Chapter 8

A knock on the door got everyone’s attention as Dr. Arroyo entered the room with a clipboard in his hands.

“Well, Mr. Bongiovi, it seems that you…” He stopped in mid sentence as he noticed Dorothea.

“O, hi Doc! This is my wife Dorothea.” Jon once again made the introduction.

“Well, then.” said Dr. Arroyo, shaking Dorothea’s hand “Where was I? O yes, here we are. Mr. Bongiovi, I’ve reviewed the MRI with Dr. Alonzo, our radiologist, and I’m certain that you’ve managed to tear most of your left Gastrocnemius muscle.” Noticing a blank stare from his patient, he smiled and went on. “What I’m trying to say is that you tore most of your left calf muscle.”

Jon winced and nodded. “OK, so now what? Do I need surgery or will it just heal by itself?”

“Well, your injury does not need surgery. But you will need to rest your leg for few weeks while it heals. Also, you need ice packs for the next 24 hours to keep the swelling down and a compression dressing. I‘ll give you a script for some pain medications and some anti inflammatory meds that will also help with reducing the inflammation in the tissue and decrease the swelling and pain. Melody will wrap your leg and give you discharge instructions. Also, you might want to follow up with a “sports medicine” specialist. This is the kind of injury that they deal with every day.”

“Uhmmm, doctor!” Dorothea chimed in “I think you will have to define the meaning of “resting the leg” for my husband! He is not familiar with that concept!”

“Well, Mr.Bongiovi, when I say rest that leg, I mean no weight bearing on it for few weeks. You will have to use crutches while walking, or a wheel chair if you prefer.” He smiled at his patient.

“Uhmm, Doc, do you know what I do for a living?” asked Jon.

“You are a singer. Right?”

“Yeah! I am.”

“Well, can’t you sing sitting down?”

Jon threw his head back and laughed at the older man briefly, then got serious. “No!”

Seeing his puzzled look, he smirked “No one is sitting down during our shows!”

“Oh, what about your audience?”

“They are all up on their feet, dancing, jumping, screaming, and singing with us!” Jon said proudly.

“I see. That must be some show!”

“You have no idea!” chuckled Mel. Then looked sheepishly at the three grinning men and shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, in that case, Mr. Bongiovi, you should take off about a month and let your leg heal.”

“Uhmm, Doc, we are in the middle of an 18 month long tour. I can’t just take a break!” Jon ran his right hand through his hair and went on “I got twelve more shows to play before I can take a break! You gotta understand Doc, I can’t just cancel twelve sold out shows! Hundreds of thousands of fans will be disappointed!”

“We are talking your health here! Surely Mr. Bongiovi, your health is more important to you then some disappointed fans! Don’t you have insurance for that sort of thing?”

“Yeah, sure! The insurance will cover most of the lost revenues, but it won’t do anything for the disappointment and fan dissatisfaction!” Pointed out Jon, as Dorothea took his hand, squeezed it, and looked at the doctor.

“Excuse me, Doctor Arroyo, was it?” she addressed the physician.

“Yes Mrs. Bongiovi?”

“Can we compromise somehow?” asked Dorothea.

“What do you mean “compromise”? “ asked the doctor.

“Well, if he stays off his leg between the shows, and only walks for the duration of the couple of hours on each show night, how much damage will he do to his leg?”

“Hey! I can’t stay off my leg between the shows! I have to travel, and I have work to do!” He objected sitting up abruptly and wincing in pain that the move caused.

“Shut up dear! I’m trying to help you here!” she glared at her husband. “If it allows you to prevent canceling the shows, you WILL walk on crutches! Don’t make me knock you out and make Matt wheel you around in a chair!”

He smile sheepishly at his wife an nodded. Then turned to snickering David and Richie and gave them the famous “stink eye”. “What are you laughing at assholes? I’ll just make you two do all the interviews!” he sneered.

“No you won’t!” said Richie “You’re too much of a control freak to do that!”

“No I’m NOT!”

“Yes YOU ARE!” came from both David and Richie.

“Quiet children!” Dorothea raised her voice above their quibbling, and stood up.

“Is there anything that we can do to speed up the recovery? You know, to enhance and promote the muscle healing? Some physical therapy? Exercises of some sorts?” she asked as she gently stretched her back before sitting down again. “Maybe some alternative medicine therapy? We have a chiropractor who travels with the band.”

“There is not that much that your chiropractor can do for you at this point. But if you are interested in alternative medicine, Melody here is your best bet! She is our resident authority on the complimentary therapies. And if you insist on walking during your shows, you most likely will not damage your leg any further…. As long as it’s wrapped. But you do understand that you will be in a considerable amount of pain?”

“I can handle the pain Doc!”

“If you insist Mr. Bongiovi!”

“I DO Doc!”

“Well, I’m not going to waste everyone’s time arguing with you Mr. Bongiovi! I gave you my recommendation and advice, what you decide to do is up to you!” He nodded to Melody and handed her two prescriptions. “Wrap him up and discharge him! And you have my blessing to try your Holistic Therapies if he is interested.”

He turned to leave the room, then stopped and nodded to his patient “Good luck with your tour Mr. Bongiovi! And have a good night!” He handed the clipboard to Mel and walked out of the room.