Thoughts

I went to the gym after work yesterday to play basketball. That is nothing new. I hurt myself playing basketball yesterday afternoon. That, also, is nothing new. "Why," you ask, "would anyone hurt them self playing basketball?" Well, I have to admit I was a bit curious. I decided to conduct a case study as to just how perpendicular to the floor I could get my foot. It was a pretty basic experiment. All I needed was one loose ball as it bounced off the rim and one misplaced foot from another player. The difficult measure was timing. I had to chase the ball at the precise moment so as to land on the other guy's foot at the right spot to allow for maximum rolling of the ankle. I learned a few very valuable pieces of information in this process.

1. My foot, when placed properly, is capable of the 90 degree angles to be exactly perpendicular to the ground.
2. When my foot hits that point of perpendicularity I feel a small pop above my ankle.
3. Ouch.

Through many previous encounters with doctors, my faith in the medical profession is somewhat in the red. Last night however, I did some soul searching. I thought about all of those pay checks I have opened and the dirty looks I shoot at the check where it shows my insurance deduction. If I pay for it, why not use it? Right? I'm learning.

So the woman who admitted me to the emergency room last night took off my shoe to see what was wrong. I having been around my fair share of ankle injuries in my day knew better than to take the shoe off prior to proper care. She takes one look at my ankle and she said that it certainly looked "suspicious." Great word, don't get me wrong. I just don't think suspicious is a word I want used to describe my injury, especially by a member of the hospital staff.

Signs were posted all over the x-ray receiving room that told me that I should tell the technician if there was a potential health risk by having the x-rays. So I did as the signs told and said to the technician as he wheeled me down the hall to the machine, "I should tell you, I may be pregnant."
"That is fine, I'll just prepare the 20 forms for you to sign."
"It might almost be worth it just to see the face of whomever will process the paperwork."
He got a kick out of that. So did I. Hospitals are such downers. Those people need to laugh more.

So I had my picture taken and he told me that it would be a few minutes while he developed the film. He came back to me a short time later to take me across the hall and I had the realization that the solution in which he developed my x-rays smells surprisingly similar to cigarette smoke. I never would have guessed that.

Consider now that I am sitting on a hospital bed waiting to see a doctor. While there I sit quietly reading my book, the doctor is at the next bed stitching up an elderly woman's head. She apparently requires a hearing aid and must have been rushed out of the house without it on her way to get the blood gushing out of her forehead cleaned up. So this doctor is yelling everything to her. I was fine with this. He isn't bothering me I thought. Then he tells her that he is going to give her a shot to numb her head so he can make with the stitches. Post shot he yelled to her that he was glad she wasn't in any pain as he tried real hard to get the nerve in her head with the needle. I'm glad she had no pain, I just wish I was less grossed out by the whole conversation I had no choice but to listen to. Sorry, I digress.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, cue the doctor...

"There are varying degrees of ankle sprains. First, second and third degree sprains are for differing severity; third being the worst.
"From the swelling we can see that you have a third degree ankle sprain."
Dramatic pause. My doctor must be an aspiring actor. Oh yes, there's more.
"You didn't break [the ankle], per se."
(Imagine the look of shock on my face at being the first person to kind of break a bone...though not really break the bone...and all of this just a short time after speculation that I may have been pregnant.)
"There is a sizeable piece that chipped off the bone, though it did not do so without help. There are three ligaments that run over the ankle bone. One of your ligaments pulled away from the bone and took with it that chip."
(This would explain the lovely pop I felt in my ankle at the point of injury.)
"We can also see a chip on the inside of your ankle beneath the bone that may or may not have occurred during this same injury. We have no way of knowing that."

He then advised me to see an Orthopedist in case further care was necessary. I am in a "half cast" for what should only be a few days then I'll have an air cast for 6 weeks or so.

Now, the short version for those of you who are attention deprived:
I went to play ball. I rolled my ankle. It hurts enough for me to go to the hospital. Doctor said I have a third degree ankle sprain and there is kinda sorta some ligament damage as well as a bone chip. I'm on crutches, though only for a short time. At least that is what they told me.