October 1, 2014
Life was getting pretty hard here in Japan. Training was pushing my body while the books pushed my mind to its limits. It seemed like it would only continue that way until...
... September 30th, Tuesday morning, during the morning practice, God decided to give me my second biggest injury: a torn ligament in the knee.
How did it happen? I was practicing with a heavy weight fighter on the ground for about 12 seconds when he decided to pull on my leg while I was pulling it out. The result was a HUGE pop and me limping off the mat to apply some ice.
It was a harsh day. I knew that something was wrong even though I didn't feel too much pain, so I decided to stick with the limping until I knew what was going on. My sister recommended that I go with someone to see Miyazaki, the doctor who takes care of the judo club members.
I had applied ice right away, and a second time only 20 minutes later. I also used my small towel as a brace around my leg. I walked into class late and everyone watched me limp over to my spot. I had to wait all day and it was very difficult to pay attention to the lesson. I kept wondering what was going to happen.
Finally, I contacted one of my friends at the judo club, Kotaro Sasaki, who was kind enough to take me to see the doctor after practice. Obviously I didn't do the practice, I slept instead.
Kotaro himself has an injury to the knee therefore he needed to go anyway. We biked to the clinic, parked our bikes, and I limped inside. We took off our shoes, as it is usual when entering a building in Japan, which sent small jolts of pain up my leg. We signed in, we waited, and finally it was my turn.
The doctor asked me to sit down, and played with my leg only for a few moments before making his diagnostic. Clearly, I had injured the outer ligament of my right knee. He didn't think it was too bad, although his next statement took the wind out of me:
- You can't do judo for one month.
Obviously he said it in Japanese, but nonetheless, it caught me off guard. I asked what I should do to help it heal but besides ice, and rest, he said maybe squats and forward exercises to help it stabilize. He said I didn't need a brace, but I insisted on getting at least a tensor bandage to give it some more support. He remembered my sister who had also been there three years ago and so he was kind enough to let me go for free, even though I didn't have my insurance card with me.
As we walked out, one of the judo girls was working at the clinic and she happened to know my sister. After exchanging Facebook accounts, laughing at my ice bucket challenge (which she had seen before and just found hilarious), Kotaro and I were off to supper.
He was kind enough to take me to an all-you-can-eat yakiniku restaurant. Kotaro has been studying English quite seriously and therefore his English is much superior than most of the other Japanese I meet. We had some interesting discussions over the delicious supper. After that, I limped back to my dorm, studied for my test the next day, and fell asleep.
(Kotaro Sasaki enjoying his meal!)
(BOOM! Yakiniku! Japanese grilled meat.)
It wasn't util the next day that I realized the impact of my injury. I had to limp to get to my desk. Every single little walk takes twice as much time. To get to school, I can no longer bike up the hill, instead I have to stop and the bottom, get off, and starting limping again. In the cafeteria, a lot of eyes fall on me due to this new walking style of mine. Going up the stairs has become my biggest fear of the day, as well as my hardest task. Everyone at school looks at me as I walk through the halls and into class.
I had to go tell Agemizu sensei, the head coach at Tokai that I wouldn't be able to practice for a while. He didn't seem too happy... Every time I bump into a judo club member, I can't help but think he must see me as a coward.
Only time will tell the outcome of this. But this sure was a wakeup call.
9:36 AM |
Category:
Bumps in the road,
Feelings & Thoughts,
FOOD!,
Friends,
Injuries,
Judo,
Pain,
Trouble
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