I broke my leg in college. How? Why? It’s an interesting story. First, some context:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TAME IN HIGH SCHOOL<\/strong> So when I went away to college, I was ripe for having fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WILD IN COLLEGE<\/strong> So it was common to drink (a lot) on weekends \u2013 plus late, some weekday evenings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE INCIDENT<\/strong> That evening, John and I decided to climb over the roof of the Armory \u2013 which is about 100 feet at its peak. Why did we do this? \u2013 who knows. To climb the roof, we had to wander up a floor or two (and climb out a window) \u2013 to where the curved roof began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Climbing the curved roof was challenging, but doable. The roof was made of panels maybe eight feet tall. So we had to lift one of us to grab the top edge of the current panel, and then pull the other one up. The frame of each panel was sturdy and deep \u2013 so there was no worry with standing on that frame and progressing to the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We did a great job. We got to the top, then started descending down the other side. We were maybe 80% of the way through the climb (up, then down) \u2013 but then it started to rain. The rain was light, so it wasn\u2019t obviously a concern \u2013 BUT, it did cause me to slip on the very last panel, catch my left foot in a rain gutter, and fall over \u2013 hanging from my left foot. Snap! John helped me get disengaged. But there I was \u2013 sitting on the flat roof in the rain, with a broken leg (both bones in my left calf).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Optimistic John tried to tell me that I was OK and should get up \u2013 but that wasn\u2019t possible. He then left me, got the fire department, and they got me down with a big mechanical firetruck arm, and took me to the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TREATMENT<\/strong> I spent a week in the hospital (different era \u2013 no rush to boot you out). My sister came to visit me there \u2013 likely my parents, too. I got a visit from a policeman while in the hospital (because I was trespassing?) \u2013 but when he saw me lying there with my broken leg, his perspective was \u2018well, you\u2019ve suffered enough\u2019. No penalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RECOVERY<\/strong> I ended up back down at school, with a cast on my leg for a couple months, and had to crutch to and from class. When I got my cast off, my leg was so skinny (like an arm) \u2013 but it didn\u2019t take long for it to recover, and build muscle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n REFLECTION<\/strong> The doctor who put my leg back together did a great job. As an adult, I\u2019ve been able to run, hike, bicycle, play tennis, etc with zero impact from my broken leg. Surprising, but good. I have a lump in my shin where the bone healed, but no lasting after-effects. I still have the pin that held my shin together \u2013 it\u2019s metal, a little more than a foot long, and as big around as a pencil. I also have a sizable scar on my knee from pin insertion\/removal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SADNESS<\/strong> I broke my leg in college. How? Why? It’s an interesting story. First, some context: TAME IN HIGH SCHOOLI didn’t party in high school. There were three factors: NERD – I was a nerd (and therefore hung out with other behaved, nerdy students). MOVED – My family moved to a new state in the middle … <\/p>\n
I didn’t party in high school. There were three factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To make things extra bad, the university I went to (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) was very much a party place. There were multiple factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So one drunkish weekend evening, I was wandering about on campus with one of my apartment roommates, John. There was a big building mid-campus called the Armory, which was shaped like a quonset hut (like a barrel on its side, cut in half horizontally). We always spent a lot of time at the Armory: it had a firing range, and an indoor track surrounding a playing field \u2013 where we used to play a lot of ultimate frisbee on weekend mornings, mostly to sweat and get past our hangovers. (For those of you in milder climates \u2013 indoor tracks and athletic fields are not uncommon.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I remember being in the hospital (still slightly drunk?) and the doctor inserting a pin through my knee down the center of my shinbone to line the bone up to heal. I\u2019m sure I was given anesthesia, but I remember him pounding the pin into my shinbone, and my whole body bouncing around on the table with each hammer blow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I got sent home to my parent\u2019s house for a couple weeks with splints on the sides of my leg, and the leg wrapped up. I guess this was to ensure the skin was healing well before they put on a cast. I think the shinbone poked through the skin where it broke, plus there was the knee entry point for the pin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking back, I was fortunate that I didn\u2019t slip on a higher roof panel and fall farther \u2013 and also that my bone breaks were clean (midway between the knee and foot) so there was no joint damage, and the bones healed well. No lasting muscle damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My former roommate John died recently. I didn\u2019t stay connected with him post college, so I don\u2019t know the full story. He was athletic (in college, we used to run ten miles every other day with another roommate), plus he was a year younger than me. He was a good guy \u2013 I\u2019m sad for him (and his friends and family).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"