It wouldn't be a sports season unless I am carried off the field

I sprained my ankle a few nights ago playing tag rugby. I was trying to tag this girl, and she was trying to deek around me. She stopped suddenly and moved in the other direction, so I did too, but my left ankle didn't go in the same direction as the rest of my body. I heard a pop and was down on the ground. It turned out to be not that bad of a sprain though you wouldn't have known by the size of my ankle and the pain on Tuesday night. I had to be carried off the field and then later carried to the car. The swelling has gone down quite a bit already and I can walk a short distance without limping. If I go to the store, I still need one of my crutches and ramps and stairs are a bit of an issue, but I think that I'll be walking somewhat normally at least by next week. So it's not nearly as bad as some of my previous injuries.

It was hard work getting used to being a temporary cripple here in Dublin. I had to catch a taxi to the hospital but I ran out of credit on my phone the night before. I had to ask my flatmate to call me a taxi, and the taxi company didn't want to come pick me up because I live too close to the hospital (it's about a five minute walk). First however, I needed to add some credit onto my phone because I needed to call work to say I wouldn't be in. The taxi driver pulled up to the store and I asked him if he wouldn't mind going in and he said no. I had to hop on one leg into the store, top up my mobile and hop out. Good thing I took dance classes as a kid, they really came in handy. At the hospital, they didn't put me in a wheelchair. A nurse led me to radiology and halfway down the hallway, which I was hopping down, she turned and asked me if I wanted crutches. Uh, well, how much further is radiology? Oh no that's ok, I'll keep hopping. It's a great workout. My good leg was hurting more than the sprained ankle by this time.

Irish hospitals are grim by the way. I was wondering why everyone at tag was saying that I should go home, put ice on it, and not go to the hospital until tomorrow if I could help it. I think the hospital waiting room would be seriously dodgy in the evenings. Oh, and something that some of you might find surprising. If you go into a hospital for anything, they charge you EURO55. I have private insurance, which I just got through work the day before my injury, fortuitously enough, but it's not very good here in Ireland. It doesn't cover the EURO55 admittance fee for one. Private insurance covers you for things like cancer treatment and private beds in a hospital, which you would definitely want here, as well as maternity care, cardiac care (necessary for those who grew up on Irish breakfasts) and MRI scans. Outpatient treatment including all proactive tests, GP visits and specialist consultations (dermatology, orthopaedic, physiotherapy) are discounted rate subject to a EURO220 or EURO350 yearly deductible - depending on what plan you go for. You can pay extra for a complete plan, but it's very, very expensive. I guess I feel slightly easier knowing that if I get something chronic, and I spend more than EURO220 in a year, that my subsequent outpatient visits will be discounted, though you have to pay the full amount and get the money back at the end of the year. I went with the plan with the lower deductible for routine care, because let's face it, if I get cancer, I'm going home to Canada. Besides, my plan also has partial cover for emergency dental in case of an accident, and the other plan had no coverage for dental at all. Teeth don't matter here apparently. Meanwhile, if I get in an accident and my teeth get knocked out, I consider that to be a serious medical issue. Getting teeth fixed properly (and to a certain cosmetic standard) is very expensive here. I much prefer the Canadian system – it's just so much easier. I got a skin rash a couple of months ago, and thought I might have to go to a dermatologist (EURO150 just for him to look at you once). Luckily, my GP could treat it, and she only costs EURO50. Overall that's not a lot of money, but if you had to make a few follow-up visits and see a specialist a few times, that really makes a difference in one's budget.

Dublin isn't very disabled-friendly. The disabled access ramp at the train station where I go to catch the train to work is under repair, so that area is boarded up. To get on the train, I have to go over a pedestrian overpass, which has lots of stairs and is slippery in the rain. When I get off the train at my destination, the disabled exit leads to the street, so I would need to exit, cross the tracks and walk back to the station on the other side to catch the bus. It's a bit of a circuitous route. Alternatively, there is an overpass that I could climb. I don't really fancy climbing the stairs to the overpass on my knees and then going down on the other side on my butt in the presence of my fellow commuter coworkers. Besides, the shuttle bus leaves five minutes after the train arrives, and it would probably take me so long to do either option, I would miss the bus anyways. I've been taking the city bus to work, which takes longer, is less comfortable, but hey, no stairs and someone gives me their seat. It's times like this that you realise how crappy disabled people have it. I wish I had my work laptop set up and had Internet access - then I could work from home.

I have to say, thought, that people in Dublin are definitely nice to people with crutches, which is funny because normally I find most Dubliners to be pushy and inconsiderate. On my way home from the hospital, I was getting tired because the crutches are unbelievably crappy. My whole upper body has been killing me from the way I have to hold them, and I think I now have carpal tunnel in my left wrist as a result. I got to the shopping centre, which is between the hospital and my place, and there is a patch of grass there. Since I was really tired, I thought I would sit there for a bit. Intelligent move, because I couldn't get back up again. I was trying to get up, but my right leg was pretty weak from all the hopping earlier in the day, and I couldn't roll myself up just on that leg. At one point was on all fours to try to get up, when I noticed that this guy was staring at me from his car. I sat back down to wait until he drove off because I'm not here to put on a show for anyone's amusement, when he pulled over, got out of his car, and asked me if I needed help up. Everyone at work has been getting me tea, and in fact, I find it hard to just go to the cafeteria without being fussed over. After work one day, I was trying to get on the bus, but the stairs were kind of high up, so some guy came by and helped me up the stairs and then asked someone to get out of their seat so I could sit there. Funny, because most people push their way on and off the bus to make sure they're first.