Official Website of Holly West | Crime Fiction Writer

Dealing with Setbacks

About four weeks ago I tore my ACL in a skiing accident. I suppose the term "accident" is a bit melodramatic; the truth is I fell down. I was skiing down a blue/black run, challenging, but certainly not beyond my capabilities. I was practicing carving and I got to going a bit too fast. I'm not sure what happened next but I lost control and fell with my left knee in an awkward position. I knew from the pain and my subsequent inability to put weight on it I'd done some significant damage.

After an MRI and a couple of visits to an orthopedic surgeon, it was determined the ACL is fully torn and I will need surgery in about four weeks to repair it because apparently, ACLs don't heal on their own (sneaky bastards). The surgery is fairly routine, not too invasive, and recovery is generally quick, so I haven't been that concerned. In the next four weeks, it's up to me to rehab the knee by swimming, using the stationary bike, and a little bit of eliptical.

If you're interested in learning more about the surgery, visit this link.

I'd been healing well. Most of my range of motion had returned, I had almost no pain and no swelling. But yesterday I had a bit of a setback and I re-injured the knee simply getting into the back seat of a car. 

I have no adequate way to describe the level of pain I experienced; suffice to say I nearly passed out from the intensity of it. Now my knee is worse that it was before and I'm feeling a lot more nervous in general about the surgery, the recovery, all of it.

I'm just not that good at dealing with setbacks.

This is where I pick myself up by my bootstraps and keep limping forward until I get to the finish line. I keep telling myself nothing's changed. But the truth is I'm tired of being a gimp. I'm tired of not being able to exercise properly. I'm even tired of being waited on, if you an believe that. I just want to get this done with.

But enough of my complaining. How do you deal with setbacks?

Mile 26 LA Marathon

Warning: Turn down the volume on your computer 'cause I am screaming like crazy as my dad runs by.

The LA Marathon was yesterday and what a day. We went early and staked out a spot at the 26 mile mark, which meant the runners had .2 miles left and the finish line was in plain sight. Some of them looked as fresh as mile 1 and others looked as though every step was agony. My dad finished the marathon in 3:51, and 7th in his division.

We saw the elite runners come in and I was so happy to see a woman win the gender challenge. After that, we had about an hour left until my dad came in so we just stood and cheered on all the other runners. Fun! Congratulations to all the runners. You all did a great job!

We Don't Have Cable

I don't mean that the cable went out during a storm or something like that. Mick and I got rid of our cable service about eight months ago, and for the most part, we haven't looked back.

On days like today, though, when a big cultural event like the Superbowl is on (it's sort of a cultural event, isn't it?) it feels kind of weird not to have cable. I don't even like football. But it would be cool to be able to turn it on for awhile, just to see what's going on. It's like that for awards shows, too, or really, any live show we can't watch live on the Internet.

Okay, it's not like I'd be watching it anyway. But I'm reminded of the Superbowl a few years ago when I was working in my bedroom office and turned on the TV just to check out the half-time show. Dude, I got to see Janet Jackson's boob. This year, there will be no such titillation.

Of course, we were invited to watch the Superbowl at a friend's house, and normally, that's where we'd be on this special day. This year, however, Mick and I are both sick and I have an assignment I have to get done by tomorrow. So alas, we will be spending the day at home, Superbowl-less. I don't even have any chips and salsa in the house, and forget the Miller Light.

The only football team I have any feelings for at all is the Philadelphia Eagles. That's because my dad grew up in Philadelphia and I was taught to like them. Since the Eagles are sadly not playing in this year's Superbowl, I am rooting for the New Orleans Saints. Why? Because I remember when I was growing up the Saints were so bad they were nicknamed the Ain'ts, and let's face it, New Orleans is a much cooler city than Indianapolis. I've been to both. I know.

Tomorrow, I will not lament my lack of cable, I will rejoice in it, for it is one less bill we have to pay. But today, I'm feeling a little lonely, a little left out. I think I'll make a run for some chips and Miller Light.

Is 70 the New 40?

Today my dad, aged 68, is running the Boston Marathon. I doubt I'll get much writing done this morning because I'm so obsessed with tracking him on the website.  If you would like to participate in this obsessive/compulsive refreshing, his bib number is 14742.

My dad has been running since I was young, and for a long time I took it for granted.  Now that I'm older and have ran a marathon myself, I know what a serious achievement it is. And he doesn't just run a marathon. He runs a marathon. This year his goal is an under 3:30 finish time. Not for wimps.

Update 11:27 am PST:  His final time was 3:35:11 and he placed 11th in his division (ages 65-69).

If you think about it, our parents (I'm 40, parents are in their 60s) are the generation that re-defined retirement. When my grandparents were 40, 40 seemed OLD (and in fact, my grandma became my grandma at age 39). Now my parents are 60+, almost 70 in fact, and they are like Energizer bunnies. Part of it is just their personalities, and they've lived a "healthy lifestyle" for years, but I honestly don't know anybody in that generation that is just sitting around getting old.

And I'm not the only one whose noticed. It used to be you could get a free lift ticket when you reached age 70.  Now you have to be 80 to ski free. I'm up for the challenge.