Tuesday 25 May 2010

The injury conversation

I have not seen an orthopaedic surgeon yet. The person treating me for the last 2 days is senior physiotherapist. He used to be with the national football team and he gave the confidence I needed to let him manage my knee for now. He has treated a few of my team-mates and he came highly recommended.

I will be seeing an ortho surgeon tomorrow for further assessment. Thanks for all your prayers.

Anyway… as the therapist was assessing my knee yesterday, I was being a typical patient asking all sorts of questions…

How long before I can walk again?
Can I still run a marathon?
No more football for sure right?
What about badminton?
And golf?
Huh? I might need surgery?
What if I don’t want surgery?
Will my knee be the same again after the surgery?
Etc…

He was very patient with me, I reckon I was not the first to bombard him with all these text-book questions. But something happened along the way…

After answering all my questions, he began to talk about himself as I asked him how long has he been doing this, etc. It was then that he said… “Oh, I have just been diagnosed with 4th stage cancer”.

Oh man… at that moment, I was actually lost for words, which is quite a rare thing. I just do not know what to say besides uttering the usual “Sorry to hear that, hope you’ll recover…”

That man was potentially staring at certain death, but he was all cheerful and patient and so positive about life and was encouraging to me remain positive and think of the good signs. And there I was sitting there with a busted knee asking all sorts of questions as though it’s the end of the world for me.

Oh yeah, no sports for the rest of my life is quite end of the world for me but that’s another point.

At that moment, I was reminded… no matter how low I feel, I should still be thankful…

You should too… because you don’t have a busted knee…


3 years ago…
V for virginity, P for purity

23 comments:

SFGEMS said...

I love this blog post. I just do.

day-dreamer said...

Hope everything turns out good for you. Stay strong, zewt!

Unknown said...

wish you well zewt, be strong.

Wei Jiet said...

Hope u get well soon...and hopefully u still can play football. At least being the 4th official who sits at the lines..haha.

sinlady said...

i have had a few medical episodes which scared me witless. so i am one of those who feel thankful everyday to still be around with no major ills. so many things we fret about are so trivial...

missironic said...

Wow.. if me I'll be utterly speechless when he told me that.. Seriously a turn in the situation. But yeah, if u cant do the things that you love to do, it does seem like the end of the world. Hopefully, ur knee will be well soon! :D

TzeThon said...

get well soon.

InjusticeSistem said...

As ur sports agent im totally piss at u for this injury right b4 da world cup, now how am i gonna jack up ur transfer fee to Real Madrid,what am i gonna tell Morinho?
Sigh...der goes my commission for dis yr.......get well soon
:)

eiling lim said...

the more i should take care of myself after reading this post. And be thankful. Thanks.

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Great post! Thinking you are the only person in the world to have a big problem until you met someone who is almost dying..tQ.

moody mirror said...

hi again. i have a busted knee as well... long story short: skiing.
if the meniscus is the only problem, you can avoid surgery. just keep it bandaged tightly and rest it for a month or two.
unfortunately i tore the anterior cruciate ligament as well. that would need surgery but you can go without it even then.

about the surgery.... be very careful. it's true what they say: once you chose your doctor, you've chosen your diagnosis and treatment as well. i've seen many doctors with my knee and after a while a started to see that some recommend surgery (and whoa, they are surgeons!) while others say that surgery's very risky, if they put something by just a milimeter off, you won't be able to use your knee properly ever again.and i also know people (skiers:p) who went through with it and after 6 months they haven't fully recovered, while some who didn't have surgery were fine.
you should trust your doctor, but be aware of the fact that every specialist can only suggest his way of treatment. partly, because that's what he's good at, partly because of the income (especially surgeons, since surgery+after care is a lot more expensive)

i say, visit more doctors to get the whole picture before you jump into something.

~aSstHa~ said...

reminds me of last year wen i ended up tearing 2 ligaments joining my ankle to my foot... i spent a bomb going to d chinese sinseh... once a week for 2mths... killed my bank account... den decided to opt for western medical expert... i was also told dat if i didn;t take care of my foot n continued abt d way i did i.e. dancing, running, wearing high heels, shopping marathon... the possibility of goin in for a scope was very high... took me almost 6mths to recover completely but am still not wearing heels for d moment nor am i dancing anymore... i miss these activities... :(

i like my specialist... he only suggested surgery as a last form of recovery... mayb u shud check him out... he's at tropicana medical centre... can't remember d name... but if u're interested i'll go home n check... :)

hope u get well soon... pls do rest n listen to wat ur doc sez...

wen i read abt ur physio goin tru stage 4 cancer n yet remain cheerful... hats of to him... a lot of ppl tend to wallow in self pity wen diagnosed wit a life threatening disease. he's a model to ppl out der to spread hope to d rest of us out there... no matter how dire our own situation may be, there's always someone out there who is in a worse shape den us and they don't let it take control of their lives... may God bless u both

get well soon... (^^)

mun said...

Thank you for reminding us to be thankful everyday for being healthy. Get well soon. Unless there is a miracle stage 4 cancer is rarely cured.

ZACL said...

I was chatting to a friend undergoing cancer therapies and she asked after my health. What she has, what your therapist is experiencing, puts our issues into perspective. It's the difference between comfort and care treatments and a genuine fight for life.

That said, those who live, all of us who are part of life, hopefully will live with some quality of life which is provided by people who care for our needs and the quality of care for those who are dying.

ronaldo said...

get well soon, man. could be a blessing in disguise. curve ball-kick after this?

cheers.

fufu said...

busted knee?? hahaha better than my lumbar disk hernia!! but anyway i am totally alright now... see i can travel hear and there... stay strong ya mate :)

Anonymous said...

Hope you get well and recover soon. Need not fear for i have two busted legs myself, you will overcome this obstacle in life and things will go on. Have faith my friend.

Cals

Huei said...

nice doctor...4th stage and still helping out people instead of sitting at home feeling useless.

GET WELL SOON! hope a miracle happens to both of u ;) and yes i'm grateful that i have a perfectly fine knee

zewt said...

Estrelita - good to learn something from him :)

day-dreamer - well, i am thankful regardless :)

saucer - thanks man...

Sapphire Dragon - hahaha... it will be a long while before i can even run again.

sinlady - yeah... sometimes, we just take too many things for granted.

missironic - with him around, i am more positive about my knee.

zewt said...

zthon - thanks :)

InjusticeSistem - hahaha... i will be more than glad to give you any commission when i am well...

eiling lim - indeed... we all should :)

Bananaz - yeah... a bit of good vibes for me at least.

moody mirror - hey there, thanks for your tips. yeah, i am seeing a few surgeon to check out more options. but surgery seems to be the only option now if i want to play sports again. by the way, i am really curious about the language of your blog. i plan to even blog about it :)

aSstHa - ankle is another part where we should all take care off... well, anything concerning our limbs, we should be careful. i did a tennis elbow before... bad bad bad... made me appreciate my arms so much.

zewt said...

mun - i really hope he gets a miracle. he is a good man.

ZACL - absolutely... sometimes, we really should take a step back and look at things from a different perspective. i am not so gloomy about my knee now.

ronaldo - hahahaha... looking forward to it!

fufu - wow... sounds bad too. good to know you are back to your best now.

Mabs N Cals - wow... i take that as an inspiration :)

Huei - not just the knee... many other things too...

Ummie said...

A man, whom death is about to knock on his door anytime, is saving someone's knee.
It pricked my heart.

zewt said...

Ummie - the good die young they say... tragic indeed.