Monday 24 June 2013

New Job, New Ankle

Ankle

I've neglected this blog yet again but this time I have a fantastic excuse: I was recuperating from a pretty terrible ankle injury!

I finished my English Assistanceship job at the end of April and on my way back to Toronto, I decided to stop in Ireland and spend some time with Gemma, one of the friends and travel partners I made in Perigueux. She is from N.Ireland and was going back home after our contract ended.

We were really looking forward to having a proper night out in Belfast, unlike ones we had had in Perigueux. We got all glammed up, which not something I do very often. But you know, when in Rome... The night started out great but as we were waiting for a Taxi, I tripped and shattered my ankle in the process. There was blood everywhere. I might have passed out and vomited from a mixture of pain, shock, and a couple of drinks I had on me. I went directly to the hospital.

It turns out I had an open bimalleolar ankle fracture, which basically means that I broke both my tibia and fibula and that somehow the bone broke in such a way that it stuck out through the skin. I had surgery in the morning to clean my wound and screw my bones back together. My x-ray looks a bit like the one below except I have four more screws on my tibia. I also got a cast. I had to stay at the hospital for three days but honestly it wasn't so bad. I was in a lot of pain but I had painkillers and the staff were incredibly nice there! the NHS rules. Also my friend and her family were absolutely lovely. They came to visit me and supported me throughout the ordeal. I am forever greatful to them.

(Left) X-ray of bimalleolar ankle fracture.
(Right)Surgical repair bimalleolar ankle fracture

Luckily, I didn't have to delay my flight back to Toronto; missing out on Belfast and Dublin fun was the least of my worries. I am definitely doing better and the scars are not looking too bad.

This injury has delayed my deployement to Haiti though, which I was very excited to do. I was hired by World Vision to do an Internship there and I was supposed to leave at the end of May. Now I'm going to have to leave at around the end of July. So far I have been compensating me not being there by working really hard to do all the "theoretic" work from home. For example, litterature reviews, article summaries, online trainings. I will post more about what my internship entails in the next few days.

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