It’s been a long week, and it hasn’t even been a week yet since my injury.
It happened last Monday night: Central Park NYC, company softball game. It was the best game we’d played in a couple of seasons. We were cruising, leading 6-1 in the last inning. Despite being in normally-busy left field it was a remarkably quiet night with no putouts and only 2 singles hit my way. Maybe that’s why I broke so hard when the ball was hit to me. Well not exactly to me; the ball landed well foul. I have no idea how close I would have come to catching it because within an instant of taking off I heard the pop and felt the sensation. As I rolled over I couldn’t believe no one warned me. Then I actually looked around for the ball from the adjoining field that surely hit me in the back of my leg. What? There is no ball? Uh oh, I think I know what happened.
After considering whether to go to the ER in the city, I managed to drive myself home about a half hour away. Driving was a little painful since I ruptured my right Achilles. At the hospital they X-rayed the foot and the ER doc asked me if I minded if he showed the injury to medical students. “We rarely get the complete blowouts where one can actually feel the divot in the tendon,” was his assessment. The orthopedist on call was less impressed. He put me in a fiberglass cast, gave me crutches and recommended surgeons for the repair.
The earliest appointment I could get was Friday so I’ve been in a state of limbo. The injury is surprisingly painless so I actually went to work Wednesday and Thursday. Not easy. I’m a television reporter who is out in the field all day. In and out of a news van all day. After seeing the doctor Friday I went on medical leave.
Life with crutches is an unbelievable adjustment. By the second day my entire upper body was sore. Everything from my triceps, abs and forearms to my palms ached. My good ankle is bruised from accidentally kicking it with my cast. But the toughest part is not being able to carry anything. It’s exhausting constantly thinking about how to get from point A to point B and realizing certain things are just about impossible. I have a 10 month old daughter whom I now can’t pick up. I can’t lift her out of her crib in the morning. I can crutch over to the kitchen to make her a bottle, but how do I carry it back?
Anyway, my surgery is set for Thursday at noon. Hopefully my doctor won’t be thinking too much about starting his Independence Day weekend early. I’m sure I will be in more discomfort after the repair, but look forward to this blog and the website helping me get through it as it has for so many others.