Wednesday, March 7, 2012

A+E, Frozen Peas and Electric Guitars

Last night I was at netball playing for my team 'Accies', it was the final quarter and the game was soon to be over. I had been playing Wing Defence and I was determined to try and get at least one interception at the centre pass, and as I hadn't so far, I really wanted to ball (no innuendo intended).
x
So, as the whistle blew I ran out to try and get the ball, and as I did the little leap/jump thing that you're meant to do, I landed on my right foot but in a bad way. A shock of pain raced up my leg and I felt my ankle completely give way on me, which lead me to hold onto the closest person near me and try and balance on my left leg. Luckily I was near the side line where my team was and my team captain majestically carried me off the court (my knight[ess] in shinning armour!). I sat down on the chair and I had  jumpers thrown on me to make sure that I stayed warm and in the heat of the moment to get an ice pack, our team coach/helper burst it with her nail. But on the bright side is was cold enough to numb a bit of the pain and to be honest I didn't care how wet I got, I just wanted the pain to go away.

If you have ever landed badly on your ankle then you know what it feels like to be completely stuck, not being able to put any weight on it at all and to just feel completely shaken by the whole experience.

Luckily (sort of), two weeks before lasts night match, the other Steff in our team also sprained her ankle (we swear the name is cursed), so when the match ended and mum brought the car round to the door, I was carried to the door of the car in one of those queen chair lifts. I have to admit looking back on it, that part was quite fun, as I hadn't had one of those things since primary school.

So mum quickly drove back home (in the speed limit if any speed/traffic person is reading) and my sister jumped on her bike to follow us down to A+E, which luckily is about a minute's drive from our house. And as there is no traffic on the roads at around 10:45pm it was plain sailing (well, driving...but you know what I mean).

As I was queen chair carried into A+E by my dear sister and lovely mum, (I have to mention that I was still crying and gasping from the pain), I got placed on a chair, with my legs up on the adjacent seats. I prepared myself for a long night, as from previous trips to A+E had lasted up to 3 hours... Luckily, as I quickly glanced around, there weren't that many people there, and it was mainly babies and little children, but no one who was crying and looked in pain like I was. But I do feel sorry for those people, because as soon as we walked/carried in, I heard some people groan. I know what its like when you have been waiting for a long time and then some annoying bugger strides in with a massive injury... it's disheartening.

However, I just had to wait about 20 minutes to be called in. However, mum said that I couldn't walk, so along came the wheelchair... I have to admit that I get embarrassed very easily, so being carried into A+E in the first place wasn't good for me, I kept my head down for most of the wait; so when I had to get into a wheelchair I went bright red and didn't know what to do.

Although, saying that I was lucky to have a really nice nurse and doctor who both helped diagnose the problem with my ankle quickly and gave me exercises to do and tips and all that useful stuff.

So today I was ordered to take the day off school and rest with my ankle in line with my hip, and to walk short distances without hurting it too much. Thus bring in the bag of frozen bag of peas! They are a saviour and the painkillers have really helped as well.

However, I was told that it would take up to 6 weeks for my ankle to fully heal which isn't good... not now anyway. I have my final GCSE Drama examination (which is a dance piece) coming up in under 3 weeks, along with a dance show starting the same time, and also a school trip to Pisa in 2 weeks... So I am making sure that this ankle is better in 1 week!

So far, it is a lot easier to walk and I can feel it getting better (if that makes sense). So I will hopefully almost be able to dance for the 10am-4pm drama rehearsal at school on Sunday. If not my drama teacher will absolutely kill me, especially as the piece I'm in revolves around how well I can move. The only positive thing is that I am playing Adam (out of Adam and Eve) and I think I know how to portray the painful part of when my rib gets torn out of me...

So to try and take my mind of the painful bugger that is my ankle, i have been looking at electric guitars on amazon. I have been wanting to learn how to play for ages, and I even tried to teach myself acoustic a few years ago, but ti no success... But my mum and dad are looking into lessons, and as I start working on April 7th, I will be able to pay for it myself. I'm not entirely sure if my mum knows how serious I am about learning how to play, but if I'm allowed then hopefully she will see. I think guitar appeals to me as the music I listen to relies heavily on the sounds of the guitar, and listening to the riffs that are played makes me want to be able to actually play some of the songs. I know that it will take me ages to get to an average standard, but I know that this is something that I will enjoy and want to carry on for the rest of my life. Someday, if I could play one riff as well as Brian May can, then I will be one of the happiest people alive.

ox steff xo