Injury Update, A Little Hockey (Very Little)

Some hockey coming up but first! a quick injury update since there are all kinds of rumors floating around out there including one that the ankle is a cover for the real reason behind the visit to IR: post-concussion syndrome. (Nothing like a little Tim Connolly humor, eh? Thanks for the much needed laugh, Mike.)

Long story short, I didn't pussy foot around with some piddling little injury. I blew that mother up and good. It was immediately apparent that I'd done some real damage - the waves of nausea, the feeling that my entire body was on fire, and the fact that I barely recognized the thing attached to my leg as a foot were all major clues. I won't go into gruesome descriptions but when the ambulance attendant who brought me in ducked in my room later to check on me, the first thing he said was, "Oh, look! All your toes are pointing in the right direction again! That's good!" In addition to complete and total dislocation, I fractured something on both sides of the foot which was causing the whole ankle to come apart. Via surgery that same evening, the doctor pushed everything back together, inserted a steel plate, and screwed it all in place so it would heal correctly. Because of the severity of the injury and the fragility of the bones involved, I have to stay off it completely for "2-3 months, most likely 3." No weight-bearing activities at all in the meantime and no walking cast.

All of this adds up to no work, no play, and most importantly no Ice Bowl. I know. It took Mark a while to get to the hospital - he leaves for work before I do, I couldn't remember his work number (I couldn't remember my home number) and had to look it up in the phone book once I arrived at ECMC, and he takes the bus to work and had to scramble to find a ride) - and even then it was a while before they would let him back to see me. By the time he was standing in front of me I had moved past "Well, isn't this a jolly good adventure!" and was full-force into "Please just cut it off, feed me, and let me go home!" and greeted him with something along the lines of, "It hurts, I'm starving and dying of thirst, I'm tired of being here, and they're probably not going to let me go to the Ice Bowl!" We talked over some options, the best choice being hunting up a wheelchair and seeing if the Sabres could hook us up with some kind of wheelchair accessible seats, but between the hordes of (possibly tipsy, surely boisterous) people, the unknown weather, the delicacy of the injury, and the freshness of the surgery - I won't have even been in for my first post-op check-up/x-rays by then - it just seems like kind of a stupid risk to take. I want to see Ryan Miller playing in his favorite Sabres toque but I'd also like to walk without limping for the rest of my life. Basically, I've made the responsible, adult decision... And I don't like it one bit, dammit. Mark's still going to use his ticket - it's okay, I insisted - but he's not sure yet who he's taking. Hook me up with a laptop so I don't have to drag this ridiculous cast over here and sit all uncomfortably for the next 3 months (I've been working on this entry off and on for two days) and it's all yours, first come, first serve. If you're going and you stop by here afterwards, I'd appreciate a "It really blew and you're lucky you got to watch it alone from the warmth of your living room" comment. In other words: lie to me, baby.

(Also, to any Sabres reading this, evidently I was out of the hospital too quickly for any visits. But never fear! I totally accept house calls! Email me for my address!)

Anyway... I was pretty devastated the first few days afterwards. I was nauseous, wanting to eat but unable to actually do so, light-headed, and exhausted, all of which made standing up and moving around pretty difficult which made any thought of the next three months pretty dreary. But now that I've shaken off all the anesthesia (two doses of general, one dose of local in a very short period of time) and started weaning myself off of the pain medication - no Vicodin addiction for me, thanks - I'm feeling more clear-headed. I have a few books to read, some movies to watch, and Guitar Hero to conquer. I'll be fine. I won't even miss the Ice Bowl. I won't. :::sniff:::


A quick word about the recent home and home with the Flyers. (I was home but delirious for the first game but mostly conscious for the second one.) That's the team I expected to be cheering for this season. Not flawless hockey but hard-fought and emotional hockey played by a team that looked like it had something to prove. I don't know if they truly needed time to get settled into new roles or if they needed to get that close to being back in the playoff hunt or if they just needed to see one of the former Sabres live and in-person, but the team that played the Flyers? I love that team. I hope that team sticks around.