Playing With Injury

So as you may have read here yesterday I played in a hockey tournament, I didn’t really explain it all out like I did last year I realize, but I’m sure you readers could figure it out.  During the first game of the tournament with less than a minute to go I was reaching for a puck, my body was extended and I got smoked by the other teams best player.  According to the guys on my bench it was an elbow and it connected directly to my head.  My visor smashed into my face and my neck got wrenched. It was not as bad as the snowboarding injury though.

The other thing I had going on was that my left ankle, or maybe it is better to call it low shin, was killing me!  It was hurting last Saturday too, I have no idea what I did to it, but right where that part of my leg is against the tongue of my skate boot was so painful that when I was walking on and off the ice and trying to go through that stepping motion I would have to limp.  Luckily when skating you push off sideways so the pain was not as acute during the games (it still hurt like mad though once my focus was not on the ice and I was sitting on the bench!).

After playing in the tournament I had my regular league game at 8:30 that night and played my usual spot.  A fair sized goose egg was now visible on my high ankle/low shin and my neck had begun to stiffen up a bit.  I played though and got two assists.  I was ready to be done when our game was over but one of the other teams that played after us needed four players, so I jumped into that game as well.  I got two assists there too.

I met Amber at her dad’s house because we are house sitting and he has a hot tub and one of the first things she says to me is ‘I have no sympathy for you’.  It upset me a bit.  She then went on to explain that she had no sympathy because I chose to play four more games after being hurt in the first one and she does not understand that mentality.  Especially since I had the opportunity to sit out of the two games in the evening citing my neck and leg injuries.

I explained that the mentality is that I do what I can.  In the tournament I was not about to stop playing when I was not hurting all that badly.  Yes my lip was bleeding, nose was swollen and I could no098t turn my head as far as I could when I got up that morning, but I was there with my team and I could still play so I did.  It might have been different if I had gotten knocked out or at least had my bell rung.  The skating leg/ankle thing was just pain, once my focus was off my leg and on going after the puck or making a play I forgot all about how my it hurt to skate and just did it.  Play through the pain.  ‘Why?’ Is what she was really asking and the why is because I am tough as nails, or would at least like to be, I was still having fun playing, I was contributing to my team, I was still out-skating people for pucks and making plays.  I think really it is just one of those personality things.  I could still move, I could block out the pain, so I kept on going.  It really is as simple as that.  It is the same type of thing that has me doing all my active things even while I am sick.  I do all these things because I can will my body to do them.