Results

The cannon fired when I fell off the top of The Kind on Tuesday, and even though I've got what appears to be a bloody baseball implanted in my left foot, I dodged the major bullet of broken bones. Dr. Moore took a peek at my foot and then reviewed the X rays, and basically told me I was one lucky bastard. A fractured talus bone would have almost unilaterally required surgery and a three month private hell of crutches. A broken calcaneus would have resulted in a similar fate. With nothing actually broken, the prognosis is another few days off my feet and then probably back to climbing in a week and a half.

Waiting for the results was agonizing. Weighing the differences between best and worst case scenario, I felt like I was locked in a windowless room, looking at a door that was the only way in. The door would either open on its own accord and let me out, or a mountain lion was coming in, but I had no authority over either eventuality. As my doctor took his first look and prodded around with his fingers, it felt like the door was opening a crack (no pun intended). When he cocked his head to one side and said that given my pain tolerance, he assumed nothing was broken, it felt like my chance to make a break for it before the puma crept in.

Even after I got the verbal reassurance that things were looking optimistic, I still had to wait nearly a day to hear back about the X rays. I felt like they would be that irrefutable proof that the cannon ball had missed. Last night, I got the word that they were negative for fractures, and I could let out a deep breath.

Several climbers that I've known have broken their talus and been forced to the sidelines for way longer than they were comfortable. Before the fall, the last six weeks or so had been jam packed with climbing and running around. I'd really been enjoying the recreation, but the thought of it all falling apart was so disheartening. Lucky, then, that I managed to come away with the best case scenario.

I'm certainly impatient, and have already gotten tired of lying in bed with my swollen and bruised foot propped up on a stack of pillows. When it gets oppressive, I just try to remind myself that it could have been a TON worse. Besides, now I've got a good opportunity to rest, relax, and finish up some things which I'd always found myself too busy to finish. Writing and GRE study, for example.

Hope all you Voyeurs have a fun, safe 4th. And thanks so much to all of you who have been supportive and caring over the past few days. Your calls and messages have really been helpful.