Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Roller coaster

This last month has definitely been an emotional roller coaster ride for me. When it finally stops, I think I want to run out of this Amusement Park of Hell, screaming, never to be seen again. In short, it goes like this:

8/17 - Bike wreck. ER doc says hand is sprained. Ice, Ace bandages, ibuprofen.

8/21 - Sports medicine doc says my hand is broken in 3 places and I've got torn ligaments that may give me trouble later on in life. Casts it, makes follow up appt for 9/21.

9/1 - My friend, an orthopedic surgeon, persuades me to see him at his office. He determines, after looking at my xrays and my CT scan, that I've definitely torn my scapholunate ligament and I'll probably need to have surgery. Schedules an appt for me with one of his partners, a hand specialist.

9/5 - Hand specialist examines me and sends me for an MRI.

9/6 - Hand specialist calls and says I definitely need surgery and I'll be out for 12 weeks but I can run a marathon.

9/11 - Go in for surgery. Expecting it to be a repair, but understanding it may be bad enough for reconstruction instead. When I wake up, my mom tells me that the doc was really shocked - when he cut my hand open, he found that my ligament is just partially torn, so he did nothing. I'm going to be in a cast for 2 weeks, and I can do my Ironman.

WTF???

I'm very confused. I haven't had a chance to talk to the doctor myself, but I'm obviously going to do that. If he doesn't call me by 2 (I left a message for him yesterday), I'll call again. I want to know exactly what happened, exactly how long I'll be in a cast, when I can start training again, what I can do when, etc. Everyone is saying, "You should be happy! You're going to be able to do your Ironman!" I am happy about that, but I'm still in such confusion about what has gone on that I'm not doing cartwheels yet. And I'm freaked out that by the time I'm out of the cast, it'll almost be time to start tapering. I have confidence in my coach that he'll get me ready as best as he can, but it's going to be crazy.

And on the knitting front, I'm having trouble picking something to do. I really want to finish my Deciduous so that I can wear it in Florida, but I'm scared if I work on it in my cast, my gauge will be totally off and it'll look wonky. So then Saturday I decided to pull out some purple Soft Kid I have in my stash. Purple makes me happy, and so does mohair. And I thought mohair might hide little gauge issues I might have. But I can't find anything I want to use it for except this allover lace pullover. I started a sleeve, thinking it may be okay because it's a simple lace pattern, but it takes me FOREVER to knit it. So then I pulled out my Nature Spun Worsted I bought last year for a Fair Isle cardigan and have contemplated using it for Tubey from knitty, but I'm scared because I've read about too many people having issues with the fit. So now I think I need to just start something completely fresh - new pattern, new yarn. I'm contemplating a Marilyn's Not So Shrunken Cardigan from Knit & Tonic, or an Hourglass Sweater from Weekend Knitting, or a Rusted Root from Zephyr Style. Anyone have any thoughts?

I took drugs a little bit ago, so maybe I need to lie down. Bye for now.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

socks.... knit some socks. That is my comfort fall back. you can even knit in a sport or aran weight. Maybe fetching from the Knitty before last... quick fingerless gloves.
Feel better!

tut-tut said...

You should be concerned. There are A LOT of over-diagnoses; the fact that one of the doctors is your friend makes the whole thing very complicated. But the fact is, you were operated on needlessly.

Wendy said...

Gah! Wonkage!

I agree with Mama-E. Make some socks. Or a cast cover. ;)

Jen said...

Hey, I'm sorry to hear the whole horrid story. I can't believe they've been jerking you around so much, but you're right, at least you'll get a chance to do your triathlon very soon. Glad to hear that!

I think the hourglass sweater in Kid Classic would be quite nice.