I slept fairly well on the couch though I certainly felt groggy in the morning. The crutches and the lame foot were an instant reminder that I was in for a long day. Even a simple trip to the bathroom was a chore. Thankfully I had no real responsibilities for the day and there was plenty of football on TV to occupy my time.
I still had no pain which I was thankful for. An Achilles rupture is only initially painful. After that, it really doesn’t hurt at all (until surgery).
I was also thankful for the timing of it all. Though I certainly wouldn’t have ordered an Achilles rupture for myself, I had to thank God that it happened when it did. The two months prior had been non-stop activity and responsibility. A Senior Saints trip, an apologetics conference, a five-week sermon series, and a men’s retreat were all on my plate. Now the plate was fairly empty. Plus the Thanksgiving holiday time presented a shortened week and some days off.
My only real desire was to get the surgery done before Thanksgiving. I knew this could be a challenge. The only information I had from St. Peter’s was the last name of the doctor, Dr. L.. An internet search revealed a slew of doctors with that last name in New Jersey. Only two in the area were orthopedic surgeons, Lou and Stu. Looking at their profiles online, I was hoping it was Stu. Unfortunately, no place that I called on Saturday was open so I simply had to hope that I could figure it all out quickly on Monday morning.
A day of no responsibility and football on TV was nice, though I felt like a lazy bum when the day was over. My taekwondo instructor came over later in the evening to bring some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and see how I was doing. That was the best part of the day.
