That is what a dislocated foot, two broken bones and torn tendons looks like. I did this by simply carving around the bowl at Metro skatepark. I had been skating for about an hour and was just kind of skating at my leisure, in no rush to throw any tricks (in my limited bag of tricks). I was riding my board between a mini within the bowl itself and then rolled over into a deeper bowl. As I was turning to go back down the bowl I was rolling back into it at an odd angle and when I went to correct my direction I somehow managed to get my left foot trapped under my board causing me to trip. As I was falling forward my foot twisted and stayed underneath the board causing a very loud POP! within my ankle. I felt my foot dislocate as I was falling to the concrete. I layed there for just a second before sitting up to assess the damage, knowing it felt different than a sprain. I pulled up the leg of my jeans to see that my ankle was already swelling, within the 15 seconds it had been since I fell. I wasn't sure what to do next so I did what seemed like common sense and attempted to get up so I could get out of the bowl. After steadying myself on my right foot I tested my left foot to see how much weight I could put on it. Then I experienced the grossest feeling I have ever felt when I felt my foot give way and the bones inside of my ankle squish around inside my skin. I sat right back down and when doing so could feel my foot involuntary going in any direction it wanted to. The pain didn't really start until after I called a friend over to help me get out of the bowl. After much effort and crabwalking backwards up the ramp and feeling my foot squish and rock with every movement of my leg that's when things started to get a little hairy. I left my shoe on because I was pretty certain I heard that it's better to keep it on with ankle injuries but I could feel pressure building in my foot and was starting to lose feeling. Every time I moved my leg my foot would absorb the shock from moving it while kind of moving about all willy nilly and doing it's own thing. Every time that happened I was trying to keep from crying out in pain while doing some weird breathing exercises that probably looked like Lamaze as I sat there holding onto my leg. After debating on calling an ambulance to get my out of there it was determined that trying to move on my own wasn't a good idea. This 14 year old kid called 911 and two firetrucks and an ambulance was there within minutes. I was beyond embarrassed and was conscious of how there was no way I was going to cry in front of all of these people. The paramedics offered pain medication which I declined because I just wanted them to get me out of there, instead I made sarcastic jokes about being old and the position I was in. They were all super nice and told me I was a trooper. After getting in the ambulance and being rattled around on the stretcher they offered pain meds again which I accepted. At that point they could have offered me heroin and I would taken it. Being in the ambulance freaked me out and I started getting overwhelmed with wondering what my insurance was going to cover, how I was going to get my car, who was going to come pick me up, etc. Knowing my sister was at work I called her boyfriend and couldn't hold it together any longer and started crying. What is it about talking to someone about the issue that triggers that? Weird. He had rehearsal that evening and I had no idea what time I would be done at the hospital. I then called my sister to give her a head's up and let her know what was going on. I then texted my boyfriend and he immediately called our mutual friend and asked her to meet me at the hospital and to bring ice cream. Ha. This resulted in me calling him and yelling. He then yelled at me for being stubborn and said it wasn't negotiable. Yeah, which one of us is stubborn? He was right, I was glad to have Julia there because it gave me someone to talk to and be less freaked out. I had x-rays after being told it was either a dislocation with significant tearing of the tendons or a fracture. Turns out I had both! I'm an overachiever even when it comes to injuring myself. The doctor was quite impressed with the extent at which I dislocated my foot because apparently it dislocated so badly my foot was pushed two inches forward and out further than what it was supposed to. After telling me all of this I was informed I would be getting surgery possibly that night and that they needed to pop my foot back into place. Ugh, the feeling of my foot being pulled and jostled back into place is very vivid still. Thankfully they gave me a mild sedative to handle the pain. My nurse and doctor were both super nice and humored me when I was joking around with them. After one more x-ray the doctor put a soft cast on me and told me that I was going home and needed to call the orthopedic surgeon in the morning so that I could have surgery as soon as possible (before the week was over). Julia was so helpful in getting me to the pharmacy and then home. The drugs they gave me make me really tired but help reduce the pain. I'm panicking about missing school and my internship though my supervisor has been really nice and understanding. We'll see what happens. From what I understand my breaks were here:
Surgery soon but until then I look like this:
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