Along with Jeff and Tripp, I, too, took part in the annual Seabury-Nashotah flag football game. As a one-time alumnus, I had my spectator status scratched when coach Yamada said one more person would not hurt. So I donned a purple tee-shirt and joined the fray.
The Healy highlights: I was called for actually delivering a full-on block to one of our opponents, and I caught one of our touchdown passes. Apparently in flag football there's no contact. Heck, all I was told was that you couldn't initiate contact. I didn't initiate it; he came at me. Ah well. I haven't played full-on contact football, even of the yardlot variety, for many years. Seems the instincts are still there. And apparently this lineman-handed academic can still bobble around and catch a pass or two. If it happens to be in the endzone, so much the better.
Alas, being a weekend warrior, my body let me know that this was a fool's errand. Early on in the first quarter, I felt something pull in my right foot. But it didn't hurt too bad, so I played on till the end of the game. However, the more post-game time passed, the more painful my foot became. By the time we got home, I was hobbling around like an ol' Kansas farmer that had seen one too many winters.
By 4:00am Sunday, I was pretty sore, so my wife called the doctor and we got permission to head to the ER. (Women. I would have rather have stayed in bed and just let it heal, but there you go. Apparently she can't take my whinin'.) After three and a half hours (which was great time for a weekend in the ER) and four x-rays, it was determined that I had a bone spur on my heel. I swear to you, it looks just like the spur on a chicken's leg, 'cept it's on my heel and curved forward toward my toes. I had apparently landed on my foot in such a way as to allow the spur to aggravate the plantar something-or-other-membrane-tissue-whachacallit. Remedy: ice for twenty minutes at a time, 800mg of ibuprofen every 6-8 hours, and a handly little script for Vicodin (which I don't think I'll have filled). Oh, and stay off it as much as you can for the next 2-3 days. Yeah, right.
Here's the National Enquirer headline: Injured Mutant from Alpha Centauri Plays Weekend Football Game.
Posted by Clifton at October 13, 2003 08:00 AM | TrackBackCliff,
Man!! I know all about those pesky heel spurs. I was in the middle of the run of a show at the time and my feet were sore after the show. It got to the point that after the shows I was hobbled over and bent like an old man...that is when i figure it was time to see a doc (about 6 months after it started). Saw the spur on the x-ray, doc gave me a cortizone shot (i have only felt a little pain since then ... 2 years ago), and he had a poditorist (sp) make some inserts for my shoes...
But I feel your pain...litterally.
jt
Posted by: justin at October 13, 2003 10:54 AMYep. Already got a referral for an orthopede.
Posted by: Clifton D. Healy at October 13, 2003 02:19 PMI think we might need to stick with academic pusuits...but I had a great time.
Posted by: Jeff Reich at October 13, 2003 08:10 PM