Many of my pals know that I recently broke my ankle. I grow tired of telling the story so here is the condensed version; I was playing ball with some pals from Bothell, got a little too rowdy, and ended up deciding to take an unexpected tour of the accommodations provided by the Evergreen Hospital Emergency Room. After hopping in on one leg, I decided that a wheelchair would be acceptable for a person in my situation and wheeled around for a little while. I talked to a few of the other patients waiting nearby, but they apparently didn’t want to talk very much as was made clear to me through their lack of eye contact and one word answers. I was in a bit of pain and couldn’t take any ibuprofen, which was an interesting experience. I’m not going to lie, my ankle hurt badly. An hour later, I was seen and was given a shot directly in the buttocks. I don’t know exactly what that shot contained and probably never will, but I don’t remember much that night except for my pal Clint helping me in and out of the car and the fact that I was told that surgery was unnecessary. I woke up on a love sack with shiny new crutches nearby, a splint on my ankle, and some pop-tarts and Gatorade beside me. The direction I received from the discharge papers was to wait for the swelling to go down and then go see an orthopedic specialist. So I scheduled myself an appointment to see Dr. Santoro in Bellevue and for the rest of the week took my newly attained vicodin for pain.
So, I go into Dr. Santoro’s office a little nervous and ready to get the splint off my ankle. Dr. Santoro looked at the X-Rays with me, cut off the splint, looked at my ankle and said, “AJ you need to come in for surgery tomorrow.” After I heard that, I was extraordinarily frustrated with life and my situation. I am an extremely adventurous person and there is little that I hate more than personal feelings of limitation or weakness. I called my father and told him about it and he arranged for my wonderful mother to come out and be by my side during surgery and recovery. I am so grateful that she was able to come out and care for her little boy of twenty-four.
My sweet mother arrived two hours before surgery so we played a few games of sequence, I showed her the garden, and then we went to Overlake Hospital for the surgery. I remember my mothers hand and the comfort that seemed to flow from it, my nice nurses, and the Bothell hotel we stayed in, but other than that, the day is a blur. My mother says I was singing, “Drip, drip, drop, little April shower,” from Disney’s Bambi while I was coming out of anesthesia, but I don’t remember that either. The surgery went well and the recovery was speedy due to my mother and a few select visitors who cheered me up. Thanks for everything; I do not know that I can ever repay the love and kindness that I received!
I have since been back for my two-week check-up and my ankle is doing well. Dr. Santoro said that it is healing up better than most he sees and gave me permission to treat it as a bad sprain. I was so happy when I heard him say that! I was able to take a shower and start doing my ‘A, B, C’s’ for therapy. Eventually, I took off the boot and started walking around which surprisingly wasn’t very painful…a little bit of tightness and pressure, but nothing I couldn’t put up with. Anyhow, I mentioned that it was hurting a little to someone dear to me which was a mistake. In the end, I eventually made a promise to wear the boot until this Sunday. So after Sunday I’ll be bootless and ready to begin my quest to walk normally all the while camouflaging the fact that I have a bad ankle.
On a more serious note, I have learned many personal things through this endeavor, but do not wish to publish these to the world. If you want to know what I’ve learned come ask me and I’ll tell you one on one. For me, life’s lessons are to be shared on an individual basis, not whimsically thrown around as if they have no value. I will say that I have learned a lot about humility and patience and the importance of allowing others to serve Mr. Independent, me. I hope that the surface of what I have learned satisfies the majority of the readers out there because that’s all you’re getting concerning my personal growth and inspiration during this period of my life.
PS – work (Philips) was extraordinarily understanding and accommodating during the two weeks that I was out. They told me to work from home and do what I could, but to be sure to take time to allow my body to heal. What a great place right? Just felt like I should mention that for everyone out there.
So, I go into Dr. Santoro’s office a little nervous and ready to get the splint off my ankle. Dr. Santoro looked at the X-Rays with me, cut off the splint, looked at my ankle and said, “AJ you need to come in for surgery tomorrow.” After I heard that, I was extraordinarily frustrated with life and my situation. I am an extremely adventurous person and there is little that I hate more than personal feelings of limitation or weakness. I called my father and told him about it and he arranged for my wonderful mother to come out and be by my side during surgery and recovery. I am so grateful that she was able to come out and care for her little boy of twenty-four.
My sweet mother arrived two hours before surgery so we played a few games of sequence, I showed her the garden, and then we went to Overlake Hospital for the surgery. I remember my mothers hand and the comfort that seemed to flow from it, my nice nurses, and the Bothell hotel we stayed in, but other than that, the day is a blur. My mother says I was singing, “Drip, drip, drop, little April shower,” from Disney’s Bambi while I was coming out of anesthesia, but I don’t remember that either. The surgery went well and the recovery was speedy due to my mother and a few select visitors who cheered me up. Thanks for everything; I do not know that I can ever repay the love and kindness that I received!
I have since been back for my two-week check-up and my ankle is doing well. Dr. Santoro said that it is healing up better than most he sees and gave me permission to treat it as a bad sprain. I was so happy when I heard him say that! I was able to take a shower and start doing my ‘A, B, C’s’ for therapy. Eventually, I took off the boot and started walking around which surprisingly wasn’t very painful…a little bit of tightness and pressure, but nothing I couldn’t put up with. Anyhow, I mentioned that it was hurting a little to someone dear to me which was a mistake. In the end, I eventually made a promise to wear the boot until this Sunday. So after Sunday I’ll be bootless and ready to begin my quest to walk normally all the while camouflaging the fact that I have a bad ankle.
On a more serious note, I have learned many personal things through this endeavor, but do not wish to publish these to the world. If you want to know what I’ve learned come ask me and I’ll tell you one on one. For me, life’s lessons are to be shared on an individual basis, not whimsically thrown around as if they have no value. I will say that I have learned a lot about humility and patience and the importance of allowing others to serve Mr. Independent, me. I hope that the surface of what I have learned satisfies the majority of the readers out there because that’s all you’re getting concerning my personal growth and inspiration during this period of my life.
PS – work (Philips) was extraordinarily understanding and accommodating during the two weeks that I was out. They told me to work from home and do what I could, but to be sure to take time to allow my body to heal. What a great place right? Just felt like I should mention that for everyone out there.
After Dr. Santoro took the splint off, this is what I saw... (5 days after initial injury)
Right after surgery, I don't remember this at all... My mother is the BEST!!!
It's ugly, but deceivingly strong... (2 days after getting staples out)
1 comment:
dude... awesome.
my brother is a tough sucker!!
look how fast he's healing!!
p.s. i took that last picture... go me.
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