How my birthday weekend saw me end up in A&E

When I woke up on Friday I thought I had a weekend of fun lined up to celebrate my birthday - little did I know my birthday weekend would end with me going to hospital!

Friday (my actual birthday) went really well - despite going to work - and I started off by opening a few presents before heading to work. On my way home from work I popped into Lingo Design, in Downham Market, to see two very lovely ladies, Liz and Abbie. I was greeted by two beaming smiles and showered with "unique" presents. I wasn't expecting half of what they did and I felt very special!! (Thanks ladies - big hugs!)

A few of my friends came up on Friday evening to stay over ahead of a night out on Saturday evening and they came with me as I headed to The Nest for an Outwell Swifts game against Fulbourn Institute. I had new boots for the game and felt confident I was going to have a good game.

My confidence soon turned to reality as I was having a great game. The game was pretty tight and it was just before half-time when disaster struck for me. I went up for a header and won it but as I came down I landed awkwardly on my ankle and the opposition player then landed on top of my ankle.

I instantly felt my foot begin to swell and I had to go off for a few minutes to see if I could run it off - I could barely walk, let alone run so by half time I had to be taken off. As soon as I took off my boots I could feel the swelling really kick on.

I watched the rest of the game from a bench close to the pitch and saw the team lose 4 - 0 in a game we should've really won. Then we headed to the pub where I got some ice on my foot which had swollen beyond recognition at this point. After a couple of drinks in The Crown it was a painful short drive back to my abode where I was in obvious pain and had to hobble into my flat (I was glad at this point I live on the ground floor!)..

After a couple more hours of RICE-ing my foot and ankle, the swelling had shrunk enough that I could get into shoes, dressed up and head into Lynn with my friends. I had taken a few pain killers and the amount of alcohol I drunk made it somewhat easy for me to walk around town but there was still a lot of pain!

After the alcohol and drugs wore off, I woke on Sunday in a lot of pain and when I looked down at my foot it was just a big blob - that is how I can only describe it because it was that swollen. On attempting to put weight on the foot, the pain was horrific and I had to resort to hobbling into my living room and inevitably waking all my friends!

After the looks on their faces at seeing my inflated foot and ankle, it was decided I should go to A&E and thankfully one of my friends decided to delay her plans for the day and take me.

On arriving at A&E in King's Lynn, I thought they would take one look at my foot and ankle and tell me to go home and rest - I was surprised that the first nurse to see me was so shocked at how much it had swollen that I was placed in a wheelchair!

I thought I might have a long wait but I was quickly taken into a examination room and then my foot was given a proper look before I was wheeled off for an Xray. Thankfully I didn't break any bones but the nurse told me that he couldn't check the damage to my ligaments because of the swelling and that it could take a week for the swelling to come down and now I am at home almost three days after I sustained the injury and my foot is still as swollen!

That is how my birthday weekend saw me end up in A&E..