Just when I thought I was having a bad day...

[Kevster]

As if my day couldn't get any worse after this morning, I went and played ultimate today and into the 3rd game I partially tore my achilles' tendon.

I was in mid-stride running down a disk mid-field (and I was about to get it) and the other player somehow kicked my ankle or stepped on me or something - I can't be sure - all I know is we both tangled going for the disk and that happens. The next thing I knew I was falling to grass at almost full-speed and rolling over screaming. Mrs. Kevster was there on the sideline and came out and several other players were immediately helping me. The nice thing about Ultimate Frisbee is that since it's such a popular college sport, you get a lot of professionals that play on pick-up games like lawyers, engineers, accountants, and doctors to name a few. A surgeon that plays came over and checked me out. She did the whole achilles' tendon field exam on me and told me what was very likely wrong and to get to an Emergency room ASAP to get it looked at.

After a couple hours at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance, I now have a splint on my lower left leg (I injured my good leg, not the bad one with all the knee problems - yay) and happy drugs for the pain. I have to see my orthopaed tomorrow morning and will probably have an MRI sometime this week when I'm not in Northern California at my friend's funeral.

I hope the rest of this week goes better than this Sunday did.

[brainsmile]

Yeah I've been out with the same thing for about 6 months now from basketball. Hate it when I trip over the rim like that. I start PT next month.

[CynJon]

That sucks Kevster--tough injury to rehab from...I had a volleyball doubles partner who completely snapped his achilles in a grass tournament and it took him a LONG time to heal up--hopefully the partial tear will be quicker (and less painful!) Enjoy the meds, though!

[Jenny]

Ouch You need a hug dammit! *HUG*

[Kevster]

Here's an update:

I went to another orthopaed instead of my normal one since he's on vacation for the next couple weeks. My normal orthopaed's office was very nice and gave me a good referral for the one I went to today. I went through the full achilles tendon exam and with my xrays showing everything clean, we discussed what he thought it might be and what was next. I got an MRI later this afternoon (which was totally sweet - last time I had one I had to wait several days) and I promptly fell asleep in the MRI chamber.

I find out tomorrow afternoon what the status of my achilles' tendon is and if there is also any muscular damage to my calf muscles.

The one thing that really sucks is my house is full of stairs. I have two flights of stairs with about 10 steps each and it is a HUGE pain going up and down them. I also had to postpone my Germany trip for work about a month so now I'll be there in October... hmmm... maybe this is now a not-so-suckage?

[AlpineJay]

Oktoberfest! I guess there's always an upside to a bad news. I hope everything's gonna be all right - if you can actually walk on it with bearable pain, chances are it won't be too bad (hopefully).

[Kim]

Good luck, and I hope it feels better soon!

[DarkFury]

Owwww.. that sounded painful.

It's stuff like this that permanently discontinued my "weekend warrior" ways years ago...

I got hurt in a freak accident playing "Men's Softball" a few years back where I ruptured the metatarsal ligament in the bottom of my right foot by stepping on a base pad the wrong way...

Pretty much, that "game" put me on the shelf for like 3 months... and honestly, I had to say that it just wasn't worth it anymore to play since the risks of gettin' hurt versus affecting my ability to work just weren't worth it (kinda like the one guy who played on our team that caught a "bad hop off of the grass" softball right into the mouth and cause some severe damage to his teeth and jaw.)

Well hope ya get better soon....

[Merlin]

[DarkFury]

Which one of those shall we pick to BEAT THE LIVING HELL outta Merlin with.

[Merlin]

Beat me up? Well maybe but at least I got two good legs to run away with.

I have been teasing Kevin for years about getting him a cane. Always told him it is one of the ultimate pimp accessories, especially the ones with a sword in them.

[DarkFury]

Beat me up? Well maybe but at least I got two good legs to run away with.

I have been teasing Kevin for years about getting him a cane. Always told him it is one of the ultimate pimp accessories, especially the ones with a sword in them.

Run forest Run....

[avlena]

Ouch You need a hug dammit! *HUG*

ditto!! hope everything heals fast!

[Kevster]

Well, here's the BIG update:

I just got off the phone with my doctor and the results from the MRI I had yesterday show a 90% tear in my Achilles' tendon, on the upper half closer to the calf muscle. This is technically a complete tear and will require surgery to repair. I will have 4 weeks in a full leg cast, then probably another 4-6 weeks in a half-cast. Then I'll have lots and lots of Physical Therapy to get my leg back to normal.

Now for the other suckage part - I have to fly up on Thursday afternoon to Sacramento and then attend my friend's funeral on Friday morning. Then I fly back to LAX on Friday evening and on early Saturday morning I have my 1 1/2 hour operation to fix my tendon. [Rant at myself] AAARRRGGHHH!!!! WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN NOW?!![/Rant at myself]

As for "weekend warrior" stuff, I will never give it up. Never. I have been trying to get back into the shape I used to be in and I was well on my way there. I started playing more ultimate and was up to 3 days a week in addition to Judo 2-3 days a week (alternate days). Once I get back into form, I'll go right back to that. I have a lot of goals with things that I want to do and this just delayed them a bit.

[Jenny]

Ouch Good luck flying and hope the surgery goes well!

[Kevster]

Beat me up? Well maybe but at least I got two good legs to run away with.

I have been teasing Kevin for years about getting him a cane. Always told him it is one of the ultimate pimp accessories, especially the ones with a sword in them.

Actually, I want one of those pimpin' ones like Archangel had on Airwolf.

[Merlin]

...and will require surgery to repair...

Sorry to hear about that part. Godspeed on the surgery.

I have to fly up on Thursday afternoon to Sacramento...

Pre-boarding buddy, pre-boarding.

[RoniMan]

sorry to hear that...hope you get better soon...old man...

[DarkFury]

As for "weekend warrior" stuff, I will never give it up. Never. I have been trying to get back into the shape I used to be in and I was well on my way there. I started playing more ultimate and was up to 3 days a week in addition to Judo 2-3 days a week (alternate days). Once I get back into form, I'll go right back to that. I have a lot of goals with things that I want to do and this just delayed them a bit.

Go ahead... and ignore your body. It'll finally tell you when to quit, whether your mind wants to or not.

[ufcrusher]

I feel your pain...literally, but at least they can figure out whats wrong with you. Hopefully the surgery will go well and you will be up and hobbiling around in no time.






I wish they could figure out what the heck was wrong with my ankle....a year + and counting of pain at this point.

[oblongmelon]

Go ahead... and ignore your body. It'll finally tell you when to quit, whether your mind wants to or not.

unfortunately-DF is right..

[Kevster]

unfortunately-DF is right..

It's either that or assume the "pear shape" so prevalent in the IT industry (DF will no doubt concur). I'll go with being in shape versus being a pear - I'll likely live much longer.

[avlena]

It's either that or assume the "pear shape" so prevalent in the IT industry (DF will no doubt concur). I'll go with being in shape versus being a pear - I'll likely live much longer.

hey, there's plenty of grandpa's out there who are in better shape then people half their age. it's not bad to be active, and in shape, just be smart about the activities. things like football and rugby are probably for the young, but there's plenty of other activities out there (not sure how intense Ultimate is, never played. we should have a g|a utlimate frisbee game! lol)

and much kudos to you for getting in shape!!! it's not ez getting off the couch - i'm trying to get in shape, and started by buying an exercise bike... so technically, i'm still parked on my bum watching TV, i just happen to be madly peddling at the same time.

[DarkFury]

It's either that or assume the "pear shape" so prevalent in the IT industry (DF will no doubt concur). I'll go with being in shape versus being a pear - I'll likely live much longer.

Getting into shape and being a "weekend warrior" are 2 completely different things...

Getting into shape can involve going to the gym, riding your bike, walking, playing casual tennis/golf/raquetball etc... things that generally won't put you on the shelf for 4 to 12 weeks due to an extreme injury.

Playing really competitive sports (full contact football, softball, your "extreme frisbee" soccer, and others) to the point where you risk major injuries that can hinder your earning potential just aren't my idea of a "good thing" considering the risk... but hey, like I said before, your body will tell you when to stop. But then again, maybe you'll be an exception... (will this torn achilles be your "achilles heel" with regard to your future performance in these sports?)

I know that with my current level of knee and shoulder damage... certain sports are just "out" for me... unless I just LIKE having pain in my life.

[Kevster]

Playing really competitive sports (full contact football, softball, your "extreme frisbee" soccer, and others) to the point where you risk major injuries that can hinder your earning potential just aren't my idea of a "good thing" considering the risk... but hey, like I said before, your body will tell you when to stop. But then again, maybe you'll be an exception... (will this torn achilles be your "achilles heel" with regard to your future performance in these sports?)

I talked with a couple people in the last few days that have had this injury and how they have done afterward. If I rehab it right and don't get impatient, I should be up and active in 6 months. The fact that I am going in and having it completely repaired versus staying off it for 3 months letting it heal itself means I will actually have a much lower chance of reinjury. This is a very common injury in tennis, raquetball, volleyball, etc and you should remember Dan Marino tore his just by dropping back for a pass - Boom! he went down when he planted his foot.

Like every injury, all it takes is time and patience.

[aggieSlaughter]

It's either that or assume the "pear shape" so prevalent in the IT industry (DF will no doubt concur). I'll go with being in shape versus being a pear - I'll likely live much longer.

Amen brother. I'm just in training for the IT industry(computer engineering student), and I already see a lot of people around me with 2 looks.

1) Pale Pear
2) Pale Stick

Both just need to get outside and play around some.

[oblongmelon]

you weekend warriors -you make me laugh-instead-get up at 5am everyday and take a walk, listen to the birds, see the morning haze lifting..and enjoy the day..and get in shape doing it-stop throwing your testosterone out and save yourself some injuries..

[DarkFury]

you weekend warriors -you make me laugh-instead-get up at 5am everyday and take a walk, listen to the birds, see the morning haze lifting..and enjoy the day..and get in shape doing it-stop throwing your testosterone out and save yourself some injuries..

Yeah... I think that they have kinda missed the point about what I was saying.

BTW... Dan Marino "got paid" to rehab his achilles tendon and play a few more years... but since then, he has retired. And for some reason, I don't think that he is still playing football "just for fun" on the weekends.... golf maybe, but definitely not football.

But go right ahead and enjoy your sports now while you are young.... just don't cry years from now when wear and tear sets in.

[Kevster]

you weekend warriors -you make me laugh-instead-get up at 5am everyday and take a walk, listen to the birds, see the morning haze lifting..and enjoy the day..and get in shape doing it-stop throwing your testosterone out and save yourself some injuries..

Yeah I do that with the wiener dog (well I DID that) all the time. I just like to raise my level of fitness above "walking the dog".

I wish you guys would actually understand what I was doing when I did this - then you'd realize that there was little testosterone involved - Ultimate is a coed non-contact sport and is generally non-competetive (especially in pickup games). Until this injury happened, I was playing 2-4 times a week for a couple hours with a very cool group of people whose ages varied from 25 - 61. Also remember you can injure yourself in the gym doing the same thing too - my doc told me his last case of this was someone who was doing squats in the gym and wasn't even trying to max out either.

I wish you would not take my comments out of context either - I only brought up Dan Marino to show how easily this type of injury can happen. And no, I won't be crying when I'm older - trust me. DF, you and I apparently agree to disagree about fitness and activities. That is fine with me. You have your idea of fitness and I have mine. I just have goals - like a strong desire to climb Mt. Whitney and go through the John Muir Wilderness next year and I have to be IN SHAPE to be hiking at 10,000-14,000 feet.

[DarkFury]

We can agree to disagree.... that's fine. I was only going on what you said and what seemed "implied".

I definitely did not intend to take your comments out of context... sorry that you feel that way.

I guess when you said that you were doing this just to avoid the "pear shaped" body... then I was just saying that fitness is different than "weekend warrior" activities... maybe that's where it just went astray.

Oh well... continue on as you were.