The elbow operation required moving the ulna nerve from the bottom to the top of her right forearm. That meant cutting a hole through the muscle to thread through a tendon she described as "pretty much rotten". The nerves had to repair millimetre by millimetre over months.
Adams said she had fully rehabilitated but it hadn't been without some nervous times and the inability to throw a tennis ball post-surgery was scary. In May, she admitted she could see her Olympic dream - the prospect of winning a third consecutive gold - literally slipping through her fingers.
"As an athlete, we experience pain on a daily basis, but I'm ready to start competing. We're pushing our bodies to the limit and they're not made to be pushed like that on a daily basis. It takes longer to warm up. I use a lot more strapping and I rub a lot more hot stuff on my body. Once I could just turn up and start jogging. Now I need more tape and cream.
"The hardest moment was not knowing if I could throw again during the recovery. I had to accept it was going to take longer than I thought. The nerve takes a long time to grow. When it is your throwing arm, that's your whole life."
"The ring finger and pinky on my right hand were such that I couldn't pick up the phone, cut my fingernails or scratch my hair because I had no strength. It was more difficult because it was my throwing arm. The nerves, muscles and ligaments wouldn't respond."
Adams wasn't tempted to insure her arms in the aftermath.
"I'm not American," she quipped. "God's given me these parts, these genes and these talents to use as well as I can. I don't regret having four surgeries in one year, that's part of the territory. There's a lot of nerves, but I'm anxious to get into the swing of things."
