Well I made it halfway through most of those. Halfway done with producing a commercial, halfway finished on the post production, halfway through moving, and halfway through a soccer game when disaster hit. That all too familiar feeling when you step in for a soccer tackle and a searing pain goes shooting up your leg.
Blood curdled as I dropped, clutching my knee. Looking down, I saw my patella (knee cap) standing on its side about 5" away from its regular socket. My knee was bent, and my fear was raging. I've been through this before 5 years ago, and it resulted in a 45 minute wait for an ambulance and a hospital visit to fix my knee. This timing could not be worse.
Acting as quickly as I could, I stopped the death wail and instead began asking for help to pull my knee cap back into place. When a patella is dislocated, it is nearly impossible to pop it back into place without relaxing all the muscles and then applying the right pressure to bring it back into place. However this was not a regular dislocation. It was sitting strangely on its side, at an angle. I knew I needed to act fast.
Fast on his feet, Derek Pueblo valiantly rushed forward and began tugging with me to pull the knee cap back into place. We tugged, I screamed. We tugged some more, I screamed a little louder.
It didn't even budge.
Then a defender from the opposing team knelt down next to me and calmly uttered "I'm a doctor, kinda." I was washed over with an astounding calm. My leg stopped hurting as much, and i was able to focus on not hurting and relax my muscles. Being the worst dislocation this Chiropractor had ever seen didn't sway his quick thinking. With a relaxed leg (sort of) we slowly bent my knee as straight as necessary. Poking and prodding the he found what seemed to be the best point to push from, and he gave it a good tough push.
Still no budge.
"I think it's stuck on something."
What do I say to that?
"Can someone get a camera and take a picture?"
I don't think they took me seriously. It wasn't a sick joke though. A picture would have saved me writing this whole lame story.
Pouring ice cold water over the dislocation helped relax it, and the doctor began analyzing again. I couldn't watch. I couldn't close my eyes as it would focus my thoughts on the pain. Crying was pointless, so i just stared up at the ceiling and breath. Deeply. Slowly. All the world began to be a blur. My mind began to race through all of the responsibilities i had, all the issues this would cause, all the hectic trouble that it would cause, time wise and financially. Trodden down with all these thoughts, I realized something. It would be ok.
"POP!"
My patella slid back into place, and for a moment, everything seemed like it would be ok. We were still losing, and I was no longer able to help, and I was ok with that. I was ok with the fact that the human body could only take so much, that I wouldn't be able to make my shoot at 5am the next morning, and that we as people are limited by our mortal frames, by time, and by our current standing. I was limited. And that's ok.
The pain came searing back, as expected, and I was unable to drive home with as strong as it was. I could hardly move, speak, or focus. No problem though, Jordan Jensen's hospitality, BBQ ribs, cute baby, understanding dog, and the Real Salt Lake game gave me enough time for the Ibuprofen to kick in and for me to make it home. Where would the world be without real classic friends like that?
All in all, Yes, I injured my body. However, it has brought me to my knee in regards to time. While I might be maximizing the time that I have, its not always what is needed. Sometimes we might do good to slow down a little. This is my chance to try it out.
Over and Out,
Willem Kampenhout
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