Part 9
Saturday, May 05, 2007
…The Verdict Is In….
I went to a Chiang Mai orthopedic specialist yesterday – something didn’t feel right about my knee, so I wanted a third opinion. He asked me a lot of questions, did some testing and wanted me to get x-rayed. Cool. While I was there, I thought, Yeah, maybe I should mention my back….
…Sitting in his office with my x-rays illuminated, he asks me “Did you have an accident, 2 maybe 3 months ago….maybe longer?” I mention my knee. He said, “No, I’m talking about your back.” This went on for awhile, because I was completely confused – I already told him what happened two weeks ago, about getting smoked by that kid while I was cycling and again about 8 or 9 days thereafter when that car didn’t yield and I bailed on my motorbike…and he kept saying, “No, not that. Before that.”
Bottom line is this….found out I fractured my spine.
He was completely confused because he can’t understand how I can walk, or have any of the mobility I have without being in hardcore pain. Trust me, he’s a good specialist – he’s better than people I’ve seen in Canada. Anyhow, I still can’t make this out, because the pain is about 1/3 of what I felt in my hip for about 4 years (until the Thai blind massage healed it). What? Exactly. Christ, I didn’t tell him I was at the gym lifting weights for the past 4 out of 5 days…. If I hadn’t seen him, I would have thought, ah, something’s out, probably just needs to be put back in place, whatever, got a few massages/my back cracked and went back to training next month. I saw my x-ray, it’s crazy apparent. And now when I run my fingers down my spine…..Yeah. Sexy.
Soo…..the hospital is currently making me a metal brace and I have to go see him next week. He told me, in all his years of practicing, he’s never seen anything like me. I still don’t get this shit, but it is what it is I guess. ?
The metal brace is temporary. Doctor prescribed it as a precautionary measure – I’ve been fine for about 2 weeks without it, but he wants to play it safe. He called me today about it. Still sounding confused about the fact I’ve been running around for 2 weeks like this. It’s actually bugging me out a bit that I feel fine. Not complaining (and no, I’m not chewing tons of pain killers, huffing anything…)….this is all actually making me wonder about my head. I didn’t even mention it. I bled a lot.
And what the fuck was going on with my hip for 4 years?
O, yeah – my knee seems to be fine, an internal sprain. If it doesn’t heal in 6 weeks, then it’s MRI time.
And despite all this shit, I’m still happier here than in the West. Trust me, I’m not living in some utopia – things are challenging and hard and I’ve been dealt some crazy shit I haven’t written about, but yeah, it doesn’t affect me the same way. Not even close. Interesting.
?
Hope you’re all well and don’t worry too much about me. I just wanted to dial you in cause a lot of you have been asking. I’ll be fine.
I really believe the mental aspect is more than half the game.
XO
Another video of the gym, this one focusing on my friend Paul Lunney. I make an appearance in this video as well.
More on all of this in Part 10, the last of this series, next week.
Previously:
Part 1: Ailments, Injuries And Dreams.
Part 2: Impressions And Settling In.
Part3: Muay Thai Training And The Healing Begins.
Part 4: Muay Thai Training Video.
Part 6: Sparring Injury Update.
I seem to be having the same luck. I went to the doctor because of a pain in my left hip. Turns out I have a labral tear . However they also found a herniated disk happy days. However to an extent its mind over matter.
If you just sit around doing nothing surely this will not do you any good.