SLIP HAPPENS...

Not long ago I had lunch with a classmate who is fast becoming a close friend! We talked about all of the many life decisions that come at this age, and how so much is happening all at once. It is both riveting and paralyzing. Do we buy a house or not buy a house... have a kid or wait... when is a good time for life to resume, and do we ever really put it on hold? Well the answer is no. And you’ve guessed it, I’ve got a story to tell! 

The day before Thanksgiving I was carrying groceries down the steep hill in front of my apartment and I slipped and fell. Just like that, my patellar tendon snapped and I laid on the ground in shock and in excruciating pain. Someone heard me and called 911. They graciously got the rest of my bags inside and helped me calm down as I realized I couldn’t get up... 

Not wanting to move me alone on this hill and needing more people to hold the bed in place, the first ambulance called for a second and about 30 minutes later I was off to the ER. After some pain meds and x-rays the doctor came in and said I would need surgery to repair it, and it would take at least 6 months for me to gain normal function... I had finals in 2 weeks!!! And now I have to have surgery. I was devastated, I was killing grad school so hard, I felt on top of the world and now... this! Life hit me HARD. I was a wreck, and I couldn’t understand why God allowed this to happen when I had SO much to get done. But I had to stop and tend to Life. It did not stop because I am in grad school and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon.

Before we left the ER I had to learn how to walk with a brace. I couldn’t bend my knee and I could only put weight on my leg when it was fully extended. It was uncomfortable and painful. I couldn’t even get down the hallway without bursting into tears. But after a couple of days I could get around ok. I was hoping to schedule the surgery at the end of the week so I could complete one more week of classes, but my surgeon wasn’t having any of that. However, I was able to make it to a couple of classes with my crutch and my brace, I made quite an entrance. I fell on the 21st of November and I had surgery on the 28th. The day of my surgery I was a ball of nerves but I am told everything went off without a hitch.

A week after surgery I was sitting up with my computer plugging away at final presentations and papers. I couldn’t really leave the house for a few weeks so I finished the quarter from home with a 3.9 gpa. Trust me I am not bragging, and I still think why did this have to happen at times. But man did it help show me what I’m made of, and make me slow down just a little. Maybe that’s just what I needed. In the middle of planning and thinking about my future, to be reminded in a BIG way that life WILL just happen sometimes, and we adjust and move forward. 

We have our moments, our disappointment, our confusion, our fear, worry, anger, or sadness, and We Show Up anyway. Maybe not our best selves, but our present selves. And that’s enough...

I start my strength training this week. And I’m happy to report that healing is coming along well. I had to adjust my Winter Quarter schedule accordingly, but am still taking on a full course load. My parents flew down to help my Partner Will and I after the surgery, and my cohort coordinated meals for all of us for weeks! Everyone was truly amazing and I felt so loved and cared for. In the midst of the pain and uncertainty, all I had to worry about was getting better, and I am so grateful for that!

I have a scar on my left knee, I have had my first surgery, I have met another dimension of myself, and I am proud of her!

Wherever you are in considering grad school, or just considering the next steps in your life, go for it! There’s never going to be this perfect time, because slip happens!

-EM