Actually the injury is to my left ankle. On Sep. 6 I dislocated and fractured it in three places while camping in the Wet Mountains of Colorado. We were in a place that an ambulance would have difficulty getting to and a helicopter couldn't land. So my husband hauled me out of there in the truck and we headed to the nearest town to find help. The fact that it was after 9 on a Saturday night made it more of a challenge. But we did find the EMTs, they were wonderful. And I now have some new experiences to add to my repertoire, like riding down a mountain pass at night in an ambulance, the wonders of morphine, having my almost new jeans cut off my body, seeing my foot at an angle to the rest of my leg that God never intended it to be, and surgery. The EMTs were fabulous, very caring and professional women. The folks at the ER and on the Joint Center floor were exceptionally caring and helpful. The orthopedic surgeon on call and the surgery team had me in the operating room within a few hours of my injury. It took 9 screws, 1 steel plate, and 17 stitches to put me back together. I can't say enough about how well I was cared for when I was scared and in pain. My husband was a rock through it all.Since I've been home I have not been allowed to put weight on my foot and have a walker that I came home from the hospital with to get me around. I go up and down the stairs on my bottom. :) Yesterday, after more than two weeks, the stitches came out, the splint came off, and a cast was put on (Air Force Blue) and I came home with more orders to stay off the foot until I go back in mid October at which time I'm hoping for a walking cast and permission to go back to work at least part time with restrictions. Jay is taking very good care of me. He fixes me breakfast and helps me downstairs before going to work in the mornings, comes home at noon to fix me lunch, and after a long day at work takes care of me and house things all evening. I'm sure he's getting a bit tired of the constancy of it, but he hasn't complained a bit.
I should be using this enforced solitude to write, but since today is my first day completely off the mind fuzzing pain killers I'm happy to be revising a novel I finished earlier in the year.
So I give thanks for a healthy right leg, my husband and family, EMTs, medical professionals, ambulances, and morphine.
Life is good!
6 comments:
Karin, life is good, and you have an especially good one. You know what? That positive frame of mind is going to have you back on your feet (pardon the pun) in no time. I can see your next book -- it'll have to be a suspense; it's already ruminating. Get well and keep up your fantastic outlook. And remember, I'm still available to deliver lunch!
Ouch! But maybe that novel you're revising will be the GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL. Take care & get well soon!
Hi Debbie. I'll never be a Steinbeck but I just keep plugging away. I'm healing daily and I miss everyone at work!
Hey Donnell, my next opus has suspence and vampires, if I ever get around to doing more than plod along. Take care !
Karin, I'm so sorry to hear of your accident. It sure sounds familiar to me, although the problem here happened to my husband, not me, and the experience wasn't nearly as dramatic. He fell off a ladder! The surgery, plates and screws are all very familiar though. Now he can't go through airport security w/o setting off all the alarms! Many good thoughts for a speedy recovery. Chet is a pro golfer, and they did such a good job patching him up, he still plays.
Get well soon.
Paula
Karin, hope you're healing well. Your adventure was much more dramatic than mine at the end of September. I broke my left ulna and traded my cast for a splint so I could drive to residency and function more easily. Maybe we are supposed to learn from this?
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