Having made it to nineteen years old without any major injuries, I considered myself lucky. I’d never experienced any of the common childhood injuries, like a broken arm or leg, and I was planning on keeping it that way. Then, Floralia – specifically, my first ever Floralia during freshman year – rolled around. I was excited for a full day of dancing before having to turn my attention to studying for finals. Then, just when I was least expecting it, I heard a crack as though I was stretching my back. It felt like a pulled muscle. Unfortunately, an MRI confirmed the worst-case scenario (to me) later in the summer: I had completely shredded my ACL and would need surgery.
Whether it’s swimming, playing tennis, hiking, skiing, or jogging, I’m used to being pretty active. After that surgery finally happened, I started to get a little bored lying around on the couch immobile for days on end. Here’s what I did to pass the time:
#1: Caught up on shows
During the first two days after surgery, I was immobile and lying on the couch, since that was pretty much all I could do. This was the perfect time to catch up on shows I had on my Netflix/Hulu watch list. These included finishing The Perfect Couple and starting Hulu’s newest original reality series, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. It was the perfect watch, as I spent a lot of holidays in Utah growing up (my dad’s family lives there, and we would spend every winter I remember skiing there). It was also interesting learning about the many contradictions of Mormonism. Example: they’re not allowed to have coffee or tea because of caffeine, but they are allowed to have caffeinated sodas like Coke and Dr. Pepper? Or the fact that they’re not allowed to drink alcohol or do drugs, but somehow ketamine therapy is OK? Also, what exactly does “hot drinks” constitute, since apparently they are allowed to have hot chocolate? The Perfect Couple is a suspenseful, intense murder mystery about a family on vacation in Nantucket for a wedding. The bride gets killed, and for the entire series, you’re trying to figure out who did it.Â
#2: Cuddled with my dog!Â
My dog Kiki is possibly one of the neediest dogs in this world. This can be annoying when you are eating food, but it’s perfect when you’re laying on the couch with nothing else to do. Kiki slept with me every single night and would always sit with me on the couch when I couldn’t move those first two days.Â
#3: Played a bit of piano
I was able to get up and play some piano through an online lesson with my teacher from high school (who still lives and teaches in Jordan, where I spent the majority of my high school years). It was a little uncomfortable, but I was able to sit through the whole 40 minute lesson during the two Sundays post-surgery that I was home for!