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rallamajoopPerth's Supanova was last weekend so I have a pretty substantial con report on my to-do list right now, but before I get to that there's some upcoming real-life stuff that needs covering a little more urgently. On Thursday this week I'm going to be in surgery having both my legs cut open.
The full background behind this is a predictably long story. The medically exact version involves a lovely little condition called anterior compartment syndrome. The more personal version is a tale of years of trying to keep up a competitive artistic sport despite a disturbingly consistent habit of staggering off the floor after competitions with shin splints so bad it could take twenty minutes and sometimes a bit of leakage around the ocular area before they'd calm down again. It probably goes without saying that I still love rollerskating, pain and injury notwithstanding – I've been doing it since I was nine years old and I've often said I hope to be one of those women who keep it up all the way to their pensioner years (our rink has always more than a few of them around) – but this is one of those problems that is only going to get worse as I get older, and it's already at the point of being pretty damned excruciating. Like, a couple of practice rounds of your dances max and you're done for the day kind of excruciating.
Surgery may sound a bit extreme, but I am well beyond the point where just discovering a proper name for the condition and the existence of a solution was a huge moment of relief. I've tried stretches, massage, heat packs – none of them made more than a slight improvement at best. Strengthening the muscle can actually make the condition worse rather than better, since by definition compartment syndrome means there's literally no room in your leg for that muscle to expand into. There are always risks in surgery this extensive and no guarantee of success, but I do know two other skaters (one of them my coach) who've had the same problem and tried the same solution and have had nothing but positive things to say about the results. At this stage the only other option left to me is to give up competitive skating altogether, and I'm not quite ready to consider that.
Anyway, the main thing I want to let people know with this post is that I'm going to be in hospital for a couple of days, then bedridden at home for at least a couple of weeks, and probably not looking at getting full mobility back until around the two month mark. My Mum is taking time off work to help me out while I'm immobile, and my sister![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pinneagig will be around in the evenings, but assuming all goes well, I am going to have ample time to get bored out of my skull.
I would really love some good book recs (anything people can either lend me or that I have a reasonable chance of tracking down at the local library before Thursday, for preference). Depending on exactly how drugged out I am through most of this, I am sure to be even happier to get some visitors. (And if I am drugged out of my senses and/or too grouchy to be fit company,pinneagig may be in a position to appreciate visitors even more.) One if not both of us should be contactable by phone pretty much whenever. I've been through enough surgery to have a decent idea how much unpleasantness I'm in for but actually being unable to stand up without assistance for long periods is going to be a whole new experience for me, and a few distractions can go an awful long way.
The full background behind this is a predictably long story. The medically exact version involves a lovely little condition called anterior compartment syndrome. The more personal version is a tale of years of trying to keep up a competitive artistic sport despite a disturbingly consistent habit of staggering off the floor after competitions with shin splints so bad it could take twenty minutes and sometimes a bit of leakage around the ocular area before they'd calm down again. It probably goes without saying that I still love rollerskating, pain and injury notwithstanding – I've been doing it since I was nine years old and I've often said I hope to be one of those women who keep it up all the way to their pensioner years (our rink has always more than a few of them around) – but this is one of those problems that is only going to get worse as I get older, and it's already at the point of being pretty damned excruciating. Like, a couple of practice rounds of your dances max and you're done for the day kind of excruciating.
Surgery may sound a bit extreme, but I am well beyond the point where just discovering a proper name for the condition and the existence of a solution was a huge moment of relief. I've tried stretches, massage, heat packs – none of them made more than a slight improvement at best. Strengthening the muscle can actually make the condition worse rather than better, since by definition compartment syndrome means there's literally no room in your leg for that muscle to expand into. There are always risks in surgery this extensive and no guarantee of success, but I do know two other skaters (one of them my coach) who've had the same problem and tried the same solution and have had nothing but positive things to say about the results. At this stage the only other option left to me is to give up competitive skating altogether, and I'm not quite ready to consider that.
Anyway, the main thing I want to let people know with this post is that I'm going to be in hospital for a couple of days, then bedridden at home for at least a couple of weeks, and probably not looking at getting full mobility back until around the two month mark. My Mum is taking time off work to help me out while I'm immobile, and my sister
pinneagig will be around in the evenings, but assuming all goes well, I am going to have ample time to get bored out of my skull. I would really love some good book recs (anything people can either lend me or that I have a reasonable chance of tracking down at the local library before Thursday, for preference). Depending on exactly how drugged out I am through most of this, I am sure to be even happier to get some visitors. (And if I am drugged out of my senses and/or too grouchy to be fit company,
pinneagig may be in a position to appreciate visitors even more.) One if not both of us should be contactable by phone pretty much whenever. I've been through enough surgery to have a decent idea how much unpleasantness I'm in for but actually being unable to stand up without assistance for long periods is going to be a whole new experience for me, and a few distractions can go an awful long way.![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-06-28 01:32 pm (UTC)Book rec : the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. It's space opera / military sf with a lot of adventure, humour, intrigue, heart, social sf, and awesomeness.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-28 02:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-28 02:13 pm (UTC)Not really sure what kind of books you like, but I went through what's out of the Fire and Ice series so far which was pretty entertaining. 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' and 'The Kite Runner' were really good (and the descriptions of Afghani food sound amazing), and I've been revisiting some old classics like 'The Last Unicorn' and 'Animal Farm' and the Tomorrow series. I didn't love the Millenium trilogy, but a lot of people do so if you're into crime fiction that might be interesting to you too. Happy to drop some books around if you want any ^_^
Btw, are you on Goodreads? I always find it interesting to see what friends are reading, and the Listopia is good for finding new books to read. I'm at http://www.goodreads.com/chisa
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Date: 2011-06-28 07:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-03 09:43 am (UTC)Ooh, yes I would indeed like that very much! :3
I can think of few books I've read in recent years that I loved so much as 'Jonathon Stange and Mr Norrell' - just wonderful worldbuilding, characterisation, plot, the whole works. So not so much use as a rec when I'd prefer to find something new to read but I can certainly compliment you on your excellent taste.
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Date: 2011-06-28 11:56 pm (UTC)As for books, anything by Sarah Monette or Joe Abercrombie. I'm reading Stephen King's Dark Tower series for the first time at the moment, and it's well worth it. Robin Hobb's Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies remain some of my favourite books ever. Ender's Game and its sequels are fantastic. I'm sure I can think of more if you give me a minute, but idk how many you think you'll need, or how fast you read. ;)
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Date: 2011-07-03 12:10 pm (UTC)I always did mean to get around to checking out Stephan King but wasn't sure where to start - checked the first of the Dark Tower series out of the library on Wednesday. (I have heard similar good things about Ender's Game for years but I worry I have also heard too much about the author's attitudes to be able to read it without cringing internally :/ )
no subject
Date: 2011-06-29 12:21 am (UTC)some of my favourites include
Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop
Mistwraith series by Janny Wurts
Graceling
Kylie Chan books (White tiger etc)
Lynn Flewelling books (luck in the shadows)
Dresden Files