I've Fallen, And...

So, this past Tuesday I tore a ligament in my knee. Not one of the big glamorous ones like the ACL or MCL all the athletes tear. No, mine was the unheralded Humphry’s Ligament. I have no idea who Humphry was, but his ligament always gets mentioned with Wrisberg’s. I don’t know, maybe they’re the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of ligaments or something. Anyway, the whole thing happened innocently enough and I’m still looking for the “lesson” in it all.

I spend my “lunch break” in the gym here on campus and I always start my workouts with a minute or two jumping rope. Tuesday was no different, except about 10 seconds into twirling the rope… Cinderella, dressed in yellow, made a—and my right knee screamed,  "No más,” and I was on the floor. That’s when it got interesting.

A student worker goes through the facility every thirty minutes to “count” the number of folks in the building. I passed the co-ed making the latest round as I headed to what I call the “Crossfit room,” which is upstairs in the farthest corner of the building, out of sight from the track or aerobic equipment. We were on spring break, so no one else was upstairs at the time. I looked at the clock and calculated I had about 27 minutes before she came around again. Not that long, and the pain wasn’t that bad, I figured I could wait it out. Then it occurred to me—student worker. One of them would find me, whip out their phone appendage, and Snapgram or Instachat would be filled with images of me on the floor. #GeezerDown. #HesFallenAndHeCantGetUp. #GrayAndInTheWay. A true meme-worthy moment. So, I did what any self-respecting male of my generation (and older) would do—drug my sorry ass to the rack, hauled myself upright with a minimum of screaming, and hobbled out of the gym and across campus like a man. As that took me twenty minutes instead of the normal three, I choked back my pride and limped to the infirmary. They referred me to my GP who made a quick x-ray, then sent me to an ortho specialist, who came up with the Humpry’s Ligament tear diagnosis.

It’s all good, though. The Ortho doc thinks it’ll heal with 2 weeks on crutches followed by 6-8 weeks of physical therapy. We’ll see.

I’m still looking for that lesson. I kept hearing a recurring theme from all the doctor’s and most everyone else who’s talked to me about it, though. They keep using the phrase, at your age or for your age., but that can’t have anything to do with it, can it?