I'm Back, but Different

It has been a long winter that I'm glad to see is ending. It was going fairly well for me until January. I was going along day to day enjoying the challenges of running. The coldest day I ran was 0. I just wanted to see what it was like. It was hard. I got sweaty and all that, but breathing was difficult. As I said, I just wanted to see what it was like.

Then my grandmother ended up in the hospital in early January. I was very happy I had decided to visit her over the holidays. She didn't know me, but I think she appreciated me. Anyway, because of her age, she went downhill very fast. We all thought she was going to pull out of it like she had so many times before. She had a few small strokes, but they were enough and she was old and tired. She was 103 and passed away on the 22nd. The funeral was actually lovely and a fitting tribute to her. I was quite shocked to see pictures of her at age 15 and 18. To me she had always been old. What were her dreams back then?

Then the day after a I got back home, I went for a run. I had planned to run 6-7 miles. The trail was mostly clear and I thought very enjoyable to run on. Well, at the 3-mile mark, I turned around to head in the other direction and continue and I hit a patch of ice. My legs were both airborne. I didn't see it coming at all. I landed hard. On my face. I was wearing sunglasses and they broke and cut above my eye. The blood started pouring out. My cheek was excrutiatingly painful. My first concern was my teeth. My face was numb and I couldn't feel them. I used my sunglasses as a mirror and could see they were there.

I knew this was bad. I got up feeling dizzy and headed for my car. Fortunately, I was close to it. No one else was around. My cheek throbbed so I picked up some snow in my glove and held it to my cheek as I drove to the emergency room. I willed myself not to pass out. I was hoping I wouldn't. This was all new to me and I didn't know what was going to happen.

The Emergency people took care of me right away. They took x-rays and a CT scan and put sutures above my eye. It turns out I had a blowout fracture and a zygomatic fracture. The doctor referred me to a plastic surgeon. He mentioned surgery. I wanted to cry.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I had surgery about a week later to repair the orbital fracture. 2 metal plates were inserted to hold the bone and a piece of plastic behind the eye to keep the eye from sinking. I am now 8 weeks from surgery and still feeling pain. I also have dry eye and can't blink fully, but I think things are slowly improving. It has been a long ordeal.

I've asked myself why this had to happen. I try not to dwell on it too much and try to take each day as it comes. I am back to running again after a 5-week rest. For that I am thankful. Getting back to it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. My first run was a 1.5-mile. Anyway, it is nice to start feeling normal again. I can even wear my contacts all day now. All of these little things are so important. Something like a fall can change your life forever and you appreciate what you have so much more.