Pong

Okay, so here's the deal. I know it's absolutely pathetic, but I have to make a confession: I have weak ankles. Do you remember the part in Disney's Hercules when Meg sticks her foot in Herc's face and says, "Do you have any problems with things like this? Weak ankles, I mean." Yeah, that's totally me, except I do that in a completely non-flirtatious, "Hey everybody look at that idiot over there," kind of way.

Here's the story. So, two months ago (that's May, for those of you keeping track) I went to the Hart Gym with two of my roommates and our FHE brother to play some sports and get away from our apartments. We get there and can't decide what sport we want to play, and after an intense discussion in which no working-out was accomplished, we decided to take the easy way out and play ping-pong. Completely safe and harmless, right?

Ha. That's a good one.

I am usually a decent ping-pong player, but that night was, well, not a good one for me and that particular game. We played for a long time, and I lost repeatedly. Things were not looking good for me: I should have taken this for a sign.

And then, one of my friends smacked the ball as hard and far as they possibly could, sending it clear across the HUGE gym we were playing in. And I, being the kind-hearted person that I typically am, went after it. Then, disaster struck.

I wish this was some dramatic moment when I had been hit in the head with a runaway basketball and fell right into the open and welcoming arms of my true love, but it wasn't. Nope, I crouched down to retrieve the ball all too quickly, twisted my ankle into an extremely uncomfortable position, and collapsed onto the cold, non-prince-charming floor of the gym. Perfect.

But I shake it off, right, because that's what you're supposed to do when you fall down. I grabbed the ball and ran back to my game, laughing about my stupidity and trying to hide the great amount of pain I was in.

When I got back to my friends, my ankle hurt so much that I couldn't stand on it anymore. Now, you've gotta understand that I usually turn my ankles at least once in any sport that I play, but it hadn't hurt this much in a very long time. I sat on the floor and started rotating it, but even that killed!

When my roomies were finished playing, I limped home with them and thought nothing about my injured ankle expect for a hope that it would feel better in the morning. It didn't, but I didn't pay attention to it, and eventually I forgot I'd hurt it.

But now to the main point of the story. It is now July (two months later, just so we're clear) and my ankle hurts like the dickens! (and I can totally say that because I'm an English major) I have never had this much pain in my ankle. And the worst part is that I can't just ignore it like I usually do, because it won't go away and it just keeps getting more painful by the day! Grah!

It's wrapped and all that jazz, but it hurts to walk on or move in any direction. It's not swollen or anything like that, but it's definitely bugging the heck out of me.

Does anybody have any miracle cures for a twisted ankle? Or perhaps a better story for me to tell than, "I twisted my ankle playing the dangers and sometimes fatal sport of ping-pong." I mean, who's going to take me seriously now?