On the Mend

Monday night last week, I was lying in bed reading, on the edge of dozing off to sleep.  The phone rang, as it seems to do when I am on the edge of sleep.  I was sure it was my husband.  He had gone out to an open mic to do a bit of stand-up, and he usually calls to tell me he's coming home.  I slowly climbed out of bed and ran for the phone before it went to voicemail.  It was my husband!  In a frantic voice he told me that I needed to come pick him up, "I think my ankle is broken!  I need to go to the emergency room!"

So I hopped in the car, not knowing what happened (I was really worried he had been hit by a car or fell down the stairs or something - how does one break their ankle at an open mic, i wondered), and drive the short distance to pick him up.  As I neared the corner to pick him up, I called him and he told me that his friend already had him in the car and I needed to meet them at the ER.  So I drove back up to our local ER and met them there.  We got him in to a wheel-chair and started our hour wait to get into see a doctor.  During this wait, I found out he decided to race a friend of his in a "5 house dash."  As he was about to cross the finish line, he heard a thwaap! and headed face-first for the ground.  He threw his right palm in front of him to catch his fall and also scraped up his right elbow and left knee.

After X-rays were taken, we found out that he hadn't broken any bones (thank goodness), but unfortunately, he had ruptured his achilles tendon.  They put a fiberglass splint on his leg, washed up his elbow and knee and sent him home.  By the next Tuesday (this week), he was in and out of surgery, and on his way to a steady recovery.  He now has a cast on and is hobbling around on crutches.

There are a few redeeming factors about this sad state of affairs.

1.) He has been eating Paleo for the last 2.5 months and has lost over 30 lbs.  (It is quite difficult to weigh yourself when you have crutches and a cast and you can't put your weight on your casted leg, but I actually think he's lost more like 35 lbs. by now.)  This is a good thing because it is less weight for him to carry around as he's crutching.  It's also great because, as he is losing weight, his body is in a healing mode and that should speed up his recovery time.  Paleo food is also void of grains, legumes, and seed oils, which can cause chronic inflammation.  Some inflammation is good when you need it to heal your body, but chronic inflammation is just not helpful and can cause or worsen auto-immune diseases, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis.  As he's healing, my husband needs all of the inflammation his body is making to go right where he needs it!

2.) Because he's been losing weight so easily and comfortably (we are NEVER hungry on a paleo diet) he is in a very positive mood, which I think will help keep him sane, me sane (have to help him with almost everything he wants to do - from cooking to showers), and I think if he's in a good mood it may lower his stress levels and help him heal faster.

Beef Bone Broth Simmering on the stove

3.) I made Beef Bone Broth!  You can check out the recipe/video here.  After browning the beef knuckles and mirepoix (carrots, celery, and onion) in the oven, throw them all in a big soup pot with some cold, filtered water and some red wine.  The acid in the wine leaches the calcium from the bones into the broth along with the collagen.  When the collagen enters your body and moves through your digestive system, it goes through unharmed.  It goes into the blood stream and finds places where the collagen is needed (a busted achilles tendon, perhaps?) and repairs it.  For more info on that check out Deep Nutrition.

Hopefully my hubby will be healed up in no time!