So, people, you know how I’ve been complaining about not having enough time to blog lately? Well, I’ve just been gifted with some time — a whole lot of time, actually.
On Monday afternoon, as I arrived back in Bremen from a weekend in Hamburg, I left the train station to catch a tram up to the university, and I fell. I have no memory of tripping or slipping — I simply just fell. Hard. On my right knee. I managed to get up and drag my suitcase behind me, get onto the tram, hobble to my office and ask around for some ice.
After a couple of hours, lots of swelling, and plenty of pain, I decided it wasn’t going to get better on its own. Another fellow in my program drove me to the emergency room, where the doctor told me I had a broken knee cap. Awesome. I haven’t broken a single bone in my entire life, and now I have a broken knee cap because I fell on the street. Not even while mountain climbing or running a marathon or something exciting. Super.
Anyway, long story, short: I’m hobbling around in a brace and crutches for the next few weeks, and trying to moving as little as possible this week to give my knee cap a chance to heal. (If all goes well, no surgery will be necessary.) This means a lot of sitting in bed with my leg propped up. Hello, sleep*. Hello, books. Hello, internet. Nice to see you guys again.
As long as I’m looking on the bright side, I’ve already had my first visitors, who came bearing flowers and chocolates. I also have a great roommate who’s keeping me stocked up on groceries. Plus, I’m learning lots of fun German vocab: knee cap = die Kniescheibe; brace/splint = die Schiene; crutches = die Stützen. While I’m at it, maybe I should also be taking notes on the German health care system so I can integrate it into my dissertation.
In any case, you’ll probably be seeing a little more of me around these parts than usual. And if I seem a little incoherent, you can just blame it on the pain medication.
* Update Oct 20, 2010: Well, the sleep thing doesn’t seem to be working out too well — but maybe I’ll get used to sleeping on my back all night long??
Ach, neh… that sounds so awful, Mandy. Gute Besserung!
Ouch. So sorry to hear that. Hopefully, though, it means we can catch up with you. Hope you’re not in too much pain.
Good things afoot here (ooh. Em…maybe I should rephrase that). Lots of good news for Debi and things are going along well for me at Uni.
Hope to see you soon.
Heal quickly and well.
David
Oh no!! That is so lame (no pun intended). Get better soon!
Oh… You poor thing! That sounds really painful! I hope you get well soon and in the mean-time, I look forward to reading lots of your musings here.
Thanks all for the good wishes and bad puns!
Ouch! I wish you a speedy recovery!
Oh, painful!! I’m so sorry Mandi – I’ll be sending healing thoughts your way. Ouch!! Get better soon!
Aw sorry to hear that :-( I hope you have a speedy recovery!
Oh no, poor you. Gute Besserung, und vielleicht auf einen Kaffee mit Krücken?
So sorry. Hope you are feeling better soon (and no surgery required). At least your adoring public online will get to “see” you a little more…
So sorry to hear about your accident. Hope you heal quickly and get the sleeping back on track. Everything happens for a reason so maybe it was just time for you to slow down a bit or refocus.
All the best!
CN, Emily, Michelle: Thanks, your good wishes mean a lot!
Christiane: Danke dir, und das waere total schoen.
Christy: Yeah, this may be one of my few opportunities to spend plenty of time online! (Although, I should also be getting a little work done here at home too).
Tiffany: I’m totally convinced of that. I’m sure it’s a sign that I should slow things down a bit… Let’s see if I can manage without going crazy. ;)