Monday, August 8, 2011

Adventures in Healing

It has been a while. Halloooo

Let me catch you up. Back in January an offer was made on my house so I could finally close up those ties with my ex-wife. At the beginning of February I made an offer on a small two bedroom condo in Poulsbo. It is a really nice place and everyday I am grateful for the good people around me. There was trouble though since as a small business person the banks wouldn't give me a loan without a close family member co-signing. Thanks MOM! Yeah, I know, that seems silly. Though, I did get the place and after only five and a half weeks I was able to move in.

During the time of all this moving I had incurred an injury on my left forearm. I was the goalie at a soccer game and a wild elbow was thrown. I got a pretty bruise and it seemed to heal up and go away. The only problem was I started to have strange pains at random. I would be sitting reading and all the sudden my arm would just tighten up and "charlie horse." Not long after that I started to lose feeling in the last two fingers. I couldn't turn the knob on the door, pull on the handle to open the fridge, or lift anything. Climbing was on hold. I figured I could sit things out for a while and heal. My previous year climbing was stellar, and I was still able to play soccer and dance still. So all is good in my mind, except -- my arm wasn't healing. Even dancing was difficult (left handed leads.)

After almost 5 months, I finally went and got a Physical Therapy. Fortunately, this helped and I was able to start building muscle again in the arm. I got healed enough but was still very weak on the climbing walls. And then there would be another injury that would follow... again during soccer.

I got one day of climbing outside with a friend this season (so far.) We hiked the two and a half miles in to do Outer Space, in Leavenworth. The lineup for this popular climb was busy as we expected. We put down our packs and waited it out. At 11 o'clock we got to start our climb. We should have known it wasn't going to go well though when the prior two groups were telling us about their partners and lack of multi-pitch experience. But their partners were skilled enough, right? Right? WTF?!?

Long story short, we bailed after the second pitch when the clock clicked 3:00 PM. Hiking out the 2.5 wasn't bad... all down hill and since this was a day trip, we drove back to Seattle... climb unfinished. The following day I joined my co-ed soccer league for a match that went very well. We had lots of fun even though I was starting to feel the fatigue building in my legs. And then Tuesday.

Tuesday is the Men's B league. Our team was getting crushed (10-0 crushed.) In the second half, the ball was passed to me and in the break away it was me and the goalie. The goalie came out of the box and as he slid into me I chipped the ball up over him and into the goal. I gracefully jumped over the goalie to make sure the ball went in. I scored the lone goal for our team and was feeling really pumped and excited.

Two minutes left in the game, another break away to the far corner. My teammate gets the ball as I head to the top of the key (this is indoor soccer.) The pass isn't good, so I reach my foot out for the ball. I felt something go wrong. I thought I pulled my groin, and then I noticed it. My kneecap had move out of alignment. This is the fourth time in 20 years that I have done this, and the sad thing about it -- every single time has been when my legs have been tired and I didn't rest.

Lying in pain my kneecap displaced, I did my best to straighten my leg and put things back together. And now I would have another six weeks of healing... minimum.

I did go to the doctor. X-rays were taken. The doctor came in, looked at the knee and basically said, "Heal, if you start to do this often we need to do surgery. You know the drill." And now, I'm on my own. I have done this before but the hardest part this time, I have to know when I'm ready. Before I could wait until I was given the go-ahead. The good news is I'm healing fast. I'm starting week five and plan to go into the climbing gym for some traversing, and then over to the Y for some swimming. I'm on target, and maybe in a few more weeks I can try some running and soccer... or maybe I'll wait on the soccer a little longer. I'm excited to get back to my activities of skiing, climbing, dancing, soccer, etc, etc. I just need to remember, as my body ages my mind needs to be considerate and allow for rest and repair. Sometimes the hardest part is remembering without letting it hold me back. I may be getting older but that doesn't mean I have to stop the things I love... I just need to do them within the limits of this body.

Although, I still think someone needs to come up with a better knee.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Round and Round We Go

The home I had with my Ex finally sold. That was a month ago, and I'm currently living in an apartment under my realtor's home. It is nice -- full kitchen, fully furnished, and my cats and dog are welcome here. The sucky part is all my things are currently sitting in a moving truck pack from end to end, bottom to top.

Originally, I was suppose to be moving into a new condo. I found the lovely little condo in downtown Poulsbo. It was a forclosure, and it was just inside my price range. Everything was going well, the mortgage company assured me everything would be fine, and so given all the information I had it was expected that I might only be between homes for a few days. Five at most.

And then I got the call. The mortgage company can't make the numbers work. Why? Oh, no particular reason -- I'm self employed, in 2010 I made a decision to keep my income low, and ... There is nothing more annoying than stupid people in charge of financial matters. Seriously, what do you call and institution that wants a nearly 40 year old to have his retired mother co-sign on a home purchase, when you have over half the value of the property saved, your offering 20% down, and you still are considered a risk because you run your own business that has been profitable every year since the beginning?

I call that stupid. And what can I do? Well I asked Mom to co-sign. And she, of course, thought it was ridiculous but was glad to help her son. Thanks Mom!

And now, it has been a month, and I still have not gotten to move into my new place. I'm sitting on the couch and wondering if I want to start unloading part of the moving truck so I can find my business records and file my taxes, or deposit my business checks -- yeah, I know, what was I thinking packing up my skis, my climbing gear, my business. I cannot even deposit checks (I could but I have a process that I like to go through to keep everything organized.) I should have at least kept my harness and shoes... WHAT WAS I THINKING?

So I sit and wait. Deep breaths. It will all be resolved. For now, I have some down time.