Update on Me – I knew you couldn’t wait

Well it’s been over a week since my injury and surgery.  I had another appointment with my surgeon – Dr. Michael Gross.

Not all a bed of roses for me.

I’m on a more aggressive form of rehab – one where I don’t get a cast and start moving the tendon right away.  This, however, leaves me open to having a slip and putting my weight on the foot and possibly ripping the stitches out.  That would mean back to square one, surgery, etc. – probably even worse since it is an injury on an injury.

Anyway, I hop around on crutches.  I’m paranoid about slipping and putting weight on the foot.  I’m exhausted all the time from the effort.  I found out this morning that this will only be for another 5 to 6 weeks!!!!!

I initially thought I could use this time to start the new book project I’ve mentioned here before.  Nope.  Mentally, I’m out of it.  I’m so disappointed, bordering on depressed, about the injury.  It messes up summer plans.  I can’t go to a beach and can barely even make it out on my own deck.  You just don’t know how hard it is to hop around with the worry that you always have to keep secure footing under your good foot.  Stairs are a nightmare.  I can’t carry anything around.  I’ve taken to having a backpack just to carry a book or a drink over to the couch.

Watch these pages for more sad stories about Dr. Kelln.

My Injury

So I was playing a softball game on Saturday with a team from the forensic hospital where I work.  I haven’t played softball since Grad School about 12 years ago. 

Anyway, my wife and boys were watching so I wanted to play well.  In the second game of the day I hit a pretty big hit way into left field (ok, a monster hit) but there aren’t any fences on the baseball fields at Halifax Commons so I see someone from the other team chasing the ball down.  I start sprinting the bases thinking I was getting a home-run for my boys to see.  GO DAD!!!!

I round first.  The crowd cheers.  People are remarking how fast I can run for an almost 40, good-looking, psychologist and author (not their exact words).  I was wearing my baseball cleats so I had good traction (too good?).  I round second base.  Halfway to third it feels like someone has thrown the ball back and I thought it struck my left calf.  I had an enormous sudden pain there.  In my head I really believed someone had, from a few feet away, thrown the softball really hard right into my calf.  At a full sprint I dropped straight into the gravel.  I really tore up my right hand (skin and blood hanging off it) but I jumped back to my feet – STILL wanting to get that home-run for my boys.  I took a step but my left foot wasn’t working.  At first I thought it was just the numbness from where I got hit with whatever.  I looked around.  The ball was still out in the field.  I took another few steps and rounded third base.  My foot wouldn’t lift up properly.  I think I was starting to have a tiny bit of shock set in.  I was very confused why I couldn’t lift my foot.  I kept thinking it feels like I have a ski boot on.  You know how you walk with your foot kind of just slapping down with those boots.

Well, because I work at a hospital – many of my teammates are medical professionals.  Also, one of my buddies Glen had his Achilles Tendon tear off about a year ago.  So my team runs over as I’m trying to make it to home-plate and stop me.  I get escorted off the field and the quick diagnosis by all is “Yep, your Achilles is gone.”  Ken, Jim, and Greg lift me over to the van and my wife and kids take me to emergency.

Anyway, short story after that – they can’t operate on Saturday so I get brought back in for surgery the next day.  I had my surgery Sunday at about 4 PM – almost exactly 24 hours after the injury which I guess is important because you want to get it fixed ASAP.

Now I’m home.  The pain right after surgery, in recovery, was bad.  It’s okay now as long as I keep my left elevated.  Whenever I put it down the blood rushes there and it throbs.  I’m in a half cast just to keep it immobilized so the tendon can heal.  Then I have a lot of physio and stretching to get my legs back.

Should have warmed up more.  Should’ve done this or that.   Who knows?  I guess I’m just the right age for this type of injury. 

By the way – the forensic hospital won that game but my home-run didn’t count.

The Happening – HUGE DISAPOINTMENT

I try to remain an M. Night Shymalan fan.  I loved Signs and Sixth Sense.  I enjoyed Unbreakable.  I didn’t mind Lady in the Water.  The Village wasn’t great.  And now The Happening.  I was really excited to see this one.  I had such expectations.

And it was awful.

The premise was slightly okay but really over done.  In the end, even the premise didn’t make a lot of sense.  It won’t give anything away to say people were, for some reason, motivated to kill themselves and many chose to do so in obvious, graphic, and foolish ways.  That doesn’t fit the movie at all.  It was so pointless.

And the acting was bad.  The writing was bad.  The movie was really short – which maybe was a good thing.

Wow.  I was so upset.  I wanted to enjoy it.  I can’t say anything else.  Go see Iron Man.

The NS Tattoo

So for Canada Day my family and I went to the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo.

It was very patriotic.  Very grand.  Very nice.  I give it a solid 6 / 10.  You should see it, at least once.

But, boy was it long.  Whew.  Long.

And they had three “singers” who showed up more than any other act (3 or 4 times) to screech and scream at us poor audience members.  The singing was unbelievable.  If you like warbling voices and screaming it was awesome.  If you prefer any other style of singing - not so good.

But some of the other acts were fantastic.  Really well worth checking on.

But it sure is long.  Remember that.  I think it was 36 hours in total.   Mind you it had 14 intermissions but still – 36 hours?