Pain Thresholds

[revena]

So, my mom broke her foot during sparring practice on Thursday. She felt it kinda go "pop," but she figured it was just a sprain or something, and kept going for a couple more rounds (having done almost this exact thing myself, more than once, I can say with confidence that it seems perfectly reasonable to ignore injuries when you're full of adrenaline. Ahhh, hormones). It got a little swollen that night, but she wasn't too worried. She went to work, and spent the whole day on her feet.

When I saw her on Friday night, her right foot was something like twice as big as her left.

"That is some serious swelling," I said. "I think maybe you should get an x-ray."

"Maybe I will if it turns purple or something," she said. "But I think it's okay."

Fortunately, she decided to have it looked at by a doctor today, after all. She drove herself to the clinic, got x-rays, was told that she had broken a bone and might possibly need minor surgery to fix it, then drove herself home and spent the rest of the afternoon doing housework and going up and down the stairs.

She asked me this evening how Jameson is doing, since he got his wisdom teeth taken out on Tuesday.

"He's okay," I said. "He's pretty uncomfortable, though, still. And he doesn't want to eat real food, so the ibuprofen is giving him an upset stomach."

Mom looked very concerned. "It's been almost a week. Don't you think he should be feeling better by now? You ate pizza the day after you got yours out."

"You know," I pointed out, "you and I don't exactly have a typical tolerance for pain."

She shrugged. "I guess not. Why do you keep rubbing the back of your hand? Got a bug bite?"

"Uh-uh. Ann punched me while we were doing partnerwork."

"What, in the hand?"

I nodded. "Pretty hard, too. My fingers all went numb for a little while, and it still kinda hurts."

"Hmm," Mom said. "Well, if it swells up or turns purple, I'm gonna make you get x-rays."

"I'm not worried," I said. "I'm pretty sure it went numb because she hit me between the bones. And anyway, I can wiggle all of my fingers."

Of course, Mom can still wiggle all of her toes...

Comments

[gothy-dork.livejournal.com]

Gaah, sounds like my dad...he could have a limb hanging off and not bother to see a doctor until forced to.

[revena.livejournal.com]

I think I'd probably go in if something actually became detached... ;-)

[littlebutfierce]

Ouch!!! Yeah, sounds like higher pain tolerance in your family than in mine for sure. Heh.

[revena.livejournal.com]

I'm a complete wuss when it comes to stuff like sore throats, though. So I guess there's a trade-off.

[moonglows.livejournal.com]

I have discovered your secret: You really are descended from a family of superheroes :)

[revena.livejournal.com]

*laugh*

[yi-sen.livejournal.com]

The only difficult thing about a tremendous pain tolerance is the potential that your mom may be making her foot worse. I'd be really scared of permanent injuries.

Striking the hand/arm/ankle/leg/anything trying to strike us is one of the things that we do regularly in Ninjutsu. My sensei got me good on the back of the hand, and I felt it for a few days.

[revena.livejournal.com]

She's got a rigid boot thing to wear that's supposed to keep the bone from moving around at all, and she says she's trying to stay off her feet, but I know I'll feel better about it when they've got her in an actual cast.

[yi-sen.livejournal.com]

Those air boot things never fill me with confidence. They always seem like an excuse for someone to walk on an injured limb.

[meretia]

Wow. You and your mom are badass.

I limped around on a sprained ankle for a couple of weeks because the college health center declined to do anything about it and I didn't pretty much didn't have any other option. But other than that I come from a family of wusses. Just reading about that makes me cringe.

[revena.livejournal.com]

This is actually the third time my mother's broken a bone during sparring. I think she maybe needs to hit people less hard. And possibly drink more milk.

Super-humon?

[deserttango.livejournal.com]

How is it that I get skipped for all the genetic coolness? If I want tolerance, I have to expose myself to iocane powder in increasing amounts every day! But for reals, Mom is walking on a broken foot? I have to go by and see that today...

Re: Super-humon?

[revena.livejournal.com]

Yeah, she is. I think the doctor made her promise not to go in to work today, so hopefully she's staying home and putting it up on a chair. I wouldn't be surprised if she decides she'd rather get errands done or something, though.

[enteryouruserid.livejournal.com]

Guess what happened today??? I took a page from your mom's book and broke my little toe! So ironic!! Check out my LJ!
http://enteryouruserid.livejournal.com/33607.html