Once,
right before we left on our trip out to Colorado I had tried to
execute the trampoline triple flip and got damaged. I was trying to
jump off the top of the swings then hit the tramp and flip, land,
flip, land, flip and finally land. In fairness, everything was going
really well all the way through flip, land, flip, land, flip, but
then all off the sudden my accumulated miscalculation added up. What
was to be my last, and triumphant landing went horribly wrong my foot
went through the springs and my leg and went under the trampoline
material while my hip stopped on the bar and my head, chest, arms and
whatnot continued on with their momentum down to the ground. This
little procedure netted me one hip dislocation which we didn't know
the time. Of course it was sore but, of course it would be because of
how I landed so we thought it would be painful for a day or two, or a
month before I could laugh again. My mom give me some painkillers
and I was able to walk a short distance to get in the car for our
trip and then lounge around letting it heal. Something was happening
but it wasn't healing it was getting worse and worse and swollen and
painful and I was getting quite the nasty bruise all around my hip
joint. You may know a young boy, and you may know that young boys
that age are shy about injuries to the groin and discussing them
frankly so I was describing the discomfort to my mom in whispered and
vague terms because I didn't want anybody to hear anything about my
privacy area. I said it hurt badly and then waved a circular pattern
around my crotchal region. I guess that did not adequately portray
the seriousness of the situation because she gave me some more
aspirin and told me to keep sitting down and relaxing. It got so bad
I could barely walk when we got to my grandpa's house and my great
grandma Gillespie offered to give me some treatment. I had to strip
off to my tighty-whities and she gave my hip a massage that hurt
magnificently and didn't help in the least. It hurt so bad we finally
went in to a doctor who palpated the area, like doctors love to do
when it is clearly painful and then ask you if it hurt. He took an
x-ray of the damage and saw that it was a dislocation. He came back
in and told us what it was and without warning grabbed my feet and
presses my thighs to my chest and then rotated my legs until the hip
joint popped back it. The procedure was mindbogglingly painful and
the days of waiting had made the joint swell and be really tender.
But I was brave so I only did a lot of screaming and writhing around
on the table. I am sure my mom was overjoyed to spend so much money
only to be embarrassed by her son throwing a little show at the
doctors office. It took a while to feel good again but to this day
and any time I run or hike for long distances left hip just hurts
like crazy. Which I think was probably because I had my joint out of
socket for a week but who can tell?
