Countdown...and down for the count

It appears that I have "popped" a tendon, whatever that means.  Climbing in the gym, felt a pop in my palm, blah blah blah.  I'm not sure how serious it is...just hurts in my palm, and is pretty sore today.  

I remember the first time I had a finger injury.  I was in Bishop at the end of a road trip (well, the finger injury largely brought it to an end) and my boyfriend at the time had just left town and I pretty much knew that it wasn't going to last.  In addition, I had no idea what I was going to do with myself...go to graduate school? Get a job?  Where should I go? What should I do?

At that time, my injury was utterly devastating.  It's kind of funny to think back on it now.  I was so bummed.  Since I was on the road trying to avoid growing up and avoid even thinking about growing up, I obsessed over my injury.  I started taking all these supplements, put ointments on it...you know...snake oil stuff.

At any rate, I went from Bishop to Wyoming for a month where I sat on the sidelines watching my "relationship" (or maybe the idea of my relationship seems more appropriate) crumble.   I was definitely not climbing...didn't know where the hell I was going to go or what I was going to do.  The fact that I couldn't climb made it so much worse.

Fast forward.  Today I'm studying for my qualifying exam.  I'm in my third year of graduate school and just got my first manuscript accepted for publication.  I have a bike, which I enjoy riding if I can't climb, a house, a job, and probably most importantly, a community.  I also have larger medical issues, which puts things in perspective.  Somehow, a tendon injury doesn't seem like that big of a deal.  Yeah.