A visit to the ER

How did you spend your Sunday morning? I had expected to visit my home church at First Reformed in Zeeland, but instead, I decided I need another type of healing and visited Holland Hospital's Emergency Room. It all started Saturday night when Peter Van Wylen invited me to play ultimate frisbee with him, Brian Mulder, and some other friends. Of course, I jumped at the chance. The game was going well until I dove to knock a frisbee from the outstretched hand of Peter. I landed directly on my knee cap and found myself limping for a good amount of time afterwards. Later that night, I was in considerable pain whenever I moved. I woke up about every hour because of the discomfort.

When I woke up Sunday morning, I couldn't move my knee at all. So, my mom and I paid a visit to the ER. The doctor x-rayed my knee and found it to be negative--no broken bones. He thought I probably tore a ligament or tendon, but those would heal on their own if given enough time. He gave me a black Velcro leg brace and told me to keep the knee elevated and iced, and prescribed some vicatin for the pain. The official diagnosis was a knee sprain. Sarah called her dad (who is an orthepetic surgeon), and he confirmed that it was probably a bruise or something to the elements under my patella.

Sunday was a rough day. I did not feel good at all (I think my allergies for the past weeks may have combined with a small infection to knock me out). Plus, I was sad that I was staying in Holland for the week instead of teaching one of the last weeks of computer class this year or running with me kids. Sarah helped me make the decision to stay by asking guiding questions such as "do you need to be there for anything this week? can you be an effective teacher with your leg up on your desk the whole day? do you have any sick days left?" So, I decided to forgo my flight to Philadelphia and hunker down at home for the week.

The time has passed quickly already! I've had a bunch of papers to do for my masters program, which worked out well that I'm here just hanging out. Tony came to visit last night, and it was great to talk with him about how he's doing...he's so excited to marry his girlfriend for almost four years, Christen Conner. Their wedding is going to be beautiful; I can't wait!

I'll have to get some pictures of my nifty brace. Until then!