Doctor's Diagnosis: You might never play sports again. :(
It's been soooo long since my last post, where do I begin?
I've been on T since mid-October and now have some scraggly hairs under my chin. My facial hair falls under the categories "terrible" and "pathetic," and I am now beginning to understand why people don't like facial hair; it's tiresome having to shave it off. My happy trail is much nicer looking. I became a slacker at making my voice recordings, so there's probably at least a month gap now since my last one.
Back in February, when I had to get my T scrip refilled, my health care provider asked if I would be willing to speak with a trans-questioning person, and I agreed. I was excited to be a mentor to somebody! I met him in person once and texted with him several times that first day. He hasn't contacted me again since. I sent him one text message. Oh, well. I guess there's goes my mentorship. I hope I provided him with enough intro information to get him started.
My pre-birthday party was nice. Since I promised to visit my dad for my birthday, Cind threw a surprise birthday brunch for me earlier in the week. It was unexpected and wonderful; she knows how much I like surprises!
Recently, we went on a Spring Break vacation to Ohio. Everyone acted like it was going to be insanely cold, but it wasn't. My guess is that Cindy and I stayed indoors on the coldest days, and there were a few days (eg. the day we landed and the day before we left) that I thought the cool weather was refreshing. On the night before we were to fly back home, our hosts decided we should all play some basketball. It was fun at first. I was remembering moves I hadn't tried in forever. A couple of our hosts' friends came to join us, and we started up a friendly game... until the largest guy decided to plow directly into me while I was setting a pick for my teammate. I felt my leg twist in a bad way and fell over. When I got back up, I tried to play a little more, but my leg still felt funny and I was slightly limping around the court, so I took myself out of the game. The next day, the flight ended up making my leg feel very stiff, so my limp became even more pronounced. I decided to go to the doctor on Monday. That's when I found out that I had injured my ACL, which is a ligament in the knee used for pivoting and being able to move quickly on one's feet. The doctor said that if it was only torn, then my body could heal itself. However, if I completely broke the ACL in two, then I would need surgery to replace it. He also told me that it was possible to live w/o my ACL, but that I would never be able to play sports again. I would still be able to run, cycle, and swim, though. I have another appointment on Friday, in which the damage to my knee will be reassessed. I might need an MRI scan, in which case I'll have to spend over a thousand dollars out-of-pocket. Obviously, if I need surgery, that will cost even more. I haven't talked to my family about my injury yet. I'm simply waiting to hear the verdict on Friday.
By the way, today is Cindy's birthday, so for anyone who knows her, u guys should wish her a happy one! I'm afraid I kinda ruined her initial birthday plans by getting injured. :( I've been a little worried about the prospect of surgery, but then the server at brunch said she tore a different ligament, the MCL, and that it was barely hanging on by a thread, but her doctor made her wear the same type of leg brace I'm wearing for 6 weeks, and hers healed itself. I am hopeful that mine will be able to heal itself, as well.
Headway on my thesis has been slow. Damn gaming addiction! -shakes fist-
I've been on T since mid-October and now have some scraggly hairs under my chin. My facial hair falls under the categories "terrible" and "pathetic," and I am now beginning to understand why people don't like facial hair; it's tiresome having to shave it off. My happy trail is much nicer looking. I became a slacker at making my voice recordings, so there's probably at least a month gap now since my last one.
Back in February, when I had to get my T scrip refilled, my health care provider asked if I would be willing to speak with a trans-questioning person, and I agreed. I was excited to be a mentor to somebody! I met him in person once and texted with him several times that first day. He hasn't contacted me again since. I sent him one text message. Oh, well. I guess there's goes my mentorship. I hope I provided him with enough intro information to get him started.
My pre-birthday party was nice. Since I promised to visit my dad for my birthday, Cind threw a surprise birthday brunch for me earlier in the week. It was unexpected and wonderful; she knows how much I like surprises!
Recently, we went on a Spring Break vacation to Ohio. Everyone acted like it was going to be insanely cold, but it wasn't. My guess is that Cindy and I stayed indoors on the coldest days, and there were a few days (eg. the day we landed and the day before we left) that I thought the cool weather was refreshing. On the night before we were to fly back home, our hosts decided we should all play some basketball. It was fun at first. I was remembering moves I hadn't tried in forever. A couple of our hosts' friends came to join us, and we started up a friendly game... until the largest guy decided to plow directly into me while I was setting a pick for my teammate. I felt my leg twist in a bad way and fell over. When I got back up, I tried to play a little more, but my leg still felt funny and I was slightly limping around the court, so I took myself out of the game. The next day, the flight ended up making my leg feel very stiff, so my limp became even more pronounced. I decided to go to the doctor on Monday. That's when I found out that I had injured my ACL, which is a ligament in the knee used for pivoting and being able to move quickly on one's feet. The doctor said that if it was only torn, then my body could heal itself. However, if I completely broke the ACL in two, then I would need surgery to replace it. He also told me that it was possible to live w/o my ACL, but that I would never be able to play sports again. I would still be able to run, cycle, and swim, though. I have another appointment on Friday, in which the damage to my knee will be reassessed. I might need an MRI scan, in which case I'll have to spend over a thousand dollars out-of-pocket. Obviously, if I need surgery, that will cost even more. I haven't talked to my family about my injury yet. I'm simply waiting to hear the verdict on Friday.
By the way, today is Cindy's birthday, so for anyone who knows her, u guys should wish her a happy one! I'm afraid I kinda ruined her initial birthday plans by getting injured. :( I've been a little worried about the prospect of surgery, but then the server at brunch said she tore a different ligament, the MCL, and that it was barely hanging on by a thread, but her doctor made her wear the same type of leg brace I'm wearing for 6 weeks, and hers healed itself. I am hopeful that mine will be able to heal itself, as well.
Headway on my thesis has been slow. Damn gaming addiction! -shakes fist-