In an effort to stay fit, I decided to take up team sports, something I've never done other than Ike Dancers in high school, which was wonderfully safe and fun. I had no idea that basketball and soccer have so much contact, and that I would be disabled twice, with all the rights and benefits of disabled people in Cuba.
The first ankle sprain was the left ankle and came as a result of field soccer with the US/Belize women's soccer team, or BelUSA! I had never played soccer before, but decided to try something new. I really enjoyed the sport, but in my first game, landed an ankle sprain that took 3 weeks in a cast followed by 1 week with no cast but still 2 crutches followed by another 3 weeks with one crutch follwed by several months of physical therapy to recuperate and it still isn't quite right almost 2 years later. After that I decided I would never again play team soccer, and I haven't.
In 2009 shortly after my arrival in Cuba, I was recruited to play basketball. I was taller than most women at my school and faster although not really skilled because I had never played before. Over the last 3 years, I have played, and gotten slightly better, so as a result was training to participate in a tournament between medical schools in Cuba. While practicing with some men who happened to be out playing, I was mowed down like a pancake by a fellow player and boy oh boy did I scream! I was hoping it wasn't my ankle after the very difficult recovery from the first sprain, but that was exactly what it was. So, I was back in a cast, this time for a right ankle sprain and very sad and disappointed about it. That was in April, and my ankle is almost 100% after just 4 months versus the almost year the first sprain took to heal.
Just a little bit about being in a cast in Cuba. First, all ankle sprains get casted. I know it's not like that in the US, but in Cuba they know that people will have a hard time being immobilized unless casted, so they cast everyone, and give you a doctor's note so that you can be on bedrest to avoid injuring the other ankle hopping around or reinjure the immobilized ankle. Being in a cast is something of a position of privilege because EVERYONE is always looking to be helpful in any way they can when they see you trying to get from place to place in a cast. Everyday people I thought I had never seen before would tell me "oh, can I help you down the stairs?" or "Can I help you up this ramp? Aren't you the one with the broken leg," this was after and during my time with a cast. Also, everyone tells you to take it easy and don't do anything silly! I thought this was really strange at first, but I guess people just feel it's best to avoid future accidents so they tell you to be careful. For some, this even included not going anywhere on crutches, since "crutches are dangerous."
I think the biggest issue for me being on crutches was not being able to do all the things that living in Cuba require, like taking the bus everywhere, hand washing my clothes, shopping for food, cooking for myself, flushing the toilet with a bucket, showering without any bars to support me, and just day to day things that become really difficult when you can't stand without holding two crutches, which takes your hands away, and limits the amount of weight you can carry support.
I'm really grateful for my friends who as you can see in the picture, borrowed a wheelchair for me from the hospital and pushed me everywhere I needed to go. It was really hard for them because we had to leave to go everywhere really early and be sure to return the wheelchair on a daily basis because the patients at the hospital needed it. They also cooked for me, shopped for me, helped me bathe, and pretty much anything else I needed most of the time without me even having to ask. In fact, they outright insisted on helping. I can't thank them enough because without them, I don't know how I would have done it.
However, after 2 weeks of not being able to go anywhere or do anything because I was in a cast, I was hoping to have it taken off in the orthopedics clinic. When I went to my appointment, the doctor thought it best I wait another week to take the cast off, but I couldn't. I went ahead and took the cast off myself with some tools from my tool kit. I know I should have listened to the doctor, but I felt it best to follow what my body was telling me, and felt that he should have listened to what I the patient, was telling him, which was that my ankle was ready to bear weight and start physical therapy.
With the cast off, I had a lot of pain still, especially after long days in the hospital, but my ankle healed much faster than and with fewer complications that I had ever imagined. If anyone out there sprains an ankle, let me know because I feel like my two experiences have made me an expert at the recuperation and healing process of ankle sprains. I've learned the best things to do and what to avoid to make sure my ankles are strong, and how to avoid re-injuring.
Now, I'm left with the question of whether or not to return to team sports after my two injuries. For now, I think I'll stick to my first love, DANCE, and maybe follow in many family members footsteps and try track and field. I'm not ready for contact sports just yet...
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