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 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?
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