My foot was throbbing, I could barely hobble and I was biting my lip in an effort to hold back the tears threatening to fall while sat in the waiting room at the clinic. What a way to spend a Friday night.
24hrs earlier I’d tumbled over my own feet during training at Universal out in Richmond and, having initially thought there wasn’t much wrong, was stunned to realise I couldn’t move my big toe or put any weight on my left foot. Limping over to the side of the mats I sat on the floor waiting for the feeling to come back to my toe. It didn’t. More than the pain, all I could think about was the training I’d miss. There’s a competition in five weeks and I was about to ramp up my training not take time out.
In the doctor’s room that night he poked and prodded my foot (more pain) and shook his head saying, “Ligament damage and potential fracture,” and sent me on my way with a pair of crutches, an x-ray form and a hateful scowl from the very dark cloud hanging over me. Two months off? I don’t think so.
I’m also a truly awful patient (even when I’m the nurse too!) and ditched the crutches before I managed the four blocks home. I’d rather hobble at a decent pace than be slowed down by those things.
Spent Friday night icing and resting despite really, really wanting to head out downtown on a planned night out (Cliff, I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it. I wasn’t sure dancing on crutches was what the doctor had in mind when he suggested rest!)
Saturday morning was an early one as I negotiated the buses to the x-ray clinic and gave the crutches one last chance to redeem themselves (they’re a great accessory if you need a seat on a bus!)
There were two words I was dreading hearing that day: Fracture and Surgery. The wait for the results was sickeningly agonising but when they came back as negative I could have hugged the technician. All I have to do now is rest and ice which is, in itself, very hard if you’re the kind of person who HATES sitting still. But if it’s what I’ve got to do to get back in to action then I’m all about taking the doctor’s advice.
Four days later and I can put weight on the foot again, which makes me so happy because I can feel the anticipation of the next training session. The swelling is going down and I’m just left with a few bruises on the joints where the impact was. I’m giving myself two weeks (absolute max) and then I’m back on the mats again. Haahaah, if my trainer thought he might be in for some time off he picked the wrong girl to train!
Girls Who Grapple 