When I wrote my last post I was on my way to Peru. As soon as the plane landed and I turned on my phone I started getting phone calls, not only from my family but from my friends as well. Even though it was 11:00pm and I was extremely tired from the trip, I decided to have dinner with my family.
 Mmmm, finally some REAL food! =)
Anywho…
I hadn’t even finished eating and my friends were already pressuring me to go out with them. I gave in, of course, and that was basically the beginning of a ridiculous streak of nights out which included partying, gambling at the casino and even some soccer every now and then.
It was precisely during one of the soccer nights when my vacations tragically came to an end. Very dramatic I know, but it was the Monday before New Year’s when I sprained my ankle while trying to contribute to my team’s success. I was playing my best and a guy from the other team tripped me while I was dribbling the ball, but I refused to fall so I tried to step in another direction in order to gain some balance. Unfortunately, the field had some holes and I just so happened to step on one of them. Now, I know I like to exaggerate, but the pain was seriously like nothing I had ever felt before. I stayed on the ground for a couple of minutes and then limping I went to the sideline.
Despite the pain, there were still about 40 mins. left of the game and victory in soccer isn’t something that you can take for granted. I tried to stretch and after 5 mins. of being outside I decided to go back into the game. My first touch to the ball ended in a goal and the pain magically disappeared. When I got back home, despite being the best player of the game, I couldn’t really enjoy the victory because of an incredibly swollen ankle and the excruciating pain that I was feeling.
The next morning, during an enlightening feeling of responsibility I decided to go to the doctor.
As you can see from the picture above, the results weren’t all that positive and the day before New Year’s I had a cast on my right leg that didn’t really allow me to move all that much. Supposedly I had to come back to Richmond with it, but after two weeks I simply couldn’t stand it anymore. The feeling of responsibility that had invaded me before disappeared as I cut the cast in order to free my leg. It felt really good being able to finally step and move around, but soon enough I realized I had made a mistake. My ankle was still a little swollen and every time I stepped it hurt way too much. I went to the doctor confessing my stupidity and he accepted it too. Finally following his advice completely, I got myself an ankle brace, which I know wear 24/7.
According to him, I have to wear the brace pretty much for the rest of my life. Also, I’m going to have to wait at least one more month until I’m able to play soccer again. This is not to say that my vacations weren’t better than I expected them to be, it’s just that the whole cast thing was a really negative experience that had me down for a couple of days.
Lately I’ve realized that I’ve been giving you advice that you probably already knew or that is basically common sense - like the fact that when you come to college you should try to fix your procrastinating issues - but I feel it is necessary to end this post with yet another comment of such nature. If you have a cast and your doctor says you should keep it on for at least three weeks, then please don’t remove it by yourself! I think it is better to have a cast for an extra week than wearing a brace and risking having a damaged ankle for the rest of your life.
Hopefully you will agree with this statement.Â
