So Here's the Scoop...

I know it's been a few days since I updated, after I left you with pictures of a bloody knee and a report of a not-so-good MRI result.  I would have been back sooner but I've been busy trying to sit without using my right butt or leg; prepping my classroom for the start of school Tuesday; dressing my oozing (sorry) roadrash; meeting with the orthopedic surgeon, going to a pre-op doctor appointment, and dealing with all the scheduling stuff necessary pre-surgery.

Because yes, I need surgery.

Apparently my lateral hamstring tendon is completely torn off the bone, and the medial one is partially torn.  The only way to fix this is, well, to fix it.  Put a couple screws in my pelvic bone, suture the tendon to that, and wait for it to grow back into place.  Which, now that I think about it, means that I truly will have "buns of steel" forevermore.  Or at least, two tiny spots of steel somewhere in the right butt region.  Whatever.  So on Tuesday, instead of heading into my classroom for the first day of school, I'll be heading to the hospital to get things put back where they belong.

I'm trying to keep things in perspective (and I've had some really nice supportive thoughts from skating friends who have been there--thank you!), but it's a little tough right now.  Having to miss the Granite Games is, honestly, the most disappointing thing I can ever remember happening--not the worst thing, just the most disappointing in a massive "damn my birthday party got rained on" sort of way.  To make matters worse, the GG are now so close that my Facebook is continually cluttered with GG updates and ads and articles...way to twist the knife, guys!

In addition to the Granite Games issue, the thing I'm struggling with the most is that my usual modus operandi is "fast and sloppy" (I say that proudly; I inherited it from my dad, who has always gotten more done than 10 "careful" people.)  I walk fast, I talk fast, I think fast, I move fast (uh, no, Officer, I don't drive fast.  Huh uh.).   Sure, things get dropped or broken or tripped over (no, that's not how I crashed!) or completed somewhat half-assedly--but that's how I do things and, like my dad, I think I get a lot done.

Or, that's how I used to do things.  Now I creep around like Tim Conway in a Carol Burnett skit (I know, I know...I just lost all the young 'uns.  Google it) and it takes me forever to get into or out of a chair, get up or down the stairs, or walk somewhere.  And when I do walk somewhere, while it's not too terribly painful (apparently detached muscles don't hurt too much), I tend--thanks to needing to keep my right leg straight and swing it wide on each step--to resemble a cowboy who's been in the saddle too long, or a baby who's been in the diaper too long.  Lovely.

Then there's the matter of driving.  I can't.  And while the Hubster Jim has been awesome about chaufferring me wherever I need to go...well, I'm always early and he's...usually not.  So that's a bit stressful.

Anyway, right now it's a waiting game.  No healing is happening so I can't even console myself by thinking "well, at least it's getting better every day"--because it's not. Not until that tendon is dragged back into place (my, that sounds fun, doesn't it?).  I need to take advantage of this time, though, because I'm told that I should do as little as possible the first two weeks after surgery, to allow the tendon to start to heal back to the bone.  No going to work, limited moving around.  So this weekend I think I'll need to do some Paleo cooking, get a few good books and DVD's lined up, and make sure my recliner is set up with some foam padding.  It's already the only comfortable place to sit and, on a few long nights, sleep; I'm sure that after the surgery the recliner and I will be pretty much inseparable.

If you're looking for me in the next two weeks,

you know where to find me.

So that's the scoop, delivered (sorry) in somewhat whiney fashion.  Hopefully once my hamstring is put back into place my usual cheery optimism will follow...