I work from home, and on this October day, I was being really productive. I had focus and clarity and got a lot of work done so I decided to take my dog, Fred, to the dog park.
Fred’s a Pekapoo
There were two really unusual things that happen this day already. First, it was a super warm day for the end of October in Alberta. It must have been 10 C and no snow was on the ground. Second, we just recently got back Fred’s DNA test results and were shocked by what they revealed.
I know it is really decadent to get your dog’s DNA tested, but I really wanted to know, and it was my Christmas present (I may have peeked at the results early, but that’s the benefits of being computer savvy.) Anyways, Fred is a Pekapoo! I know, the name is wonderful in itself! 30% Pekingese, 30% Poodle, and 36% Supermut. So already it’s been a super full day for me and Fred. We decided to celebrate with a regular trip to the dog park.
Sixty-Pound Dogs can do a lot of Damage
Fred loves all dogs and will play with the largest Mastiff to the smallest Chihuahua. Fred was off happily running with a large number of dogs, and I was happily chatting with another dog owner when I felt something hit the outside of my right knee and before I knew what was happening, I was down on the ground.
P.S. We made our peace three weeks later.
What-the-What just happened to me?!?! I tried to stand up, but nope, can’t do that. There is a man, another dog owner, offering to help me up, but I need a minute. As I sit, I’m starting to put it together. While I was talking, a 60-pound dog ran into my right knee, and I went down like a sack of potatoes, and could not get up. After a few minutes a band of dog owners helped me up, and sort of carried, sort of dragged me over to a bench.
I called my wife, Karen (thank God for cell phones) who begged a ride from our wonderful neighbour, Gil. Karen brought crutches, collected Fred and drove home. Gil collected me and drove home. Within minutes Fred was secure on the rug in the living room and I was secure in the lumpiest wheelchair St. Mary’s Hospital Camrose had to offer.
Three hours later I had an x-ray, some pain medication, and a new leg brace. The swelling was so bad that a diagnosis of what soft tissue was torn or ripped could not be made. However, I was reassured that no bone had been broken during this adventure.
Productivity Came to a Stand Still
Before the hit and run at the dog park, I was making amazing progress with my business. I was productive, I had focus and was so creative. I was coming up with great ideas every day. Things just started moving along and I was so motivated. This leg injury almost stopped my productivity. I have never had an injury like this before and I could not move without everything hurting. I sat down in my recliner and stayed there for three to four weeks. I had to learn to be dependent on other people to get me ice, food, water, and most importantly pain killers.
New Home Office
I made an office area around my chair in the living room, and I could work but not the results I was seeing before the injury. I hurt too much. I lost my creativity. I was having trouble sleeping. I could not focus on what I needed to focus on. It was a really hard time.
This experience surprised me. It showed me how fragile I was and no matter how hard I tried to push through the pain I couldn’t. How one minute I was totally fine just moving through life happy and content and then the next minute I’m on the ground rolling around in extreme pain.
I just love my life. I love my family, my friends, what I do, where I live, but in under a minute at a dog park, my life was dramatically impacted. As I look back at 2020, the whole world was dramatically impacted by a virus that no one had control over. Things are so fragile, so delicate and each one of us needs to be nurtured so we can develop to our full capacity.
Clarity Stayed With Me
As my leg healed my productivity increased. I am almost back to where I was before the injury. My focus is getting better too. However, I kept my clarity. The things I have done to help me set goals, to balance my life were still in place so the clarity of what I want to do and where I want to go still remained in place.
Slowly Healing
I waited for six weeks for the swelling to go down and the bruising to go away before I could be assessed for soft tissue injury. Luckily nothing was completely detached, but boy was it torn up and stretched to capacity. I now have a regiment of physical therapy exercises that I do until I hurt, then I wait for the next day to start it all again.
