yuzusorbet:Continuation of Scene 10 of Aoi Hono II: A battle with unexpected pain~first half of 2014

yuzusorbet:Continuation of Scene 10 of Aoi Hono II: A battle with unexpected pain~first half of 2014-15 season~(from interviews in Aug 2015)“After Cup of China, a week later, the pain was still there; I could not walk for about 10 days. When I was able walk a little, I tried going onto the ice. It was too painful and I thought, NHK Trophy is surely impossible.”But even so, he wanted to compete. He could skate because his thought of ‘I want to go to GP Final’ was respected, he did not want to waste the free programme that he did at Cup of China. In the end, the final decision was made after entering the venue for NHK Trophy. When he stood on the ice and tried skating, ‘in terms of feeling, it is almost near normal condition’.Without having been on the ice the way he had wanted, facing the competition, he had no choice but to change the layout that he was aiming for this season. SP, the quad toe was moved from the 2nd half to 1st half of the programme. FP, in the 2nd half, the 4T+2T was changed to 3Lz+2T, same layout as the one that was changed in a hurry at CoC.November 28, SP. He fell on the quad toe and had other mistakes. His score was 78.01, 5th place. Next day, for his FP, Phantom of the Opera, he was in a new costume. The opening quad salchow became a double, and he fell on the 4T, but after that, he did a strong performance. He scored 151.79 and was 3rd. Overall he was 4th. He could not make it to the podium.“The moment I finished my free skate, I thought 'aahh, the final is gone.’ In the changing room, I kept thinking, 'aahh, it’s over….. What I did at Cup of China, what was that for??’ I could only think those kind of thoughts. Even when someone from the (skate) federation came running and said to me, 'Yuzu, congratulations’, I didn’t understand and I replied, 'Eh? For what?’When it was confirmed that I would be competing in the final, feelings of joy welled up inside. But still, I was very regretful about my performance. Dice (Daisuke Murakami) was standing on the top of the podium and I definitely wanted to go and clap for him. But even though I was clapping from my heart, the moment when 'Kimigayo’ (t/n. national anthem of Japan) started to play, I felt so regretful. At that moment, I thought, at GP Final, definitely I myself will make the 'Kimigayo’ play.[News clip of CoC and NHK Trophy.  Shows the above scene where Yuzu was clapping for Dice, at 6:24. VIDEO] From NHK Trophy to GP Final, there was no more hesitation. I could not say the pain was totally gone but I tasted regret at NHK Trophy and I hated it. So at all the practices, my adrenaline was full. That’s why I could practise very productively.”GPF Barcelona, Hanyu was the 6th-placed person to qualify.12 December, SP. Hanyu was 1st to skate. Score of 94.08, 1st place.Next day was the FP. His score was 194.08, 1st place.With a total score of 288.16, he won his 2nd straight GPF.“My SP and FP were really gifts from practice. Being 1st to skate in SP, I had a good nervousness. I like being the first one to skate, you know. When I was young, I was very good at being 1st to skate, and also I thought of all the experiences I’ve had in my skating life until now. As I skated, I was thinking, 'what a good feeling’.But after the short programme, my stomach started to have some pain. When I press or stretch, it’s heavy, painful, a muscle ache kind of pain. So I thought, 'Is there some damage to the muscle tissue?’ But when I finished the free skate, there was lump below my navel, like a pingpong ball, 'how strange’ I thought. After I boarded the plane, my navel swelled up.   During the flight, it was so painful that I could not sleep.  I went straight to the hospital for a check and was told it could be ‘Urachal Remnant’.  Because the symptoms were not that bad yet, I was given antibiotics. With that, I returned home to Sendai. Then, before I had a bath, I saw that my navel had become a bulging lump. And after about 5 minutes, it burst!  A lot of blood and pus gushed out.[my own note: I was so horrified when I read this, so I did some research. Yuzu’s case seems similar to this adult case: X.]That’s why, the period going towards Japan Championships was the same as the period before NHK Trophy, I didn’t know if I could skate. I went to the hospital and was told it’s Urachal Remnant Disorder and surgery is needed. But because I have Japan Championships, I could not have the surgery anytime soon. 'If I can bear with it, I will go for nationals,’ I thought. It was not necessary to tell people about the urachal remnant, and also it was not relevant, I wanted to go for nationals. But it was painful to bend forward and backward. In this situation, I tried to do whatever I could do, and I even did the ina bauer, but I could not arch back at all. (wry smile) In fact, I also intended to do the biellmann spin!  But when I started the spin, I changed it into an A-line (position). The wound was covered by gauze but blood kept oozing out and it got onto my clothes every time. To prevent it from staining my costume, on top of the gauze, the tape used was not normal tape but the kind that’s for taping. The gauze also chafed. It was painful.”The urachus connects the navel and the bladder in the fetal period;  the urachal remnant started to fester and the disorder worsened but only a few people around him knew about this. [my own note: Disorders of the urachus occur when there are abnormalities with the sealing off of the channel during fetal development. - X.]Dec 26, Nagano, Japan Championships.He had mistakes in both programmes but was still 1st. SP 94.36, 1st.FP 192.50, 1stTotal 286.86. He achieved his 3rd straight victory for the nationals.At the medal ceremony, Hanyu was beaming with smiles but he was feeling a lot of pain.[video: news programmes later noticed his right hand was on his stomach after his free skate.  He withdrew from gala ex and was not there at the announcement of Team Japan for Worlds.]“Pus was oozing out continuously.  I thought, 'after nationals, I will have the surgery immediately. If not, I won’t be in time for World Championships.’  I was told that I can’t move for 2 months after the surgery.”Dec 30, the surgery was done.“For the epidural anaesthesia, a catheter was inserted in my back; the alcohol used for disinfection was strong and I reacted to it/ developed a rash. After surgery, my back was itching and itching. In the stomach area, there was also a tube to drain the blood so that it does not accumulate. This was pierced through my navel and it was extremely painful. Ah~, it hurts now when I think of it. I also could not turn over. It was hard. Then later, I was injected with antibiotics and I had an allergic reaction; my whole body broke out in hives (urticaria). Really, all sorts of things happened. But thankfully, now half a year has passed and I am fine.”New Year holiday period, he could not return home. As the Olympic, World and GPF champion, facing a new season, the immense difficulties that came one after another was totally unexpected. It was a long year, especially the 3 months from Cup of China. After Japanese nationals, he looked back in this way.“After one wall, there was nothing but another wall. Because humans are greedy, when they are able to overcome a problem, they will try to surpass it again. For me, I think I have twice the greed. At the same time, I am in an environment where there are many people supporting me. I always feel that I am a person who is very blessed/lucky.[……..]Being an Olympic champion, being a national champion, those are past glories. Of course I do feel proud of it and want to keep the pride. But I am not skating in order to protect that. I really love skating and I love jumps, and that is why I skate, that is why I compete.At Cup of China, after the accident, when I came out again for the 6-minute warm-up, I did not intend to cry at all. But the moment I came out, so many people clapped, I was happy and the tears came unconsciously. That feeling has remained in me even until now. Although it is a bit different from a hobby, I am just doing something I love. I am just working very hard at something that I love, but so many people are supporting me from the bottom of their hearts, the me that is only doing what I love. So really, I am very happy, very lucky, I feel.”–my sharing, not a proper translation. Some parts are left out.–pics from internet (thanks to original owners)– I was in so much pain reading this whole chapter.  Poor Yuzu….  His words at the end are very touching.   -- source link

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