Picture by Alfoart Graphic & Web Design

When I woke up yesterday morning, I knew it was going to be an AMAAAAZING day. I could feel it right away. Like a tickle, getting more and more intense. Like a child’s excitement as Christmas approaches. It had been building up over the past few days. As soon as I opened my eyes, I was struck by the invigorating sunlight on the blue winter sky and I knew it. Yesterday was THE day!

So I was in no rush in getting out of bed, taking a shower and getting dressed. I moved around as slowly as I could. Refining every gesture, enjoying every second of this overwhelming feeling. I couldn’t help but let it fill me right to my fingertips. So delicate and exquisite.

Luckily for me, Martin was in a very cheerful mood too. He was working from home and couldn’t resist the tempting change of focus I was offering him – let’s go for a drive, I said! Let’s spend the afternoon away from home. Like a rehearsal getaway before our trip to Athens on Saturday.

Off we went, heading for the former “TV-byen”, the site of the Danish broadcasting company (DR) in Søborg, north of Copenhagen. After DR left the premises, the whole site was turned into an exciting new “borough” accommodating companies, private housing, supermarkets, etc. We parked the car and went for a coffee. The place was quite big, but modern and extremely elegant. The personnel was very charming and service-minded. We were quickly seated in a quiet corner, with a great view over TV-byen.

The atmosphere was very friendly and relaxed, and before I knew it, I was small-talking with this very kind man, named Karsten Thomsen. Karsten appeared very knowledgeable and dedicated to our little chat. He cracked a joke about my golden shoelaces and took a genuine interest in my swimming and running. Soon he was taking pictures of me and we reviewed them together before we separated.

His verdict was definite – the MRI-scan showed two slipped discs in my neck. Yep, two of them! Why should I settle for one, when I can get two, hey? According to Karsten, who is a spine surgeon at Aleris-Hamlet Hospital, the double prolapse explains the excruciating pain and the spasms I’ve been experiencing in my upper back and my right arm for almost two weeks now.

It was a real blow and I hadn’t seen it coming. I can kiss goodbye to my marathon in New York in a few weeks, and all my swimming plans must now be rescheduled. No running, no swimming, no nothing whatsoever for the next 3-4 weeks, except for a few rehabilitation exercises. And then, we’ll see. Great! 😦

It wasn’t exactly the way I had planned to spend my 40th birthday next week – high on painkillers, with my right arm in a sling, spending hours in a bed in a fancy Greek hotel somewhere in Athens. I mean – how much excitement can you get from a neatly white-painted ceiling? You tell me!

But you know me – there is nothing so bad that a few G&T can’t cure! I’m a devoted practitioner of the Triple A (remember this post on my blog?). So after a few hours of self-pity, slinging my boa around as my world was falling apart, I stopped binge eating and decided to counter-attack and focus on the bright side.

The damage is not that bad. I should have a quick recovery and I’m allowed to travel. The only really sad part about all this ? It’s that I don’t get to lie in the same hospital room as my buddy Dennis. We could have had a hell of a party on each other’s medicine, downing bottles of Gin and Vodka and trying a bit of one-armed pole dancing on his IV holder! A shame it won’t happen – hospitals can be such a dull place – but at least, now we know for sure that our synchronizing goes beyond swimming – we are tuned to recover hand in hand, opposite arms in slings, sipping tea at our next kiki. Aren’t we just cute? 😉

Anyway, I’d better start packing now. Slipped discs or not, Athens is calling and I’m determined to make the most out of it!