Lisa Melvin: The Wounded

Alrighty. You knew it was coming. Consider this a warning. There will be pictures... the same pictures you saw on facebook, if we are friends, if not? They aren't that bad.

Who? Me.
What? My knee wound.
Where? The Marriott Center.
When? Tuesday night.
How????

So as I mentioned in my last post, I am now part of the coveted front row group. We went early on tuesday to wait for our front row seats.. About ten minutes before the game started Ari leaned over to me and suggested we go get a drink and go to the bathroom. I figured that was a good idea. Little did I know, agreeing to making the hike up those stairs would render me unable to dance for a week... boo! So Ari takes off. She scampered up those stairs like little bunny. I was doing my best to attempt to catch up but to no avail.. rather, I ended up stubbing my toe into one of the stairs followed by my knee. It went right into the corner/pointy part of the stair. Pretty hard too! Embarrassed, I jumped up and ran the rest of the way up so I wouldn't have to face the probably laughing faces of those in the general area that could have seen my clumsiness. Ari was standing there waiting at the top for me... So I limped to the drinking fountain as I explained to her that I would have a severely bruised knee for the next couple days. We then enter the bathroom and I didn't have to go so I was minding my own business waiting for her to wash her hands when I decided that it would be in my best interests to use the toilet while I was there so I didn't have to make the trek back up there again during the game. As I sat down, I decided to inspect my now throbbing knee. To my surprise, there was a decent sized bloody hole there.. I said, "Ari. Uh. Ari. I think you should see this. Ari?" I pulled up my pants and walked out of the stall to try to show her but I was wearing skinny jeans that refused to be pulled up so high. I then made her come into the stall with me so that I could show her the damage that the stair had done. She gets squeemish with blood so she didn't like it. I actually thought it was cool. After a little bit of painful wandering, we located the first aid. I informed them that they were not cutting my pants. We tried to roll up my pant leg but that was just not happening so finally they left the room while I removed my now bloodied pants and wrapped myself in a blanket. Two awkward boys inspected the wound (might I add that my legs were embarrassingly hairy) while I sat there in a blanket.. They put something in it to kinda clean it out and told me that I would need stitches in the next 24 hours. I told them that I wasn't going to miss this game because I had waited in line for a long time.. So after they bandaged me up, I walked back down and took my position on the front row to cheer on my Cougs. I stood on my leg for the rest of the night which probably wasn't so smart but YOLO. Ha. I take that back.. that was ugly. Moving on! After we beat Georgia State, my friend took me to Urgent Care. I have bruised meniscus, had to get a tetanus shot, and gots me 4 stitches I think.. I'm not entirely sure how many there is because they sewed it shut from the inside too so I can only see 2 of em. I watched them sew the hole closed and boy was that ever cool! The doctor was kind of a smart aleck but the nurse was very nice. Thank you Nurse Beatrice and Dr. David Miller for fixing my leg. We named the wound Lisa Melvin. If it scars, it will always be known as Lisa Melvin :)

Ari and I with Brandon Davies. Just call us his wingmen. 

She held my hand the whole time! I actually think she was more scared than I was.

Front Row with the roomies!

Before the stitches. Nice to meet you Lisa Melvin!

And there is the how.

With this small injury I am once again reminded how blessed I really am. As a dancer, I have always been grateful for the body that I have been given but it takes times like this when I can't dance or that I'm slightly unhealthy, that I take a step back and am reminded that I have a wonderful, working, strong, and healthy body. When I the doctor was first inspecting the gash, he did some tests on my knee where he pushed and pulled my lower leg different directions to check if the ligaments were all working right. That's when I realized that this could actually be something serious and it wasn't just a grand adventure. I thought, "Please oh please let everything be working right." Had something in my knee been messed up, I would have been devastated. I have seen dancers that have had knee injuries and it just keeps coming back to haunt them. I am so grateful that this little injury is just that, LITTLE and that my body is awesome and can heal itself. How fetching cool is that? Our bodies are magnificent. Anatomy has given me a lot to think about.

Anywayyyyyyy, Lisa Melvin is doing fine now. I still have it bandaged and I can't really bend my leg all that great. I'm scared that it'll just pull it open again.. gross. But I'm managing fine :) It was quite the adventure really and could not have happened at a better time. Why? Because I go back to the motherland tomorrow! I can't wait! Its going to be a looooong drive with my leg having to be somewhat straight. I figure I'll stay up late tonight and sleep most of the way tomorrow. Lets hope its not too terribly uncomfortable.

Over and out.
Xoxo.