Ok, some would say, starting to learn to rollerblade for the first time on your 50th Birthday is a little crazy, but then those that know me would not be surprised.
Four and a half years later of skating 2hrs Friday, 1hr45 Saturday and 2hrs Sunday every week has me doing ok. My 14 yr old son, streets ahead even though we’ve skated roughly the same amount over the same time. I’ve recently removed my brake, recently managed crossovers and most recently was gaining confidence on t-braking.
Anyway, a couple of weekends ago I entered the Mum’s and Dad’s race as I always do, and over the past nearly 5-years my speed has gradually increased until this particular Saturday evening I was flying around in front at some 10-12 mph. As I took the second lap, crossing over my right on my left to double power around the bend I saw another Dad coming up on the inside, an ex-ice hockey player.
He shoulder barged me on my left, and not in slow motion, I flew through the air, landed on my left bum cheek, slid along the floor with my left leg out straight and felt my right leg come rapidly pulled down by the weight of the boot to hit my medial malleolus onto the skating floor, while in my boot, with a thud.
That hurt, lots. I got up, rolled around a little on my inline skates and mentioned it was painful and left it. Around 20-minutes later I went to first aid and put ice on it and elevated it. I then, at the end of the roller disco, hobbled with my son to Ten Pin, a bowling alley and had a San Miguel with Nacho Double Cheese with Jalapeños. Around an hour late I drove home … and went to bed.
The following morning the swelling was as bad as it had ever been, so after a while (and tutoring Maths), I took myself to Accident & Emergency, ER if you like.
An hour later the consultant said I’d cracked my medial Malleolus and they put me in plaster, … now to get someone to fetch me and the car .. urgh!
No weight on it, two crutches, a plaster cast on my right … nightmare. No cups of tea, no breakfast, no showers (I need a daily to wake up in the morning), awful.
That following Thursday I had the plaster replaced with a fibreglass version, claims of it being lighter are grossly overrated. The medial malleolus is renowned for not healing, so the consultant this time said I want an x-ray every week, we need to keep an eye on it and pin it if its not healing.
The following Tuesday, the new consultant has my cast removed, sends me to x-ray, and all are puzzled. The plaster room, the consultant, the radiologist. To be honest the first radiologist said “you’ve not broken it make, I think its bruised, but let the Doctor take a look”. This time the consultant said something rather strange;
“When did you last break your ankle sir”, he said. “Me, I’ve never broken my ankle”, I replied. It seems I have, in the past 2-5 years I had broken my medial malleolus and it had since healed. What they were looking at was a aged healed break. The new consultant pressed the bone that sticks out of the inside of my foot, nothing. He said I would be flying around the room, as I will do when he presses … this … boy I flew around the room.
That he said is a very bruised medial malleolus but its not broken, they then said “of course, we knew all along” in the plaster room, I had not chance to check with the radiologist, but I could feel him thinking “I told you so”. Anyhow, they’ve put me into surgical boot, one of those that Robocop wore in the film I think. To be worn when out and about and I am to wear slippers or shoes in the home …
The pain this week, 1.5 weeks after the accident, is still rather unpleasant, especially if I hold it still for any length of time. Last weekend I returned to the Roller Disco and spoke to the quietly spoken, but rather competitive Dad and watched my son skate .. when it comes to this weekend in the boot I suspect he will be surprised.
Robocop returns, heals in 2-weeks, feels no pain after a break; real or implied; and is really rather scary .. for me, I am thankful that pinning my ankle back together is not something I need to be done any time soon.
September/October 2015
The Gladiator50's Blog 