the cartwheel conundrum

[mizkit]

It wasn't exactly a conundrum, really, but I couldn't think of a word that started with 'c', meant 'mistake', and wasn't profane. :)

I want you all to understand that I went into this will full knowledge and aforethought and the expectation that I would throw my back out.

My son has been practicing his cartwheels, and can't quite get the speed he needs to get his feet all the way up over his head. After trying to walk him through it several times, and mentioning that I needed to get my sister over to help him, I thought, well, I've got an appointment with my PT next Friday anyway, she can fix whatever damage I've done then.

Friends, I did four cartwheels, and to my absolute delight, my back was fine! Who knew!? It was a wonder!

Two days later I went to a movie, and, mindful of the way my right knee had pinched up a while back, sat with my left knee crossed over my right for much of the film.

The next morning my left knee was a stabby focus of sharp pain, and remained so. Honestly, I couldn't really figure out what had happened to it.

Until about three days after THAT, when I realized that I was paying for my cartwheel sins, and probably also for how I'd sat at the movie theatre.

That was a damn month ago.

I stayed off my feet as much as was parentally possible for three weeks. I took taxis everywhere because the walk between bus stops was Bad For Me. My knee slowly improved, to the point where I knew I had to be EXTRA careful ALL the time because it felt well enough to use pretty normally but I was CLEARLY going to re-injure it with the slightest provocation.

After 3 weeks, I made the cardinal error of turning around, and my knee went SACCALAGLHGALALLALALGHHHHH and I spent the next three days trying to stay off my feet and encountering shooting pains when I didn't.

On the fourth day it made a leap forward and stopped hurting when I walked. I continued to stay off my feet. (We had guests during this week. I was a GREAT host, yeah. 'Hi, lovely to see you, I'll be staying here with my leg up on the couch while you go do whatever, bye'.) I am STILL staying off my feet as much as possible.

This is very tedious, but better than re-injuring my damn knee.

Somehow, though, peoples' sympathy seems to evaporate when they hear that I hurt myself doing cartwheels...

Comments

[leecetheartist]

I will give you sympathy for your cartwheel related injury! Only my fellow merfolk have given me sympathy for braining myself by swimming too fast in my mermaid tail.

[mizkit]

YOU HAVE A MERTAIL!?!? YOU ARE A MERMAID!?!?

[leecetheartist]

Uh, yes? I have a couple of monofins, and several skins. As does rdm, my husband. It is such fun!

[mizkit]

I AM DED OF ENVY

[leecetheartist]

One day you can do it I'm sure! Don't be dedded, I want to read your next book!

[mizkit]

I'm just saying it was a bad moment when I realized there were people in the world who were PROFESSIONAL MERMAIDS and I wasn't one of them. Like. What am I even doing with my life choices!

[leecetheartist]

We're professional humans ourselves :-)

[leecetheartist]

So how's your son doing with his cartwheels now? Did your sacrifice help?

[mizkit]

Actually they got better after he watched me, now that you mention it. He does still need to keep his legs straight, that's the other thing he's struggling with, but he picked up speed. :)

[leecetheartist]

Yayyy!

[antiqueight]

You still have my sympathy- jealousy that you can do cartwheels even if clearly not without injury but still...

[mizkit]

pretty sure i could do them without injury if i didn't weigh 50 pounds too much. but let's be realistic, that's not going to change between now and worldcon...

[antiqueight]

But but- you're getting your hair did - that'll get rid of all excesses? No?? It has to. It's my only hope now.