2001-12-19
Intense Pain, posted at 8:29 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Last night, I experienced the greatest physical pain in my life.My ankle was pretty much healed. I was hobbling around on it a bit - someone looking closely could tell I was limping - but I was off the crutches and it was only feeling mildly sore. So, last night I did a bit of grocery shopping, going to Trader Joe's and running a few other errands.
On the way home, I decided to stop at this little Mexican place for a take-out burrito. I'd never been there, but it came highly recommended by one of my roommates, and a burrito just sounded good.
A few steps after getting out of the car, I stepped on a small divet on the side walk with the injured left ankle. My ankle, though wrapped up in an Ace Bondage, twisted under me like a piece of paper. I fell, and felt the most intense pain of my life in the ankle. I literally yelped - fairly unconsiously - in pain. There were a few people around, and it wasn't a good area of town, and I knew I should get back to my car. They just stared at me. I grimaced, got up to my good foot, and hopped the fifteen feet back to my car.
Once in the car, the shooting pain remained tremendous. I was less than a mile away from my house, and I knew I had to get there. I had taken Holden along for the ride, and he was staring at me with concern. I started singing to get my mind off the pain. "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells." My mouth became dry as a desert and felt like cotton. My head became light and all the cars around me looked fuzzy. "Jingle all the way." My eyes burned with tears wanting to come out. I prayed there would be no red lights. "Oh what fun it is to ride..." The pain was more intense than I'd ever felt, shooting not only on my ankle but also down through the bottom of my foot, my toes, and my shin. I was sure I had broke it. "...in a one-horse open sleigh..."
I made it home, hopped in the house, and plopped myself with all my weight in a chair. My roommates looked at me with a mixture of concern and laughter. I suppose it was sort of a shock to see me like that. Jason had to go out and get Holden and my groceries. I called my mom, but didn't take her advice to take my shoe off and put ice on it for about 45 minutes. I was just too scared to.
The sharp pain dulled to a fuzzy, constant pain after about that long, and I iced it. I figure I re-sprained it. Reinjuring something is really a lot more painful than the first injury, I've heard. It's the truth.
This morning, I'm back on one crutch, and I feel like I'm back to step one in my ankle sprain recovery. And I'm pissed off.