ankles and dogs

Oddly enough the story of my ankle starts with a dog--and not just any dog. But the exact dog pictured below.

This fellow is a German Shepherd, rather tall for his breed, and goes by the name Mac. Short for McCloud, of the Clan McCloud. He's also inordinately fond of frisbees, as you can see in the picture to the left. That particular characteristic indirectly led to the ankle part of my story.

You see it all started on a night lit by the light of a full and buttery yellow moon. I was at a small gathering of people with my girlfriend--friends of hers from work--and we were tossing around a ball with Mac and trying to get the frisbee away from him with guile and wit. Characteristics that we humans believe ourselves to possess to a greater degree than the other animals on the planet. Well, Mac wasn't buying that story line and it was quite difficult to get that frisbee away.

At one point, late in the evening, Mac trotted across the yard to drop the frisbee--thinking it safely at a distance--and returned to the deck to grab the ball from us. Seizing my brief window of oppurtunity, I ran as quick as I could across the yard to the frisbee to beat Mac to it. Unfortunately that full moon, while romantic as Hell and quite lovely to look at, only illuminates the planet in a fitful and incomplete fashion. What I mean to say is, I didn't see a shallow hole in the ground--ironically dug by the dog--and fell heavily ass over teakettle. Upon attempting to stand, I immediately realized something was wrong. Within a minute my ankle was quite swollen. Sprained, dammit. Ankles and dogs just don't mix!

Here's two views of my ankle that I took last night about an hour after it happened.

Top view, looking downward

Rear view looking forward

===UPDATE===
Now it's almost 7am and it's getting quite discolored as the ruptured blood vessels leak blood into the surrounding flesh. It's going to be quite a sight before all is done. Bad for my leg, great for pictures!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Ouch!

Would it be very tactless of me to say serves you right for trying to outsmart a German Shepherd?

Yes, I thought so!
Anonymous said…
oh-oh. Hello and Michele sent me!
Anonymous said…
Ouch! a picture my traumatologist would enjoy... I have been there and I didn't have fun. Have a quick recovery and a nice sunday... Michele sent me.
Anonymous said…
Mac wouldn't have fallen like that!

Michele sent me this way.
Anonymous said…
Michele keeps sending me your way. She must have noticed I wanted to take a look at those legs again...
Anonymous said…
That is hugely swollen my friend! I hope your girlfriend is providing you with adequate nursing care.

The Nurse's Advice: Keep your ankle elevate it and ice it for 15 mins every 2 hours.

Did you go to the emergency room?
utenzi said…
Bec, I suppose it does serve me right. *sigh*

Mar, me too. That ankle has been sprained at least 6 times before. Mostly in HS doing jumping event in Track & Field.

Jean-Luc, actually Mac did fall also. We were tied getting to the frisbee and when the hole tossed me over, I landed partially on him. He didn't see the humor of it all.

Yaeli, you're quite right. And lovely! I did ice it for an hour or so afterwards once I got home (with elevation) but didn't alternate. And that's been it. I couldn't sleep so now I'm sitting & blogging and that's not good for the ankle so I shall go back to bed!
Anonymous said…
You should have stayed home, dear!

You really must learn to make friends with animals. They best you every time, it seems.

That ankle looks really bad. I know about ankle problems. You are supposed to take care of yours! I hope it feels better soon -- but by the looks of it, you're gonna have problems for at least a week. Ouch!
Anonymous said…
Ouch! I hope you and your ankle recover quickly.
Anonymous said…
ahem. may i inquire just what role the application of alcohol may have played in this little faux pas? (Maybe Mac was imbibing..)

Good thing yer not down here on the farm.. ya KNOW what we do to horses that look like that.. (JK.. just kidding: I aint shot a horse in months..)

Seriously, take care of yerself David. *It looks pretty ouchy. nice legs tho.. hehe)
utenzi said…
Teresa, I think your analysis is correct. I think a week will do it. Unfortunately I'll have to work the entire week but I will be able to come in after hours on Monday and Tuesday so I'll be able to park near the lab and not take the bus in--which would involved a lot of walking.

Meliss, Thanks!

Maggie, Mac hadn't had anything to drink and I'd not had anything for several hours though there were 4 drinks around 5-6pm but a good sized meal and a few hours had passed since then.
Anonymous said…
back again to say hi and get well!see, Michele sent me!
Anonymous said…
ow! what rotten luck! make sure you get lots of rest so that you get better soon. have you put a cast on it yet? should help heal it a lot quicker. here via michele. :)
Anonymous said…
this past summer, I fell in a culvert hole at an outside party at night and sprained mine too...pretty badly. I blogged about it on and off all summer. I hate to tell you how long it took (and 3 acupunture sessions) to get back to normal...98%. Here from michele's today.
Anonymous said…
That looks really painful!
Anonymous said…
oh and michele sent me
Anonymous said…
Ouch! I hope that gets better soon. Thanks for the info the other day about stat counters. I got one. thanks. Stacie
Anonymous said…
I am sorry to read about your ankle, Utenzi, hope it gets better soon. I rammed my right foot into a door jamb yesterday morning and worked all day in tennis shoes. When I got home last night and took off my shoes, the little toe on my right foot was just as swollen as your ankle and it had turned a horrible bluish-purple color.

So last night I used an old Edgar Cayce remedy on it: I massaged castor oil into the foot, wrapped it in saran wrap and pulled on an old sock. This morning, all the swelling was gone and the discoloration had abated quite a bit. Try it. My son had a very badly sprained ankle one year when he was in high school and the doc told him it might be 6 weeks before he could walk without crutches. We did castor oil packs on it and he was walking in 3 days.
Anonymous said…
Ouch indeed! We once had a dog named Mac. I am surprised I never sprained my ankle with her! Hope you heal quickly! Michele sent me.
utenzi said…
That's odd, Judy. I wonder why castor oil would have any affect on it. I don't have any at home anyway but if I manage to get to a drug store in the next 2 days I'll pick some up. I'll be driving by one in the morning but I really hate stopping to do errands. :-(
Anonymous said…
LOL, if you drink the castor oil it will take every ounce of pain away from that nasty ankle.......it tastes VILE!!
Get well soon my friend :)
Anonymous said…
OW! Those picture just gave me the heebie-jeebies! Hope it doesnn't hurt too much, and I hope it heals fast. Thanks for stopping by over the weekend. Good to see you again. Get better soon.

Deni

PS The "snippet" I posted today is NOT about you! Promise.
Anonymous said…
You shouldn't be running around playing tag with your ankle is such a sorry state!! :o)

Isn't tag (in some form) a universal game?
Anonymous said…
EEEWWW!!! I hope you're taking care of that. Is a trip to a doctor on the horizon? I hope!!
Anonymous said…
Ouch! Hope the swelling has gone down.
Anonymous said…
That looks really painful. Might wanna get an xray. BTW, Mac is secretly laughing at you. Hope the swelling goes down and the pain goes away soon.
Lois Lane
Anonymous said…
Take it easy and keep it elevated. Ice at least 4 times a day--20 minutes at a time. And alcohol, lots of alcohol.....unless the alcohol makes you forget too much...leading to re-injury.
Anonymous said…
I'm so sorry that you, I mean the dog, hurt your ankle. Hope you are doing better now.

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