Who hit me?!?

On December 6, 2010, I was playing racquetball with some friends after work.   I had played many times before and considered myself pretty good.  I consider myself in good shape, and I work out regularly. Before the game, I stretched like I normally did for a few minutes, and then we started playing.  About an hour and a half into the game, I went for a shot, and it felt like someone hit my left ankle with their racquet.  I turned around and the other two guys playing were nowhere near me.

Hmm... ok.  After a few seconds, I noticed that the pain hadn't really gone away yet which seemed weird, but it wasn't unbearable.  So I tried standing up. I took a few awkward steps and my foot just "wasn't working right".  I tried touching my toes and almost fell over.  At that point, I knew something was wrong. So I went home.  The next day I woke up in much more pain, so I called in sick at work and went to the doctor.  Right away she determined that I tore my achilles tendon and sent me to a surgeon.  The surgeon has a look and decided to schedule me for open surgery the next day.

The rest of that day was spent making some preparations for post surgery. I lived in a 3 story townhouse, so I knew I need a place to recover. So I cashed in some hotel points and got a room where I'd have people to do whatever I needed.  I also requested a week off from work since I wouldn't be able to do much of anything immediately after the surgery.

The surgery was scheduled for 2pm the next day, but the surgeons were running late, so I wasn't called until 4pm. I was starving since I was told not to eat after midnight. I had a choice of getting general anesthesia or a spinal tap procedure which numbs the lower half of my body. With the second option, I'd be awake during the surgery which was intriguing.  But it takes longer to wear off, possibly requiring an overnight stay. So I chose general anesthesia.

I woke up after the surgery wearing a cast. I was given a set of crutches, and a prescription for Tylenol 3 and aspirin. The doctor told me to see him again in 2 weeks, and reminded me that I was wearing a non weight bearing cast. My friend came and picked me up, dropped me off at the hotel where I promptly crashed for the night the moment I saw the bed.

Actually, I puked once or twice, and then went to bed.