scoreboard

Literally.

So, I've been sick this week and sort of out of it. On Monday (which I took off because I was sick), while I was feeding the dog, I noticed that Saber, my cat, had a piece of ribbon in his mouth from a mylar balloon I had got for my birthday. Unfortunately, it didn't register until a few seconds later, by which time, the ribbon was gone.

Now, I didn't actually see him eat it, but it was pretty clear that he did. So, I kept an eye on him that day. During the night, Saber threw up on the floor. When I woke up Tuesday morning I found it,a nd also saw that he hadn't sued hit litterbox, and had not eaten any of his food. He took a treat I gave him, but didn't want to touch his food. I went to work (still feeling miserable, by the way), and when I came home he still hadn't sued the literbox or touched his food.

Of course, I had a hockey game that night, and being the goalie, I had to go. So, since we only have one car, I called Martha. She ended up meeting me at the ice rink (right off the Ballston metro stop) two hours prior to my game. I brought my equipment and the team's jerseys, as well as the cat. Martha then took the car and the cat to the ER vet.

They took x-rays of his stomach, and while they didn't see any bunching or damage, there was considerable back up. The cat was constipated. He was also dehydrated. They gave him fluids, and some stool softener. This all costed us a nice $400. We decided to take him home, instead of leaving him overnight (which would have cost $1200). Martha then left the cat at home to pick me (and Dave) up from hockey. When we got back, Saber had dropped a load, and sure enough there was a ribbon inside it. So, now I'm giving him a stool softener with an eyedropper that I have to shove down his throat. He doesn't like that much, and his nails are sharp.

Anyway, Martha suggested getting the $400 poop log bronzed. That is honestly the most I've ever paid for a piece of crap. Hopefully I never will have to again.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I mentioned in a previous post that we took Martha's dog Glory to the vet because we had found several lumps on her body. There seemed to be no logic to where the lumps were - she had one on the front left leg, one on her left side, one on her butt, one on her back right leg, and the biggest one was on her stomach.

We scheduled another appointment for her on Thursday to have the lumps removed (and to get her teeth cleaning done). So, I took her in Thursday morning, because Martha had a meeting that she had to be at work early for. While I know putting a dog through surgery sucks, it seemed better to get these taken care of now. The stomach one really bothere me...

In any case, we picked her up last night at about 6:30pm. They had removed all five of the lumps, and now Glory has five very large shaven spots with stitches. The spots were large enough that they had to use the non-disolving stitches, and they had to put a tube drain in for the one on her stomach. I can't tell you how gross they look - the stomach drain in particular. I took a picture of one of the stitched spots, but decided to refrain from posting it.

So Glory now has to wear her "head cone" until she gets the stitches out. She doesn't like it at all - in fact, last night Martha and I had almost no sleep because she cried the whole night. We're hoping that she'll do better tonight.

We're hoping that the lumps are nothing too serious, and keeping our fingers crossed. Glory is a loveable little fungus, and I'd hate to see anything seriously wrong with her.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This weekend I was invited to play in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Hockey Benefit game here in Richmond. The premise is that this event gets together the best hockey players in the Richmond area for a USA vs. Canada match-up. I was asked to play a week or so before the game, after playing in an A league game in the adult league.

I suited up for Team Canada, despite the fact that I'm not Canadian. I told them I spent my summers in Lions Head, Ontario at my grandparent's farm, so they allowed me to adopt that as my Canadian hometown. They needed a goalie, anyway, so I stepped in and played.

Each team had two goalies who were to split the game. Unfortunately, the other team Canada goalie had a rough first period, and we found ourselves down 5-1. So, I was up to start the second period. Our team definitely picked up the pace to get back in the game, and I shut down the USA's shooters during the second, including a break-away by one of Team USA's best players, as we rallied to within one goal (5-4). The third period saw Team Canada knot up the score at 5-5, after which Team USA would get their sixth (and only regulation goal against me). Canada would tie it up 6-6. After much deliberation, both teams decided against a five minute overtime, and in favor of a five man shoot-out.

Of course, I was a little nervous, as this was a pretty serious game. The opposition's goaltender just happened to be former NCAA D1 goaltender Joe Blackburn, of Michigan State University. Unfortunately, in the shoot-out, the first one would get by me, and Team USA would lead 1-0. From there, I stopped the remaining four shooters. Our last shooter of the five would score one on Blackburn, for a 1-1 tie in the shoot-out, and one round of sudden-death. Unfortunately, the first sudden death shot by Team USA got by me, and our last shooter didn't score. The result, a 7-6 Team USA win in the shoot-out.

All in all, it was a very good game. There was some great action, and it was pretty intense. I actually ended up winning player of the game for the Canadian team.

It would be nice to be able to play at that level every game. It was fast, good hockey. I play a lot better the faster the play gets, and find it hard to adjust to some of the adult leagues. Now that I'm going back to DC, I hope I can find a league where the play is as good as it was in this game. I also hope that I get invited back to play in this game someday...

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This weekend was filled with hockey, as most of my weekends are from September through March.

On Friday night, my 0-8 Blue Jays travelled down to DC to take on the Catholic U. of America Cardinals in search of our first win. Despite CUA's boisterous crowd, we came out hard and played strong all game long, taking a 9-4 victory in a penalty-filled affair. It felt pretty damn good to get the first win, and the guys seemed to be in a good mood for the most part. On Saturday we travelled up to New Haven, CT to take on Yale. This game was special because it was 110 years (and change) since the first known hockey game in the United States - a contest between Hopkins and Yale on Feb. 1st, 1896. We've decided, with Yale, to make this game a yearly tradition. If you want to learn more about the game, go to the Hopkins Hockey website.

We came a bit flat - either bus legs, five hours sleep, or the fact that we were crammed in a storage closet and not a lockerroom, but we just did not have it. We won the third period 2-1, though.

Other than that, I found out the results of the shoulder MRI. I have rotator cuff tendonitis and degeneration of the labrum causing impingement. The good news is that there are no tears in either the rotator cuff or labrum, which is what the doctor and I were afraid of. So, my prognosis is good - I got a cortisone shot Friday and have to do physical therapy 3 times a week for 3 weeks. We'll see how that goes...

Lastly, I played in my own hockey game on Sunday night at the new Capitals Practice Facility in Ballston - Kettler Capitals Iceplex. It's a very nice facility, but there were a couple glaring problems that I hope the recognize and work out. First, the elevators (owned by the mall it is attached to) are always out of service. I stood there for 15 minutes with my equipment before trying to find the stairs, which were also incredibly hard to find. As of right now, you can't park on the 8th floor, where the rink is - or if you can, the entrance to the 8th floor is incredibly hard to find. Next, the lockerrooms did not have locks. Not a big problem except the elevators are right next to the lockerrooms, and with the mall downstairs, I'd be concerned at who has access to the arena. Also, with such a nice facility, I'm suprised that they only put ONE showerhead in each lockerroom's bathroom.... weird. Most importantly, I thought the ice sucked. It could have been a function of bad zamboni-ing, but I have played on better pond ice. It was almost as if the Zam put down water, but didn't scrape the ice. Very bumpy...

I play there again next Sunday, so we'll see how it is then.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I officially have come down with my first cold of the fall season. It seems like right about this time is when it occurred last year too.

The cold, however, is the least of my problems. The problem that is taking most of the focus right now is my gimpy right shoulder. Ready for a story? Here goes...

Back in January, 2003, I was playing hockey at the University of Richmond as a forward, due to the small number of players we had (normally I'm a goalie). During the third period of the first game I was about 4 feet off the boards with the puck when I got checked. I fell, shoulder first, into the edge of the boards. It immediately hurt and I knew something was wrong, as I couldn't grip my stick. I could move my arm, although it was with a LOT of pain.

So, after the game we go back to the hotel. I am unable to sleep, as the shoulder hurts too bad. I recruit Zoo, another player, to take me to the nearest hospital. This was at about 2am. We got there, and we are the only people in the waiting room. Of course, I sit there for two hours before finally seeing a doctor. When I get in, the doctor takes x-rays of the shoulder. After the x-ray, the doctor tells me that nothing is broken, and to maybe, if it keeps hurting, to go see a doctor back home in Richmond, VA.

Fast forward to summer, 2006. I'm playing softball and my shoulder is killing me. It has been getting worse since about late 2004. I decided it was time to go get it checked out again, seeing as how I couldn't do a bench press or pushup because of how week (and painful) the shoulder is. The orthopaedist took some x-rays as soon as I got there, and guess what he found? I have a broken collarbone!

Essentially, what the doctor thinks happened is that when I hit the boards, my shoulder separated, striking the edge of my collarbone on the way out. Because of this striking, a significant chunk of the edge of my clavical broke off. I now have a piece of bone floating around in my shoulder. Not only that, the doctor thinks that I may have torn my Labrum and/or rotator cuff. I have to go in to get an MRI on Thursday. So, the hospital in Atlanta didn't catch the broken collar bone, which pisses me off. It's not med mal, but annoying nevertheless. As soon as the doctor gets the MRI results he is going to make the determination as to whether I need surgery, or if PT will suffice.

The moral of the story? Don't trust hospitals in Atlanta.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)