A Very Medical Weekend

My Saturday, to put lightly, was very eventful. Starting with an 8 am gingivectomy, the day didn't exactly start out in good spirits. After six shots of novacaine, I walked out of the dentist's office looking like some sort of swollen walrus. But what I hadn't known at that time was how much more time I was going to spend at a doctor's that day. 

I had a skating lesson that afternoon, and everything was going well. I was doing a "double double" combination jump when my toepick got stuck in a hole in the ice on the landing. All of a sudden, my right ankle bone bent in towards my other leg and I heard a pop. Pain shot up my entire leg and I was sure it was broken.

After a extremely frightening and painful ambulance ride from the ice rink, I found myself lying in a hospital bed doped up on morphine. On the bright side, the doctor said there were no fractures. Then what was the "pop" I heard? Apparently, it was my ligament tearing away from the bone. 

A torn ligament. Great. Sounds painful but I didn't understand what it was and I also didn't understand how my ankle didn't break. The doctor said my ankle didn't break because it had been so supported  by my skating boot. Many people don't understand what goes into the making of a skating boot, but competitive skaters like myself know it is no cheap deal. For example, my skates have extra ankle support which aids the skater and getting more lift on jumps. 

I still didn't understand what tearing a ligament entailed. I did some research and found that "spraining" one's ankle can be a lot more painful than a fracture. Straining a part of your body is stretching a muscle, but spraining something means twisting the foot into a unnatural position causing twisting and tearing of ligaments around the ankle. This usually happens when stepping down one's ankle bends unnaturally to the inside (like me!). This usually injures the "anterior talofibular ligament." And apparently, the greater the pain, the more severe the injury.

So although the doctor says I should be off crutches and walking fine by the end of the week, I am doubtful. But at least my expensive skating boots were good for something!

Hurricane Hitting Home

The Chicagoland area is drenched in rainwater as if Hurricane Ike were coming from Lake Michigan itself! As Techny Road has been overflowing and my neighbor's retention area has become the new cul-de-sac swimming pool, I couldn't help myself from wondering what it is like in Houston, or Galveston, Texas, where Ike is really hitting hard.

And, fortunately, (unfortunately?) that information hasn't been hard to retrieve. My grandparents live in Clear Lake City, right outside of Houston, and were forced to evacuate last week. They are staying with my aunt in northern Texas, but even there the winds are over 50 mph. The power is out for more than 4 and a half million Texans, so it has been hard to find out what damage the hurricane is doing. And because the areas like Galveston are so dangerous, reporters aren't allowed to enter Galveston, or else they are facing "certain death." Head of FEMA states in this video the many dangers that one would face if they chose to stay home. 

But if the reporters aren't allowed in Galveston, how am I seeing streaming footage of Galveston on the news every morning? Did some research, and turns out there are some pretty crazy storm chasers, Mark Sudduth and partner Mike Watkins, who made the dangerous decision to stay behind. They aren't worried, saying there is "zero risk to human life" and that the only thing they are worried about is the "safety of their Chevy." Check out the article, these hurricane chasers are pretty nuts, but they are helping all of the evacuated see the devastation that is happening to some of their homes. Better to know what is going on with your house than be waiting to find out though, right?