The most recent issue technically started happening yesterday, but became much more noticeable today. It was a little surprising in the moment, but not surprising in retrospect.
About 15 years ago, I was playing soccer and put myself in an exposed position with someone who was obviously a dirty player. He had no issues with running into people rather than trying to play the ball, so in my case, my leg and the soccer ball were close enough that he decided to make my knee his primary target. I was able to limp off the field under my own power, but not much more than that.
I woke up the next morning and knew that something was wrong because I had a kneecap when I went to bed. The swelling was so severe around my knee that you could barely see it. (That’s what happens when someone kicks you right above the kneecap and a scan of what used to be your ACL looks like the bottom of a jellyfish instead.)
But what was unexpected was how in maybe a week, I started developing a bruise around my ankle and heel. Courtesy of gravity, the fluid that had originally pooled around my knee moved further down my leg, making a bruise show up there.
After surgery on the left side of my head, I’ve been sleeping on my right side. We saw a little color and a little swelling in my left eyelid yesterday. No pain, just a little discomfort from the pressure from the extra fluid there. This morning, I can see a slight pinkish arc in the bottom of my left eye’s field of vision because my lower lid has started swelling to match the upper lid. The coloration is getting darker… it’s starting to look like a pretty respectable black eye. (Rumors inside the house have been swirling around about how if I tell people that Teresa gave it to me, I may end up with a real one.)
And in a way, it’s almost worse than the scars on my head. Those may be more severe and scary-looking, but they can also be covered up by a hat. What can I use to cover up a black eye? My glasses? Nope, that thing’s on full display until it eventually fades. How long will that take? Much like a lot of things in this whole process, I’ll find out when it happens and I have absolutely zero power to speed up the process. But on the plus side, at least my eye is fully functional and I don’t need crutches to get my face to move around.