Going postal

"Gina should quit doing jiu-jitsu, because she gets hurt too much. First she broke her arm, and now she has stitches!" -Levi, age 9

Most of the people I know who don't train Jiu-Jitsu already thought I was a little bit crazy for doing it, then after they saw the stitches in my face, they were completely convinced. A few people have asked me if I'm going to quit Jiu-Jitsu now, but the answer is a resounding "NO!". The only way I will ever quit doing Jiu-Jitsu is if I'm dead, or physically unable.

Shihan told Joe that I should take up something safer (like Karate ;), then the next day at the Karate convention, Sensei Rod broke his arm! There is an element of danger in all martial arts.

I did take the past week off (mostly to pacify my husband), but my stitches came out today, and I will be in Jiu-Jitsu class tonight! I'm not afraid, and this injury has not dampened my spirit in the slightest. My injuries are not Jiu-Jitsu's fault, they're my own fault. I'm going to keep doing what I love.

"Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor stitches in my face, nor broken bones, will stay me from jiu-jitsu. Ever." -Ginger

Bang Your Head

I was halfway through my first of what was supposed to be five nine-minute rolls in the advanced BJJ class yesterday, I had just escaped an armbar attempt by an MMA fighter, and I was back in his guard. I heard Greg say "Toreando pass!", so I went for it. As I was coming around, Ken sat up to defend, and we collided in a mutual headbutt. I turtled up in pain, then I noticed that the mat was quickly turning red below me. I knew Ken was bleeding, so at first I somehow thought it was all his blood, but then I heard Fuji yell "Sit up, get your head above your heart!", and I realized he was talking to me.

I really didn't want to go to the doctor, but when I finally looked at the gash above my eye, I knew I had no choice. Ten stitches later, and I'm glad I went. Everyone who looked at it was like "Damn!" The doctor even recommended that I have a plastic surgeon stitch it up, but I was like "Ain't nobody got cash for dat! Just sew it, so I can go home." He was actually a cool guy, and he had done some martial arts when he was younger, so he understood. However, the look on the nurse's face was priceless when Joe was trying to explain Jiu-Jitsu, and he said "It's like wrestling, but with chokes and armbars." She was slightly horrified.

This pic was taken yesterday,
it looks even worse today.

I went to LinCare straight from class, and I still had my hair in pigtails, so I'm sure I was quite a sight to behold when I walked out of there stitched up like Frankenstein's monster! The worst part about it is that the doctor said no grappling for three weeks! However, as I pointed out to my husband, he didn't actually say I couldn't go to class, he just said no rolling. Then Joe pointed out to me that the instruction sheet says "No jujitsu". Well, that's no problem! I promise I will not go to any "jujitsu" classes, but there is no way I'm going to go three weeks without going to "jiu-jitsu"! I'll just have to be careful, and do some watching for awhile. I'm trying to stay positive, but this is crappy timing, with testing coming up.

So, Ken won the headbutt battle. He did have a cut on his forehead, but it's not nearly as awesome as mine is! Mine's a couple of inches long, and it's deep, but it doesn't affect my vision at all, and I'm sure it will heal just fine (as long as I take care of it). I was pretty proud of the fact that I had not yet bled on the mat at LBJJ, but I guess if I had to do it, at least it was epic, and I might have bled, a lot, but I did not cry! The lesson I've learned from all of this is: forehead vs. eyelid, forehead wins! I should have had my head lower. And now it's official, Jiu-Jitsu has scarred me for life! ;)

"Well I'm an axegrinder, piledriver, mother says that I never never mind her.

Got no brains, I'm insane, teacher says that I'm one big pain." -Quiet Riot

Heavy

Apparently, I can do as much Jiu-Jitsu as I want these days, and my knees are okay with it, but as soon as I do some Judo, my knees are like "We will no longer bend without causing you pain!". Thank you, knees, I've been looking for more excuses to avoid throwing! My knees have felt fine for the past couple of weeks, then came Throwing Sunday in Ethridge class...and now the pain is back. This is really getting old. Or maybe it's just me that's getting old.

Other than the fact that my knees are acting up again, I thought throwing class actually went pretty well on Sunday. I was relaxed for most of it, except for one particular throw that Joe was doing. For some reason, I did not want to be thrown in that way, and my body kept involuntarily defending when he was trying to practice, so Amy just had him move on to a different throw. Even though we were using the crash mat, we were practicing the throws by landing on each other with full impact, and about the sixth time that Joe slammed into my ribs, I was very thankful that I did not marry a heavy man!

I like it because it doesn't put pressure on my knees.

It was cool that Amy had Joe practice his throws the "Judo way" (with traditional gi grips), because he is a Judoka, and she had me practice them the "Jiu-Jitsu way" (from the clinch), because I am a Jiu-Jitsuka (that way they would also work in no gi). Although I was a little disappointed because she said we could start by practicing our favorite throw, so I asked if I could do o soto gari, and then she said it had to be our favorite forward throw, and I was like "I don't have one, I hate them all equally!". Even so, I think my throwing is improving.

During randori at the end of class, Amy told us we had to win by ippon, and even though I didn't score anything on Joe, I was pretty happy with my defense. He threw me a few times, but I was able to adjust my position mid-throw so that I wouldn't land on my back, and so he wouldn't get control of me on the ground. Finally she gave him ippon credit for a throw, even though I turned to my side, because he executed it very well. Although Joe's not heavy, I still don't want him in top control on me, so I'm glad I was at least able to defend that!

"All your weight, it falls on me, it brings me down." -Collective Soul

Benched

Using the word "your":
You're doing it wrong.

I haven't been able to train since last Tuesday, because once again my knees have been giving me problems. I've had recurring issues with my knees since I started training Jiu-Jitsu, including a dislocated kneecap and relentless bursitis, but this is a new kind of pain, and it's affecting both knees. It mostly hurts when I try to drop it like a squat, or do any kind of knee bends (even simply sitting down), and I'm not sure what caused it.

One of the guys I train with, Josh, recently had surgery on his knee, and while he was recovering he wrote on his blog about experiencing "Jiu-Jitsu jealousy" over the fact that everyone's training was surpassing his while he was away. I'm also feeling jealous, but it's simply because I miss Jiu-Jitsu, and I don't like not being able to train, so I'm jealous of those who can.

After a week off, my knees are feeling a little better, so I think I'm going to attend class tonight and see how it goes. I don't believe it's a major injury, but more of a painful inconvenience, so I'm going to chance it. I really don't want to lose the momentum I've been gaining, so hopefully my knees will get with the program! It seems like I'm always taking two steps forward and one step back, but I'm not as concerned with "getting somewhere" as I am with just being able to keep walking. Sitting on the sidelines sucks!

Pain

So, my entire body was still in pain from doing two Jiu-Jitsu classes back to back on Sunday, mainly because the second one consisted entirely of throwing, but I decided to go to class today anyway, thinking "How bad could it be?", then I got there, and Ray taught throwing for most of class! I was like "Are you freaking kidding me?". Well, at least I didn't have to do any teaching.

I was actually able to make it through the entire throwing portion of class before my back started seizing up, and my bruised ribs felt like someone had been repeatedly punching them. It probably wouldn't be so bad if I could ever learn to relax when practicing takedowns! I made the smart decision and just watched for the rest of class, but I hate doing that, because I really want to participate. Last week, I suppose in reference to the fact that I haven't been doing open mat as much, one of my teammates told Joe that he thought my "problem" was that I'm afraid of being submitted. Bitch, please! I bet I have been submitted more than anyone else there, since 99% of the students can easily submit me, and if I was afraid of it, I would've quit a long time ago.

What I am afraid of, as a person with no health insurance, is being injured to the point where I need medical assistance, which I can't afford. If I was to ever require surgery, it would probably send my family into bankruptcy, so I walk a fine line between trying to train as much as possible, without becoming seriously injured. I know it could happen at any time without warning, but nowadays I take try to take whatever precautions I can. If that means people think I'm a wuss or a chicken when I don't roll or when I step out of class, so be it. I can take being submitted, I can take pain, but I can't take stupid chances that also affect the people I love.

Fight with my right

If you split me directly in half lengthwise right now, on the left side you would have a perfectly healthy person, but on the right side you would have Quasimodo. Almost every single joint on my right is experiencing some trauma at the moment, as well as bruised ribs and a tweaked back. Perhaps the fact that I am not ambidextrous has led to this lop-sided pain?

I'm being forced to take some time off from training due to minor injuries again, and it seems as though I never take enough time off to let an injury heal before adding a new one. Two weeks is usually the maximum amount of time I've gone without training, except for last year when I took six weeks off for a broken wrist (which of course, was the right one). I've found that during the first couple of weeks I can't wait to get back, but if I'm away for more than that, I will start getting lazy and unmotivated, so I usually go back before I'm fully healed.

I probably should not have gone to Ethridge Jiu-Jitsu class last Sunday, but it's hard to pass up an opportunity to beat my husband up in public, in front of a sheriff's deputy, and not get in trouble for it! I think every Jiu-Jitsu injury I've ever sustained has happened while I was grappling, and since Ethridge class is often 90% grappling (against a strong-ass mofo!), it's high-risk for me. I'm feeling old, fragile, and frustrated. My left side needs to start taking up some of the slack, and give my right side a break!

2 Stupid Dogs

I've written before about people asking me why I seem to get injured so often, and I said that I think the reason is because I am a hopeless klutz.  Another contributing factor could be that I sometimes do stupid things, such as sticking my arm out to catch myself when I'm being thrown. 

Another example of my stupidity leading to injury happened yesterday when I was attempting to catch my Houdini dog Jay, who escaped from the backyard again.  As I searched the neighborhood to find him, I took one of the other dogs out on a leash to lure Jay to me, which totally worked.  Then when he got close enough, I crouched down to try to catch him by grabbing his collar.  That might have also worked if Bear (the dog I had on the leash) had not suddenly lunged forward at that exact moment, causing me to crash to my knees on the sidewalk.

The funniest part is that after I got up I simply told Jay to come, and he followed Bear and I all the way back home and into the house.  Maybe I should have just done that in the first place.  I suppose I should be glad that as I was falling to my knees I didn't try to catch myself and break my wrist again, which would have been almost exactly one year to the day that I did that.  I also managed to not face-plant into the pavement yesterday, so that's a plus.

My knees are scraped and bruised, but nothing hurts more than realizing I was made a fool of by a couple of dogs.  At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that if Skyler's turtle ever manages to escape, I should be able to catch it without injuring myself in the process. 

American Idiot

I probably could've participated in the entire Midwest Convention yesterday, and went to Jiu-Jitsu class today, if I was not so incredibly stupid.  I had been doing a good job of protecting my injured calf at the beginning of the workout,  I was modifying the drills so that the injury was painful but bearable.  Then I let my pride get the better of me.

About three hours into it, we were practicing fitting in and lifting for a hip toss, and I was not bending my knees as much as I should've been, because it was causing pain to both my calf and knee (yeah, that's still not fully healed, either).  My partner was smaller than me (for a change), so to properly do the throw I had to be very low.  I quickly realized that was not going to work with my injury, so I was just doing the best I could.  Then an instructor came over and chided me for not going low enough, and when I told him I was compensating for an injury, he gave me a look that I interpreted to mean "You're just making excuses".  That caused my ego to feel the need to prove that I did know how to do the throw.  Can you guess what happened next?

If you said "You were a dumbass and tweaked your injury while doing the throw, causing you to miss out on the entire rest of the days training.", then you are correct.  "You were an idiot." would have also been acceptable.  Do not do as I have done.

My mom thinks I'm an idiot for putting an anaconda around
my neck, but I had to, because a boy dared me.
She doesn't understand how dares work!

John Roseberry-Shihan's Notions for Training:

Be modest and polite.

Take care of your health.

Train yourself considering your physical strength.

Do not be too proud or too modest.

Be gentle but also swift.

Live a plain life.

Continue your training without idleness.

Cast about the search earnestly.

Fragile, handle with care

I had to drop out halfway through Jiu-Jitsu class on Tuesday, and I can't go today, because I tweaked my chronically injured knee again.  It's starting to feel as though I spend half of my Jiu-Jitsu time sitting on the sidelines, either because of injury, or because I'm still usually too chickenshit to ask anyone to roll.  People are asking me now, so it has gotten better.  It really annoys me that Tate asked me to roll on Tuesday, but I couldn't because of my stupid knee.  I really, really wanted to roll with Tate!  I almost did anyway, but I'm trying to be smarter about my injuries.  Not taking time off to let my knee heal when I first injured it is probably part of the reason it's still a problem.  But seriously, would you not regret missing a chance to roll with this guy (he's grappling with his identical twin brother Travis in this video, Tate is the one in headgear, the one who wins ;).

I'm supposed to be grappling right now!  I don't want to be centerfield, but I'm getting tired of sitting on the bench. I should change my name to Fragile (of course that's pronounced "Fra-gee-lay", cause it's Italian), but then no one would ever want to roll with me! Wah!

"What is she doing?" "She's crying, Sir." "Crying? There's no crying in Jiu-Jitsu!"

This is Why I'm Hot

Our dojo is not air-conditioned, and even if we did have an AC, Shihan says he wouldn't let us turn it on.  We have a few fans, and a garage door we can open, but it gets really steamy in there in the summer.  People who are used to training in AC sometimes have difficulty dealing with the heat when they compete in tournaments at our school, but to those of us from Roseberry's, it's just another day in the sweat shop.  It can be pretty brutal, and no matter how hot it gets in therre, it is against etiquette to take off all your clothes! 

So, after over seven years at Roseberry's, I'm used to being hot, which is why it surprised me when I suddenly overheated while rolling with Mike yesterday.  I had to tap out due to my head feeling like it had caught on fire!  It was a warm day, but far from the hottest conditions I have ever trained in, and I really don't believe I was suffering from dehydration.  I told Conan I thought I was overheating, but I don't remember the rest of our conversation.  I imagine it went something like this:

G: Call 911, my head is on fire!

C: Ah, just dunk your head in the toilet, you'll be fine.

I jest, overheating is a serious thing, and it should not be taken lightly!  After a short amount of rest I felt better, so I decided to go ahead and try rolling with David.  A few minutes into it, I was feeling a little woozy again, and I noticed that his side control hurt even more than usual, so I quit.  My ribs were sore, but I didn't think too much of it at the time.  Fast forward to a few hours later, the pain kept intensifying and I realized that there's a very good chance that I fractured a rib.  Mike and I were going kind of fast and furious (damn little people! ;) and I don't really know what happened, but I believe my instant hot head might have partially been a stress reaction due to a rib cracking.  I hope it's just badly bruised, but luckily it only hurts when I'm awake, so I can handle it.  I probably won't go to open mat today, but otherwise I'm just going to try to keep training as usual. 

While writing this post I was curious as to whether women really do have more ribs than men, so I googled it, and it's just a myth, but I did run across this inspiring comment.  Enjoy!

"The lord took a rib from Adam and gave it to Eve, and from that point women had more bones. This could be why women have so much trouble doing real work, their ribs restrict their movement!  Men have less ribs in the way so we have the freedom to run around and play football. Women stay at home and cook because that's the only thing their bodies can do." -A dumbass whose rib I wouldn't mind fracturing

Throwing bones

Yesterday was our first Throwing Sunday in women's Jiu-Jitsu class since I broke my wrist during one.  I have done some throwing since then, but only reluctantly, and I even put this Throwing Sunday off for a week.  Ever since my injury I seem to have developed a mental block towards throwing, which causes me to freeze up.  The weird thing is, even though my wrist was broken because I stuck my arm out as I was falling, my fear does not seem to revolve as much around being thrown.  What I've really been afraid of is throwing someone else.

Our teacher Amy said the reason might be because I am empathetic, and since I was broken I am now afraid of breaking someone, more than I am afraid of being broken again myself.  There might be some truth to that, especially concerning yesterday's class, because the person I was throwing the entire time was my own daughter.  In women's Jiu-Jitsu, we always practice our throws by landing on our partner, which can be pretty scary.  Skyler falling on my arm is what really broke my wrist (although if I hadn't posted, it wouldn't have happened, so it was all my fault), and since then she has also developed a fear of throwing, especially of throwing me.

Amy knew neither one of us wanted to throw yesterday, but we showed up, and we worked through the fear.  Skyler and I both threw each other about forty times, and no one was broken or hurt in any significant way.  Except for my feelings, when Amy told me that I should have someone film our next throwing class, so I can see how ridiculous I look trying to do Soto Makikomi!  Yeah well, who taught me how to do it, Amy? :p

I think this throwing class went a long way toward alleviating our fears, and I'm glad we finally got it over with.  I still won't be looking forward to the next one, but when have I ever?  At least I'm not completely dreading it anymore.  For all of our fears and comical errors, Skyler and I pulled off some nice throws yesterday, so there is hope for us yet.  One Throwing Sunday at a time.

A dirty job

Who has two thumbs and thought it would be a good idea to not wear her wrist brace to Jiu-Jitsu class today? This g...ow, ow, ow...sorry, it hurt my wrist when I tried to point my thumbs at myself, because it turns out that not wearing the brace was not the best idea I have ever had. I did wrap my wrist, and I tried to be careful, but at one point it got trapped under Skyler and it was bent more than it wanted to bend. Luckily it didn't hurt anything (and by hurt I mean "cause any further injury", not "cause any pain", because it did a lot of the latter). Note to self: "You are not fully healed yet, so quit trying to act like you are and wear the brace, stupid! And while we're on the subject of your idiocy, get some headgear, already!"

Joe has said that he doesn't think I should ever be allowed outside of the house without a helmet on, because of my klutziness and tendency towards injury. I'm sure that he would prefer that when I practice Jiu-Jitsu I wear the K9 training suit that we have in the storeroom of the dojo. I once looked into purchasing a gi made out of bubblewrap, but I didn't have any luck with that. It wouldn't have stopped me from breaking my wrist, or done anything about all the bleeding, anyway.

Yep, I also bled in class again today. Amy said that since I bleed so much it must mean that I have too much blood in my system. She would have made an excellent 18th century doctor! At least she didn't suggest leeches. Actually, she also mentioned that the bleeding (and bruising) may be tied to the fact that I am anemic, and that I should try increasing the iron in my diet. Now that's good advice.

Broken bones, bruises, and bleeding...loving Jiu-Jitsu is a dirty job!

Type O Negative

I bleed often in Jiu-Jitsu. It seems to happen the most in women's class, it doesn't even feel like I went to class if I didn't lose some blood! It's probably because the bulk of our women's class usually involves grappling drills, so there's more chance for injury. The cause of the bleeding is usually because some of my sensitive "princess and the pea" skin got rubbed off. You would think that after almost three years on the mat it would have toughened up by now! It has gotten better, I don't bleed at every single women's class anymore.

Luckily, the other women in class are not grossed out by it (maybe some of the new one's were, which might be why they never came back ;) That's why I wear a black gi now, to hide all of the blood! Skyler's white gi is sporting more than it's fair share of blood stains, and I'm sure most of them are mine. Last Sunday, Amy noticed fresh blood stains on Skyler, and everyone looked at me like "Where are you bleeding from this time?"  It was me.

I thought the blood was coming from the mat burn on my foot, but it turns out it was coming from the back of my ear. It's not even the ear that was cauliflowered, it's the other one. In one of my matches at the last Jiu-Jitsu tournament that I competed in, my ear got folded over and crushed, and the back of it was split open. I figured after I took a couple of months off, it would be fully healed, but it's not.

Yeah, I never got that head gear I was talking about, but I guess it's time now. It's certainly a better option than what The Doggfather told me when I asked him what I should do to help my ear heal "Put neosporin on it and stay home". I already stayed home for two months, I'm done with that.

Take it Easy

I haven't been to class this week, because on Monday I was doing something completely innocuous and I twisted my injured wrist, resulting in it popping, so now it's mad at me and it's causing me pain. I've had to resort to doing most things with my left hand again. Two steps forward, one step back. Sigh.

Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy

I'm trying to baby it right now, because on Sunday I am supposed to help Joe teach a women's self-defense class, and I think it might freak them out a little bit if I walk in there with a brace on. At least I am totally bruise-free! I hope to actually be able to demonstrate things without wearing the brace, or being in too much pain. Sigh.

I knew I wouldn't be able to jump back in right away from this injury, but now it's getting old. I don't want to take it easy! It's like when we are in women's class and Amy tells me "Now, do it slow.", and I say (in a robot voice) "Does not compute." Now, everything is slow. Sigh.

Back in the Saddle

After fifty days off, I'm finally going back to Jiu-Jitsu class tomorrow. My wrist is far from healed, so I'll be limited in what I can do, but it's high time I got back on the horse. I expected be a lot more excited about the prospect, but I'm actually quite nervous. I'm not worried about the injury, just about returning in general. I almost feel like I'm starting all over. I'm not afraid to get back in the saddle, but I can tell I've lost some of my jockey skills, and it will be awhile before I regain them.

Not to mention that it already seemed like half of the guys in Jiu-Jitsu were afraid to touch me for fear that I would break, and then just when I almost had them convinced that I wouldn't, I actually had to go and break myself. Now I think they will probably actively avoid me. I also feel like I'm not going to be able to continue moving forward, or even return to the level where I was, until I can grapple again. It would probably be helpful if I could find someone who would be willing to just drill with me, but I hate to ask anyone to give up their open mat time for that.

I suppose what it really comes down to is that I want to be riding a racehorse, but I know I will have to start with being led around on a pony for a little while. It's bad enough that I have to take it easy, and I don't want to slow down whoever is stuck holding the leash.

"Get back in the saddle, one more time
Get back in the saddle, swallow all of your pride
Cause if you can’t take the fall, you shouldn’t take the ride."

Rust Never Sleeps

Number of times I was supposed to take my brace off: 0
Number of times I have taken it off this week: 3

In my defense, I didn't leave it off for very long, and I didn't actually try to DO anything with it off. I was just overwhelmed with the desire to let my arm be free. As soon as I took it off the first time, I realized it was not a very good idea. That didn't stop me from doing it a couple more times, though.

Obviously my plan to hibernate until my broken wrist heals didn't work out. There are a few reasons; first of all I'm a terrible sleeper, and to remain asleep for any length of time would require someone to choke me unconscious every few hours. Another reason is that when my husband heard of my desire to hibernate, his response was "Rust never sleeps." I wanted to smack him for being right.

I can feel the rust creeping in, and I don't like it, not one bit. Although I will be able to safely remove the brace soon, I can tell it's going to be awhile longer before it's fully healed. For all the things that I can do, there are still things that I can't and won't be able to do for some time. However I've decided that once the brace comes off, I am going to go to every class I can, and do everything that I am able to do. I will not let rust win.

Hypothetical Idiot

For hypothetical purposes, let's say I am standing on a chair that has a removable cushion on it, and that the chair is near a wall. Let's also hypothetically say that I have a broken wrist, and I do not have my arm in a sling. Then let's say that the hypothetical cushion on the hypothetical chair starts to slide, causing me to almost fall off. Do you think I would:

A. Fall off the chair.

B. Catch myself by posting with my uninjured left hand on the wall.

C. Catch myself by posting with my dominant (but broken) right hand.

If you answered A or B, you are hypothetically wrong. The correct answer is C, and I'm sure it would hypothetically hurt a lot if that happened. Like really, really hurt a LOT...hypothetically.

I can do it myself!

Anyone who's ever attempted to help young children do something, like tie their shoes, has probably heard some of them say "No! I can do it myself!". Now that I'm a one-armed wonder with a broken wrist, I feel like one of those children. There have been more than a few times when my husband has seen me struggling to do something and questioned "Why don't you just ask for help?" Well, because I don't need help. It might take me awhile, but I can do it myself! I will only ask for help if I really can't do it (like tying my shoes, I can't do that right now).

I've guess I've always been this way. I won't ask for help until after I have attempted everything I can think of and failed. It's not because I'm too proud, or I don't appreciate assistance, I think it's just because I hate to be beaten by anything. "Why can't I get this stupid lightbulb to screw in?! #%&*!" If I'd have given up and let Joe change it, I never would've realized that I was just turning the bulb the wrong way, because it felt weird doing it with my left hand.

"How many sorceresses does it take to change a lightbulb?

That depends on what you want the lightbulb changed into."

I almost changed that lightbulb into several small pieces of glass.

Unfortunately, always using my non-dominant hand has caused me to revert to an extremely high level of klutziness. I have figured out how to do many things quite well with my left hand, but holding onto a cup of coffee does not qualify as one of them. Over the past couple of weeks, three yummy javas have suffered tragic deaths at my hands. I'm a crazed coffee killer, I be takin' out beans like it ain't no thing!

I guess Joe's point is that just because I can do something without help doesn't mean I have to, or even that I should. Using my left arm all the time does get tiring, so I've been taking my right arm out of the sling to use it, even though I'm not supposed to.  Overuse will only slow down my recovery, so if Joe wants to do everything for me when he's around, I guess there's no harm in letting him. I only have four weeks left until the brace comes off, and I'm going to start milking this thing for all it's worth! You asked for it, Joe. For the next month, whenever I want you to do anything, all I expect to hear is "As you wish".

Ginger Snapped

When I titled this blog Ginger Snaps, I was thinking more along the lines of Ginger snapping other people, not herself! Of course that's just a joke, I don't ever really want to snap anything on anyone. That would be horrible, it would be way worse than snapping myself! Unless it was a bad guy, and he was asking for it.

I'm trying to keep my spirits up about my broken wrist. My husband actually thinks it's a blessing in disguise. He's not happy I got hurt, but he's glad that I am unable to ignore it this time. I currently have a few nagging injuries that I've refused to take enough time off to allow to properly heal, so I've been playing through the pain for awhile. Joe hopes my old injuries are finally going to get a chance to heal while I am sidelined for my wrist. I hate to admit it, but he's probably right.

I just have to look on the bright side. Prior to this, I couldn't do anything with my left hand, but over the next couple of weeks I expect to become fully ambidextrous! I am also determined to do a one-armed push-up sometime soon. I couldn't even do one with my right arm before I broke my wrist, but I figure my left arm should get super strong now, and I'll have plenty of time to practice.

Six weeks really isn't that long, it could be a lot worse. I'm going to try to stay positive, and keep focusing on what I can do right now, instead of what I can't. Otherwise, I'm likely to get depressed over not being able to feed my Jiu-Jitsu addiction. If I allow myself to go all crazy from the withdrawal, we'll get to see another meaning of Ginger Snaps...and no one wants that.

Snap:   

 1. To suddenly break something with a short loud noise, or to be broken in this way.

2. To suddenly lose control and become extremely angry or upset because a situation has become too annoying or difficult.

Broken

I must have really made Jiu-Jitsu mad when I complained in my last post that it was being mean to me because I kept getting hurt.  Jiu-Jitsu must have been like "Woman, you don't even have any reason to be complaining about some stupid minor injuries.  Here, let me give you something to complain about!"  Then today, it broke my wrist.

I suppose technically it could be blamed on Judo, because today was our Women's Jiu-Jitsu Class Throwing Sunday.  As much as I would like to blame it on Judo, and it did happen during a throw, I'm afraid I cannot.  I can't blame it on Judo, or Jiu-Jitsu, or Amy for making us throw, or even Skyler who is the one who threw me.  No,  I can only blame it on myself.  I did the one thing they tell you to never do, the one thing that they repeatedly warn will cause you to break something...I stuck my arm out to catch my fall, and Skyler landed on my wrist.  We both heard *crack*.

I must have been in a little bit of shock right afterwards, because I don't remember much, except that suddenly a guardian angel appeared, and she was ordering people around "Get the wrap from my bag!  Get me an ice pack!"  She fed me ibuprofen, wrapped me up, and made me feel better.  She also told me it was okay to cry, and I did.  I was very lucky that Sara was at the dojo today.  Not only is she a friend, but she's also a medic in training to be a firefighter.

Normally I'm reluctant about going to the doctor, but in this case I knew it was necessary.  I got it x-rayed, and found out that I broke the tip of the radius on my right wrist.  Bummer.  Except for some small toes, this is the first bone I've ever broken.  It hurts.  I'm supposed to go see an orthopedic specialist tomorrow, and I'm looking at probably six weeks out of commission.

I'm not a very good typist to begin with, and I am right-handed, so this injury affects my writing and video game playing abilities as well. I swear I've learned my lesson!  Both about sticking my hand out to break my fall, and about complaining about minor injuries.  I'm going to try to never do either of those again.