot of mind training there.”
Enjoying a three-fight stint with the UFC from 2014 to 2017, the 21-fight veteran entered into the promotion on the groundbreaking season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter.
Over the course of three to four days following her surgery, Angela Magana would find herself immobilized as she had slipped into a medically induced coma due to the anesthesia used during her operation. Everything had gone smoothly aside from her reaction to the sedative.
“I don’t remember anything,” she recollected. “Honestly, I wish I could tell you, ‘Oh, I remember people talking to me.’ It’s not like a regular coma where my brain is this or that. It’s a medically induced thing I guess, so honestly, I guess I woke up and I was talking and stuff, but even the first 24 hours I don’t remember anything. The doctor was telling my coach, who was there with me the whole time after the surgery, well, actually through the whole thing, that ‘She should not be doing this. This isn’t her. This is not Angela.’ I was being so mean and nasty, trying to punch everybody who came in the room. I was screaming at every doctor, nurse, ‘You f*cked me up! You f*cked me up!’ They said I was the most aggressive person they’ve ever seen and there was a nurse been there for 40 years in the neuro department, in the neuro ICU. So that’s crazy.
“I had a horrible reaction to it on top of not waking up from it. But I don’t know. Things weren’t clear the first week after even leaving the hospital. It’s really weird, really affected me horribly.
“They had different alternative things for that, but the problem is, that’s where the medical ID bracelet comes in,” Magana continued. “If I have a car accident and they don’t know and they have to do emergency suggested, I could potentially die just from anesthesia. So I have to figure out what to do about that. And also have my daughter genetically tested to see if she has it and I have to let my sister know because it’s genetic too and it’s for some reason higher among athletes too.”
Now able to train again at about “85 percent,” Angela Magana is just continuing on with the preparation needed to get back in action and make her Combate Americas debut.
For the 35-year old, she continues to search for her first win since August 2011. She last fought at RIZIN 12 in August 2018 when she suffered a second-round submission defeat via Von Flue choke to Kanako Murata.
Make sure to catch the recent episode of BJ Penn Radio featuring Magana, Colby Covington, Gilbert Burns, Lance Palmer, Jeremy Kennedy, Juan Adams, and Bobby Moffett in its entirety: here.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com at 5/27/2019