July 5, 2006 - Ranting about Rehab
Whoever it was who first said “Pain is weakness leaving the body,”—I think the quote is often attributed to Nietzsche though I hope he had more sense than that—obviously never tried to rehab a severely sprained ankle. I hope I never say anything that stupid to one of the rowers I coach. Pain is disheartening, pain is distracting, pain is disrupting, pain is debilitating. It has nothing to do with weakness leaving the body and everything to do with making me very, very frustrated. The only morsel of satisfaction that I can look forward to savoring from this whole ordeal is the fact that any triumph will have been much more difficult to achieve and, therefore, perhaps more greatly deserved.
As is probably evident from the above, my ankle is not healing as quickly as I would like. The fact that my hard work, iron will, and motivation level cannot in any way expedite the recuperation process is pretty angering.
Monday and Tuesday my pain really intensified. My physical therapist, Erin, suggested that I take things easy to avoid getting tendonitis in the joint which, she says, would result in her banning me from rowing. I wonder if she seriously thinks she has that much control over me. Anyway, I’m taking her advice and working out in a pool for the next several days to protect myself from aggravating the injury.
One of the most difficult things to cope with is the strain my sprain puts on sleep. I like to sleep on my side, but that puts pressure on the ankle and causes tremendous pain. For some reason, the whole joint just aches at night anyway, so I’m not getting enough rest. I’m half tempted to fill the Vicodin prescription I was given at the ER, but I’m pretty wary of “potentially habit forming” narcotics.
This is really starting to sound like a whining post. My apologies. Rest assured that any annoyances are not discouraging me; rather, they’re just hardening my resolve to work even more diligently when I get the opportunity. Don’t forget, it takes a little fire to make pure gold.
As is probably evident from the above, my ankle is not healing as quickly as I would like. The fact that my hard work, iron will, and motivation level cannot in any way expedite the recuperation process is pretty angering.
Monday and Tuesday my pain really intensified. My physical therapist, Erin, suggested that I take things easy to avoid getting tendonitis in the joint which, she says, would result in her banning me from rowing. I wonder if she seriously thinks she has that much control over me. Anyway, I’m taking her advice and working out in a pool for the next several days to protect myself from aggravating the injury.
One of the most difficult things to cope with is the strain my sprain puts on sleep. I like to sleep on my side, but that puts pressure on the ankle and causes tremendous pain. For some reason, the whole joint just aches at night anyway, so I’m not getting enough rest. I’m half tempted to fill the Vicodin prescription I was given at the ER, but I’m pretty wary of “potentially habit forming” narcotics.
This is really starting to sound like a whining post. My apologies. Rest assured that any annoyances are not discouraging me; rather, they’re just hardening my resolve to work even more diligently when I get the opportunity. Don’t forget, it takes a little fire to make pure gold.
posted by Jamie at 8:32 PM
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