Superman down

My dear husband recently broke.

This is very uncommon for the man I have come to suspect as Clark Kent-like, living the facade of human limitation, while in reality possessing a full spectrum of superpowers. Turns out that after the manner of a certain Greek hero, my husband's Kryptonite is that tedious little Achilles tendon...which snapped, tore, ruptured, or otherwise _______(insert favorite disconnecting verb here) while playing softball.

It could have been his second home run of the game had the tendon sniper not gunned him down between first and second base. To the untrained ball watching eye (mine) it looked like he had just slipped in the dirt. So it took a minute to register why he didn't bounce right back up and instead just laid there, barely moving, as fellow teammates (and a worried wife) hurried to investigate.

The events that followed went something like this: Pain. Shock. ER. Cast. Crutches. Pain. Medication. Surgery. New cast. Pain. More medication. Down for the count. Foot elevated. Restless. Frustrated. Two weeks out of work. Stir crazy. Hopping. Hobbling. Driving left footed. Slowly working back into life, but still on crutches for three more weeks, and after that a walking cast for I don't know how long. Physical therapy starts at 3 months, and total recovery time can be anywhere from 9 to 12 months. Ouch.

Today was his first day back at work and he would have even made it the whole day had the brakes not gone out in my car, causing him to have to leave work early to rescue me. So even in his compromised state he is still my Superhero--and now I will treat you to some rarely seen footage of Superman down.

This injury is actually from the home run he made before the REAL injury. It is more of a glory wound from a glory slide into home. But it didn't help to have this injury on his only "good" leg.

Here he is after successful reconnection of the tendon. Yes, folks, the leg bone IS connected to the foot bone. But Brian was still a bit out of it at this stage. He came out of the general anesthesia thinking and speaking in French, which is odd for someone who doesn't KNOW French.

This couch is pretty much where Brian has lived, breathed, ate and slept during the down time. He feels pretty useless in his condition, but we have LOVED having him home around the clock, and we will all miss him as he resumes "normal" life.

Welcome to our Infirmary. While Brian was in recuperation here, Windsyr burned her finger on the stove and joined in the fun of ice packs and pain. Cairo is not injured, but is a sort of hospital squatter, enjoying the Epsom salt foot bath that Brian had used to bring down the swelling.