A Black Cloud

Honestly, the black cloud that's been dogging me since January 1, 2010 is almost humorous now.

This past week I tried to restart my running. I hadn't taken the full 10 days off after the marathon that D would have asked me to, but I only ran 3 times in those days, and it was slow and easy. I swam a bunch, I rested, and by Wednesday I was ready to restart. Had a good 5 miler, and then my left calf started screaming at me. Not the right one which had seized up during Illinois -- my left. Which hadn't bothered me at all until this point. I was pretty uncomfortable but ran again Thursday. And then I knew I needed to stop. I swam Friday, talked with D Friday night, and decided I'd take a few more days off. Stupid calf.

Saturday I worked at the store until about 2pm and then got a call on my way home that my dad had fallen off his boat and was being airlifted to the trauma center in Atlantic City. WTF. I packed up my car, picked up my sister and drove to the shore. He was grey and clammy in the ER, but able to move his arms and legs, and his head was ok. We learned he broke about 4 ribs, 5 lumbar in his lower back, had a small puncture in his right lung, multiple contusions, and after an MRI late last night, a ruptured ligament in his upper spine area. It wasn't until this afternoon that we found out that he would not, in fact, need surgery on his back -- while that important ligament (it's one that holds the spine in place) is ruptured, his spine seems stable, so that's good.

He'll be in the hospital for most of this week, maybe longer. He'll be fitted into a clam-shell brace for the broken lumbar things, and his ribs and lung will heal on their own. He's in better spirits now that he is allowed to eat (he couldn't until he was cleared from surgery), but he's a mover, and he's flat on his back and hooked up to machines -- including long cuffs on his lower legs to move the blood -- and he's uncomfortable. But he's lucky.

He could've smacked his head open, he could've broken legs, arms, he could've been paralyzed. He fell 12-15 feet off his dry-docked boat, onto the hard, gravel ground. It was an accident, but he's pretty broken now. He'll be ok, but this was pretty serious. My dad isn't a young guy anymore.

My head swirled on the way down to the hospital yesterday at the fact that yet another tough thing has happened this year. What's up with this black cloud above me!? There's been so much, I almost have to chuckle. It's incredible. Anyone know how to move this thing?