A long day

Wed 30

The trip started today at a ridiculously early hour. I had driven to the airport on Monday to check out parking options and the grassed area I had used before for $25 per entry was no longer available - there was an office block under construction at the site. I didn't just go there for that, as friends live nearby and I called in to see them as well.

After considering the options a taxi turned out to be the cheapest and most convenient. So after waking at 3am I called for one and left home at 3-30. As usual we were way too early to check in so an extra 30 minutes sleep would have been better.

Our flight to Hobart went via Sydney which seems to be the long way but the Melbourne connection would have resulted in a longer overall travel time, even though the flying time was shorter. A good choice in the end for the Melbourne flight out of Perth scheduled for 6:10 am was already showing a 7 hour delay before we boarded and in fact may have been cancelled altogether.

I headed to the Qantas club since my Gold card allows me entry even when not flying Business class and I can take 1 guest. I saw one of my room-mates coming up the stairs and asked her along, then found out she was a member anyway. One other player turned up later and we were able to have breakfast while we waited.

The flight was not too bad although there were virtually no spare seats, it was crowded. I did the crosswords, watched the movie (Young Victoria) and had a bit of a nap. We had about 2 hours in Sydney, so again we headed to the lounge, inviting 2 of the 60s team to join us since they just happened to be walking with us when we got there. I actually did some work sorting out some problems reported from the US but didn't have time to upload the fix before we had to board.

The flight to Hobart was much shorter but there was no film, only some TV shows and it got quite bumpy at times. I read a book, listened to the comedy and rock audio channels and again had a bit of a nap.

Pick up was well organised with a couple of vans for luggage and people movers for the people (naturally). The accommodation is pretty good and interestingly I probably stood outside the front door for a couple of photos I took when I was here last year.

I am in a 2 bed room apartment with 3 others. we have 2 bathrooms and a living area and small kitchen. The 2 person accommodation is a studio with just a microwave. WE even have a view of sorts - and an old warehouse, and old boat and bits of the water.

After a brief time to unpack we all headed down Salamanca to the deli to pick up enough for breakfast. After dropping that back, we headed to the wharves for fish and chips. After trying the floating restaurant (perhaps cafe is a better label) we headed to a more upmarket one since a couple of the girls have diet issues which could not be met at the cafe. The food was fairly good although a bit pricier than the first place. The overcast skies had cleared by evening and the water was again like a millpond.

So far my knee has been reasonably good with the walking.

Back at the room a looked at connecting via the hotel internet option but at $30 per day I will be looking else where.

The others have headed to bed and I am going to do likewise.

Later

I couldn't sleep. It wasn't just that my room mate was snoring (she had warned me and I can give as good as I get in that department) but I kept thinking about the enhancements to the program I needed to do and what to do about the internet. I eventually decided to send an email on my mobile to discuss this with the US clients and let them know I'd sent the fix the next day. I couldn't get that to work and gave up. I still could sleep so at midnight I got up again, made the changes, signed up for the internet in the room and sent it off. It was around 2 am by then but I was able to sleep at last.

Haven't got a leg to stand on

Today was the last training session before we head to Hobart next Wednesday. We mainly practised short corners and I finished up with no real problems which has given me renewed confidence about the tournament.

I have had a series of injuries over the last 10 weeks or so and at times I wasn't sure whether I should have pulled out.


This turned out to be the least of my problemsIt started innocently enough with a minor groin strain in mid July following a vets Wednesday evening game. It wasn't bad enough to stop me filling in on the following weekend where I got a fairly vicious whack on the big toe that made me pull out of the next day's training. It felt bad enough to be broken but after a few days the pain eased off and it was obvious it was just a bad bruise. It was enough to make me miss the next Wednesday game all the same.

I started at the physio to get my groin fixed but the following Saturday night, after getting up from a dinner out, I found I could hardly walk, my hip joint was so painful. The physio send me for and x-ray and then suggested I see a sport doctor as he suspected it was a cartilage tear. This turned out to be accurate and for the whole of that week I could not walk without pain or even straighten my leg, so sleeping was difficult as well. I missed another Wednesday game and was forced to withdraw from the golf club championships. Then, miraculously, it fixed itself when I accidentally jerked my leg on Saturday night, just walking across the kitchen. I still went to the doctor who explained what had happened, assured me that otherwise my hip looked pretty good and said it was possible that it would never bother me again. So far this has proven correct.

However, then my knee started playing up. It was getting beyond a joke. I felt like someone had a voodoo doll and was just moving the pins around. I would happily run with no pain during a game or training but later it would be quite sore. Back to the doctor again who sent me for another X ray after twisting and bending my leg to find out just how much it could hurt. He then sent me off to a surgeon the following week.

 
The circle highlights where the tear occurs

The surgeon ordered an MRI to confirm what both he and the doctor suspected - a tear in the cartilage in the knee. The surgery is fairly routine, quite quick and usually very successful but the recovery time was such that it wasn't possible to have the operation and recover for finals and the championships. I was told that I could continue to play, go to Hobart and then have the surgery afterwards, so I am booked in for the day after I get back. In the meantime, it was just a matter of managing it. I was assured that playing wouldn't make it any worse.

So I played out the season with various levels of discomfort during the games and slightly more, it seemed, after the games were over and the adrenilin ran out. In the grand final, after a good start, I did something that caused so much pain I had to come off after about 20 minutes. I had scored what turned out to be our only goal before that. our opponents equalised and we went into extra time. I played that with a borrowed knee brace and took one of the penalty strokes in the shoot out, which we eventually won, although my shot was saved by the goalie. Everyone was excited about winning but I couldn't quite join in the celebrations, due to the pain. I could hardly walk that night and the next day although it did start to improve by the weekend. I went to training on Sunday but didn't do any running.

This last week I have been walking more or less normally although not pain free but had avoided any running till today and even gave up my golf the last 2 weeks. It was a great relief to be able to get through the training and I feel much more confident about playing and contributing in Hobart. However, whether this is justified is till to be determined.

All these appointments and scans have been quite costly with the MRI itself leaving me $300 out of pocket, with the operation still to come costing around a grand. Is my body sending me a message?