Three Sundays ago (May 15th), while playing basketball, I put in motion a sequence of events that would eventually lead to me getting a new zapato. The basketball was perhaps a little more physical this Sunday and growing up watching the likes of Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman play, I wasn’t going to back down. In an effort to match the aggression of my opponents, I took the ball hard to the hoop leaving my feet for a layup. Unfortunately, when I landed, it was on someone else’s foot. Immediately after twisting my left ankle, I just laid face down on the court for several minutes in pain.
Having sprained and broken my left ankle many times, I’ve always worn a protective brace for security measures. Regardless of the brace, I was in some kind of pain and also wondering how I was going to get home. The courts were a 35 minute walk from my apartment and a 20 minute walk from the metro. It was then that a random Chilean that we were playing basketball with offered to take me home in his car. I was and will be forever grateful of this act of kindness. Pay it forward I say and so I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to find out in the future that this guy paid for one Snickers Bar from the vending machine and actually got two.
On the way home I called Katie who was actually in the middle of “Culture Day” with our friend, Hannah. They were planning on going to several museums throughout the day and my call came after the first museum. After spending a couple of minutes trying to convince Katie that I was serious about my ankle being sprained or broken, she advised me that she would meet me back at the apartment. My friend, Craig, who also helped me back to the apartment, went on a quick run to the store to get some ice. He returned with ice, beer, and chips and stating his motive behind the purchase came from hypothesizing what he would want in my situation.
Katie and Hannah returned shortly after Craig got back and Katie was surprisingly very comforting. Usually when I injure myself, she acts like she is being inconvenienced, but she could tell that I was in a great deal of pain. It was now time to unveil the damage and I took my shoe and ankle brace off. I knew how I felt so I wasn’t the least bit surprised to find out that my foot looked like a Hobbit foot from Lord of the Rings.
Making a trip to the hospital on the weekends is almost double or even triple the price during the week. So, I called my Chilean program coordinator and we arranged for an appointment Monday morning at 10:45. Hannah and Craig were already over, so Katie and Hannah went to the store and picked up some more beer, chips, and also pizza and we had an entertaining day of games. Katie let me win in Yahtzee which I thought was pretty nice.
The next morning, following my program coordinators advice, I sought out a Collectivo (cheaper taxis) to take me to the clinic a good ways away. Upon not finding any Collectivos and fearing that a taxi ride would cost a pretty penny, I set out on a foot to the cheap metro. The metro isn’t but a 5 minute walk, but when you are hopping on one foot it takes a lot longer. It was a pretty big struggle getting to the metro and I’m sure I didn’t go unnoticed during my trek. Gringo, beard like Dumbledore, and hopping on one foot made me somewhat of a side show.
I finally made it to the Clinic and into the doctor’s office about an hour after arrival. After I got an x-ray, it was deemed that I didn’t have a fracture or torn tendons, but only a severe sprain. The doctor advised that I needed to wear a walking cast for 3 weeks. As I wasn’t even able to put the least bit of pressure on my foot, I was surprised by this diagnosis.
I found out that Chile definitely doesn’t short you when it comes to getting a cast. Thoughts of stealing a Snickers Bar from the local convenience store gradually vanished the higher the doctor went on my leg with the cast. For my sprained ankle, they gave me a cast that came all the way up to my knee. After the doctor put this huge thing on my leg, he proclaimed, “Tu zapato nuevo!”
Walking out of the clinic, my pace was that of a full-blown geriatric. It literally would take me 5 minutes to cover a 1/10 of a mile. Considering myself a pretty active individual, this drove me crazy. I was able to take a couple of days off of school and Katie subbed for several of my classes. Slowly, and I mean slowly, I was able to walk faster and my walking pace was upgraded to semi-geriatric.
With my ankle healing, the cast was still greatly impeding my ability to walk and grew increasingly annoying to me. Finally, after a week and 5 days of lugging this cast around, I decided to cut it off. Not really having adequate tools to perform this operation, I found miniature children scissors and a broken can opener to do the job. Similar to how MacGyver would cut off a cast but not nearly as efficient, it took me about an hour and a half to cut it all off.
Almost finished..............
Upon shedding the cast, I was surprised just how well my ankle had healed. Of course it was still very tender, but I was able to walk much better than I thought I would be able to. However, I still have a ways to go until I can get to the point of running around again. Though with the help of Katie making sure I get all of my meals in a timely fashion, I’m making a rapid recovery.
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