Adventures in Crutchland

It's kind of amazing how quickly your life can just change course. Last Sunday I was coming down the stairs from my bedroom, thinking about taking down a couple of pictures to have the glass replaced with nonglare, when I slipped -- I guess. I was about three stairs from the bottom and somehow I just missed the last one or two. I fell, throwing my cellphone against the door and dropping my half can of pop on the new ceramic tile. As I fell, I heard/felt my right ankle snap. It actually didn't hurt. It felt, as best I can explain, like how it feels if you hold a piece of chalk in both hands and break it in two. I rolled over to my back as Kym came running, asking if I was OK, and my foot didn't exactly come with me. I told her I thought I broke my ankle, but I actually thought I was overreacting at the time. I was oddly calm, and I took a quick look down. I saw the inside bone jutting against the skin in a way that I knew was NOT right. She came into the room, took one look, and dialed 911. While we waited for the EMTs I held my leg off the ground because I couldn't find a way to lay it that didn't make things move around inside. It was completely creeping me out, but still it didn't hurt that bad. I had Kym clean up the pop and rinse the throw rug before the EMTs arrived. Hey, she needed something to do, and the tile and carpet are NEW! The ambulance arrived without lights or sirens, thank God. The guys were cute and very nice. I was joking with them and I think they thought I was lying when I said it wasn't that painful. They had a cool new hydraulic gurney that they were obviously enjoying trying out. When they got me into a room in the ER, the nurse said they like to jack people up 8 feet in the air so they can play with the buttons. I believe her -- I was just under the ceiling-mounted TV when they rolled me in. :) In a few minutes the nurse said "the family" was coming back. Oh.My.God. In trooped Kym, Mom and Dad, Lynda, David, Caleigh, Braden, and Caleigh's boyfriend Tyler! They finally had to shoo some of them out because the room was too small. They gave me a tiny bit of morphine and took me for x-rays. THAT hurt, but still not unbearably. The verdict was one broken bone on the outside, and torn ligaments on the inside bone. On Monday I had surgery to repair everything at the Surgicenter. I was religious about taking the pain meds exactly on time and it wasn't bad. On Wednesday I went back to get a hard cast. I got my first look at the incision (17 staples), then they casted it and took me for more x-rays to make sure it was in the right position. They showed us the x-rays (I never saw the broken bone ones). I have one screw holding the two parts of the bone together, then a plate with six screws. They fixed the ligaments internally so there is just the one incision. After two weeks I will get this cast off and have the staples removed, then it will be recasted for another 4-6 weeks. It's been a week now since it happened and I'm still getting used to getting around on crutches and all. Dad loaned me a walker that I use in the house. It's harder to use but more stable when I get up at night to go to the bathroom. It also has a basket on front that I can use to carry things from one room to the other. My world is my recliner, with a TV table on either side. Dad also loaned me his laptop. I finally slept on the couch for the first time last night, which was heaven because I could get onto my side. We now have a handheld shower, a bath stool (another loan from Dad), and a grab bar outside the door to the garage. My front porch steps need jacking up again and there is nothing to hold onto there, so they attached the step in the garage that's been loose forever and added the grab bar. I guess it's OK that it looks like a convalescent home, since it is one. I hate being dependent on everyone. I'm asking a lot of Kym. Chad seems to mostly avoid me, or he gets all kinds of nasty if I ask him to do something. I honestly just think it's because I'M not supposed to have anything wrong with me, you know? I try to ask as little as possible in the way of favors if I can do something myself. But before they leave I make sure I have a drink, or clean underwear brought down from upstairs, or whatever I'll need while they are gone. I have managed a couple of real baths, but haven't used the new showerhead yet. Everything takes forever to accomplish. A couple of days ago Mom and Dad took me to Walmart where I drove around on one of their little carts. I've always wanted to do that. :) Today I went with them out to the farm to see new lighting that Lynda and David have put in their kitchen. When we came back, Dad parked across the street, forgetting that I needed to be closer. But I hopped across OK, then hung out inside while Dad and David worked on the step. We went to Steak n Shake tonight (instead of last night, since we did Lynda's birthday then) and we had to park around the corner of the building -- another long hike on crutches. Tonight I am completely exhausted. I don't think I could manage to get up or down those stairs one more time today, and my foot is tingly and swollen-feeling. Hopefully, being able to come and go through the garage will be easier and safer than the front steps. I'll be off work until near Christmas, living on short term disability payments. I found out today that they are only 60% of my usual pay, though, which is really going to hurt. Really, I'm not sure how I'll manage money-wise. I'll get my first check next week, and until I see that I won't really know just how bad it will be. The good thing is, the disability people said there was nothing wrong with me working at my tax job even if I am still on disability at my factory job. I'll make sure and double check that before the time comes, just to be sure. But I'm not sure how I'm going to manage to stay out of real money trouble in the meantime. Hmmm, maybe I ought to send someone out for lottery tickets... on second thought, my luck hasn't been that good lately and I might need those dollars later. :)