Well, I hated to do this, but I was having a hard time getting out and about for about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks, on the 25th of April I was heading back to my apartment, riding the Metro. I was changing train lines at Nihombashi Station, and the train I was boarding had a fairly large gap between the platform and the side of the train cars, and I found this out the painfully hard way because I fell into it with my right leg, getting it trapped! I was trying to board, but I needed to back out of the train to let someone else maneuver her stroller around, and when I stepped back, there was nothing beneath my right foot! I went down hard, and the only thing stopping me was the fat part of my thigh! For a few seconds I couldn’t get purchase to pull myself out of the gap, and my exertion trying is what really damaged my leg. Needless to say this was frightening, and I definitely panicked, not wanting the train to start moving while my leg was wedged in between! Fortunately all the people on the platform with me helped me, and made sure the train wasn’t going to move before I could get free.
As it is, the muscles on both sides of my thigh were slightly crushed while the train re-balanced itself and I was pulling on my leg, and 3 weeks later I still have a substantial knot on my leg just below the knee, which at the time was painful but I was still able to put weight on it, riding on the Metro back to the station nearest my apartment. I still had to walk about 1/2 mile from the station to my apartment, but I made it after stopping at a conbini along the way for some sandwiches etc. I knew I wasn’t going to be walking around a lot, because of how my leg felt.
I didn’t know how bad it really was until the next day, when the swelling set in and the bruising started. It got really horrible-looking for a while, and the pain was pretty fierce, but I did manage to get some aspirin which helped. I basically stayed off the leg, kept raising it to keep down the swelling, and applying cold packs.
I should have been posting more of the places I had gotten to before getting hurt, since I wasn’t going anywhere, but I really didn’t feel like sitting which aggravated my leg. At any rate, after 2 weeks of not going anywhere, I felt better but not great, and started walking around the block near the apartment, which fortunately had a 7-eleven around the corner to get more things to eat. Over time I started walking further and further, and now (as I’m preparing to leave!) I can make it the usual 4-6 miles per day that I was doing before.
I probably won’t get to see many more things now, and I probably won’t be getting many more posts in before I leave, but I still have lots of things to show from places I did get to. I’m not sure if I will, but I’m thinking I might be able to come back to Japan in a couple of years, if the money is okay and my health remains good. Overall I’m glad I came, but looking back I wish I hadn’t gotten hurt, and been in the mood to do more before then.
All in all, I’m sorry if you’ve been following (or trying to) and you haven’t seen anything new from me for a few weeks, but please check back every so often, I will be posting some more neat things (eventually!) I promise!
(if you don’t want to be grossed out, you can close the page, but if you’re curious, here’s what my leg looked like at its worst.)
