Irish hospital (lity)

... So the hour or so after I did my tendon were pretty much a blur. I went between very practical and lucid moments (checking in with travel insurance, speaking to my partner, British Airways etc). To moments of just sadness and sobbing each time someone asked how I was.

I text my friend Jess to tell her my suspicions. She called me almost immediately and then became the amazing problem solving/solutions person that she is, taking all worry about everything out of my head (.. I'll pick you up from the airport, tell the hospital this, are you on the drugs, ask for more drugs).

It seemed like forever waiting for the ambulance, which when it did arrive I remember being mildly worried that their T shirts actually said they were the Dublin Fire Service and were they actually paramedics ?

They got me into this little chair for transport, which looked so thoroughly rickety I was half considering attempting to walk down instead. It could only be described as one of those plastic school chairs, painted green, with tiny little wheels at the bottom of it. And a seat belt. Yes really. It got stuck three times on the way down to the ambulance every time it went over a gap in the floor!

I finally hopped up into the ambulance (first time riding in over ever, woo) and I drift off somewhat as it speeds me through Dublin to St James's hospital.

On arrival I'm triaged and almost immediately put onto a trolly and moved to a side corridor (away from everything & everyone). I have never experienced the Irish hospital system before and have literally no idea what I'm doing there, what the next step is, whether I needed X rays?
At this point I'm messaging Jess back and forth who is telling me to ask questions, keep them aware I'm still there.

I'm probably there for a couple of hours, in which time I attempt to use a bedpan, fail and cry, before I'm given crutches and i hop over to the loo.

After my bedpan incident i had a wonderful doctor come and assess my leg. I think the technical term she used was "yes, thats gone!" when prodding the back of my leg. Given that I'm flying back in the evening, they decide to airboot me up (she said back slab and I went noooooo!) with a couple of heel risers, and send me on my way with a letter for British airways saying I'm not a flight risk (I did point out I could be a fight risk on other ways!) Drugs and some crutches!

The run up (or skate up?)

So, last weekend I was merrily on my way to Team Ireland tryouts.

Given things often run in 'threes' I think in hindsight I should have seen the divine power pissing around with me - or someone saying give it a miss this time love...

1.) I fall over in high heels the week before and smash my ankle, spend the week RICEing the bugger. Said ankle feels reasonable by day of tryouts, yippee!

2.) On the fight over I get elbowed in the head by the fight attendant (British Airways, I am disappointed in you). Spend the whole flight icing my head and worrying about concussion. Not concussed on day of tryouts, yippee!

3.) ........I rupture my Achilles tendon in warm ups....

That's right. I wasn't even on skates. I wasn't even more than 15 minutes into tryouts before I took myself out in a rather spectacular fashion.

Who needs Achilles anyway? Well, uh, turns out most people.

We were doing various warm ups/jumps/jogging but it was the hops back and forward as we moved side to side that got me. I remember thinking (amusingly) that I was doing rather well at them, a split second before i heard a 'snap' (or more of a slap or pop sound) and my foot decided to detach itself from my calf.

It is a very weird sensation having an unattached foot (I know it's still literally  at the bottom of my leg, but all push has gone from it). When it happened, I heard the noise and it felt like my foot went in to a hole in the floor. I actually looked around at the floor and assumed the wood had warped? I had no pain, nothing. I then put my foot down and suddenly realised that bugger, it wasn't the floor, but it was my foot that was the issue.

At that point I knew I had done something very serious. Feeling that your right foot is in a hole or on a ramp (this is the only thing I can liken it to!) whilst it is flat on the floor is not what feet are meant to be doing! I was moved over to the side and my leg was iced - I felt behind my ankle and couldn't feel a tendon at this point. I just remember saying I need go to hospital and I have done something bad (pretty sure my tendon had gone at this point). Ice it some more.. nope. Pretty sure tendon gone......