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Living on a Big Foot
And there I was, lying helplessly on the living room floor after hearing the worst sound in the world: a loud ‘SNAP‘. Not once but twice in a split second. I had slipped over the stupid Bakugan battle arena mat. How daft does it get?
J-man was a trooper. I was in so much pain but realized I needed to stabilize my ankle before anything else. He brought me pillows and helped me place them around my ankle. He searched for the phone, the one item that always seems to go missing in our household, and he walked into the back yard to try to see if our neighbor was at home. All the while he mumbled “I’m so sorry you’re in so much pain, mom“. Poor thing.
After a quick call to our GP the ambulance arrived. Those minutes seemed to last hours. I was in so much pain and couldn’t get up or even move my leg into a more comfortable position.
I was brought to the ER where I fell into a delightful pit of nothingness after a much-needed morphine shot. I must have sounded like a crack-addict every time I mumbled “Can I get a bit more of the good stuff?” a gazillion times that day. What a rush. I only had morphine twice though, once that day and one time after I woke up after my surgery, so no worries.
The x-rays were taken and they quickly noticed that I had broken my ankle in three places and it was a rather complicated fracture to boot. Well, yeah, I don’t do anything half ass! I was hospitalized and my ankle was put into a half cast. Now I’m no wuss, I gave birth without drugs and would have no problems doing it again, but this HURT… like a bitch. Come to think of it, I’d rather give birth than ever have to go through this again. Giving birth is peanuts compared to breaking your ankle!
I had surgery the next evening. The surgery kept being postponed and at the end of the day I felt weak and nauseous because I hadn’t eaten anything since the day I broke my ankle and hadn’t been allowed as much as a sip of water since early that morning because of the impending surgery. I got out of surgery at 11PM, had a shot of morphine and was brought to a room where I bunked with two elderly ladies. All I wanted was to sleep.
One of the ladies in the bed next to me was humming all day and the other one threw up constantly and looked as if she was about to keel over any moment, until her visitors arrived. Then she got up and talked and laughed like she didn’t have a care in the world. Not at night, though. At 2am, only 3 hours after I got out of surgery, she started creating this major fuss and it was like the circus had arrived. Bright lights, lots of sounds, nurses walking in and out and loud talking at 30cm from my head for about an hour and a half. And all I wanted was some sleep.
It was like this the following night and the nights after that until I had to use a sleeping pill just to be able to fall asleep and then another one to go back to sleep halfway through the night. The nurses were probably so busy with that one lady they even forgot to give me a thrombosis injection after my surgery and handed me a small pillow to prop my foot on, while later on I learned I had to elevate my foot well above the level of my heart. Right.
When I had to get up and grab a walker to hop over to the nurses station after they left one of the old ladies sitting on the toilet for over 10 minutes and she was about to get up on her own, I was fed up with it. That’s when I basically discharged myself on Saturday. They wanted to keep me there until Monday but I figured I’d get more sleep and rest at home, could prop my foot on a few pillows there as well and pop a painkiller or two when needed and just be with my family. Coming home was like heaven.
They repaired my ankle with a titanium plate and 4 screws on one side and a large screw and pin through my entire bone on the other side. The small fracture on the back of my ankle will heal itself in due time. My ankle is terribly swollen. It looks like it doesn’t even belong to me anymore, like it’s no longer a part of my body. Alien ankle. I try not to freak out when I look at it. It’s entirely black and blue starting at the base of my toes all the way up to my knee.
Had the fracture not been this complicated they probably would have postponed the surgery, wait for the swelling to come down, but now they had to operate. I know in advance that I’ll end with really bad-looking scars because there is so much pressure on the wounds. Must admit that I don’t care; I’ll take a functioning over a pretty ankle anytime. The recovery will take long, or so I’ve been told. 6 months up to a year. Again, I don’t care as long as I know that I’ll eventually have full use of my ankle again.
The main concern now is to make sure the swelling goes down, so there will be less pressure on the incisions they made on both sides of my ankle. Wound dehiscence could be catastrophic with all the titanium they put in there.
So all I do now is lie in bed, with my ankle-propped up (the right way this time!), occasionally I put an ice pack on my bandage, watch Food Network and yell at Paula Deen to cut the garlic clove in half before rubbing it all over the toast, and I read.
Know any good books? Got all the time in the world to read them now. I had no idea I could be this zen!
Poor Kay!!! Even with all of the broken bones I’ve had nothing comes close to this episode! Sorry I can’t add to your reading list as I only read things that make me smile and it seems I’m in the minority when it comes to that so I won’t bore you with my choices! I’m sure you’ll find hundreds of other suggestions as the day goes on though! And I’m equally sure little J-man will keep you entertained in ways that only he can come up with! God be with you…and yours!
I ma glad you at least survived the hospital. Enjoy the rest and try to take it easy.
Aw, your son rocks! (We knew that, anyway, this was just further proof).
I’m probably not one to ask for book recommendations as I mainly read fantasy, SciFi and mystery/horror novels. The best I’ve read recently were China Mieville’s ‘Perdido Street Station’ and Cherie Priest’s ‘Boneshaker’, ‘Dreadnought’ and ‘Clementine’.
Here’s to a speedy recovery and most importantly a lot less pain soon.
I have no idea what I would’ve done without him. I wouldn’t even have been able to get up and grab a phone. So proud of him.
He looked real timid when they put me in the ambulance, he gave me a kiss and said: “Have fun, mom”. The only time I actually laughed!
Kay! What a total nightmare! I absolutely hate hospitals and have all pity for you for having to stay in one for more than a day but well done on surviving it and going out to get yourself better at home. Take advantage of this time out and maybe J-Man can learn to operate a washing machine :P (its never too early!)
xxx
You poor dear! Wow, what a terrible adventure. I’m glad you are home. I’m praying that you’ll have a full recovery. I’ll miss your food posts but i hope you’ll keep blogging. Hang in there! What kind if books do you like to read? I like Web E. Griffin. Dianne Gist.
I’m so sorry to read about your bad experience in the hospital Kay but I’m happy to read that you are on the healing process.
I wish you a speedy recovery!!
Oh no! Feel better soon!
If you’re looking for new books, try http://www.goodreads.com – they have several ways of searching for books, I believe they even have non-English books on there. I’m currently reading “The Book Thief” and it’s really good!
GAH! Heaven forbid I ever break a bone. So sorry to hear of this and the pain you have had to go through. Wishing you speedy healing!!
Oh Kay! OUCH! I know what you mean by not getting any rest in the hospital…good for you for discharging yourself and recovering at home. Since being home with my breast cancer I’ve also been big on watching FoodNetwork, but yelling at Paula Deen to reduce the amount of butter she puts in her food and at the Barefoot Contessa to stop adding so much salt!haha!
Please take care…rest up the ankle…. hartelijke beterschap!
Suz
Mijn maag begint zich al te keren bij het lezen van je pijnlijke relaas… spoedig herstel gewenst!
Als je veel tijd hebt om te lezen, kan ik je de dikke ‘kloefers’ van Jean M. Auel aanraden (serie van de Aardkinderen), ook pas gelezen: ‘Never let me go’ van Kazuo Ishiguro (heel bijzonder verhaal).
Hart onder de riem!
Anouk
Reading this i am wincing in pain Take care and hope you get well soon , your son is a real trooper, get well soon!!
Let me see… “The Help” is very popular right now. It is great om audio book too. If you haven’t read the ‘A is for Alibi (Kinsey Milhone Alphabet Mysteries series — those are very good. Right now she is at U so that would take a while. I’m looking forward to what other books your readers suggest. Hope you heal quickly!
Oh, Kay, that’s awful!! I’m glad you’re home and resting and I hope you’re feeling a bit better soon! Poor thing! Bet you’re so proud of your little dude for finding you help. Must have been scary for him and you, both!
As for books, I can not recommend enough the Outlander series. It’s huge and I’ve read it twice. Best books ever. I also really loved The Book Thief.
Wat een rottig ongeval! Lees je blog altijd met veel plezier (en overactieve speekselklieren) en wil je nu met alle plezier een paar boekentips geven. Het zijn wel allemaal boeken van Nederlandse auteurs, want ik studeer Nederlandse Literatuur, dus dan ontkom je daar niet echt aan!
Ik heb de afgelopen jaren genoten van:
Begeerte heeft ons aangeraakt – Bert Natter
Meer dan een minnaar – Oscar van den Boogaard
Het diner en Zomerhuis met zwembad – Herman Koch
Bonita Avenue – Peter Buwalda
Zoete mond – Thomas Rosenboom
De leraar – Bart Koubaa
Van oude menschen… – Louis Couperus
Bruidsvlucht – Marieke van der Pol
En niet Nederlands: Alle mensen zijn sterfelijk – Simone de Beauvoir
Hopelijk ben je zo snel mogelijk weer op de been. Sterkte en succes!
Props to you. I thought I did things with flair (as I’m not one to half ass stuff like this either), but you take the cake. Since…well…I broke my ankle the same way in terms of how the bone fared and needing surgery and pins…except I did it playing soccer in high school. ;)
Hope you have a (relatively) speedy recovery.
gosh, I hope you heal well! I’ve never broken anything, which is ridiculous because I have NO grace and when I fall you’d think I would break half of the bones in my body!
As far as books, I would check out http://www.bn.com, they have a bunch of free ebooks there. If you don’t have a Nook reader, you can download the program (also free) onto a laptop.
You could also check out: http://www.gutenberg.org/. They also have a ton of free ebooks you can read online!
Kathleen
Dear Kay, let me tell you an anecdote to cheer you up.
When a friend of mine stepped out of his car, he slipped and fell on his knee. The kneecap shattered radially, the thighbone split lengthwise fron knee to hip, and the head of the thighbone, breaking, damaged the seat in the hip. Now, when you are done shivering, consider how lucky you are in “only” breaking your ankle. ;-)
Ciao!
Remo
That one doesn’t fly because I did the whole child birth and the broken ankle thing. That trumps the knee thing :)
Oh my goodness! The only redeemable part to your experience was how amazing your son was helping you. I’m really impressed by him. I’m glad you’re able to get some rest at home. Maybe some humorous, light fantasy would help divert your attention. If so, I might recommend reading the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. The first one is The Eyre Affair. It can usually elicit a giggle from me.
Heaven Is For Real is an awesome book!! Take care!
What a horrible experience, fortunately you were not alone…seems to me you were in very helpful (albeit) small hands. My son has had foot surgery on both of his feet…recovery is long but I have no doubt you’ll be good as new.
Have you read the Stieg Larsson series yet? Seems like you may have time to start a series of books. I am currently reading “The Power of One”, it is so good!
Have fun letting those Food Network chefs know how you really feel ;)
I agree with Karly, this sounds like the perfect time for the outlander series.
Beterschap!
YOU POOR THING! I’m in sympathetic pain just reading this post. Ouch.
And I have a bunch of book reviews on my blog (under the tab ‘books and authors’) since you mention being in need of reading material–some of my favorite books this past year have been “The Help,” “Peace Like a River.” and the Hunger Games trilogy (lotsa fun). Hang in there! You’ll make it through.
I forgot to ask — six months to a year! Ick. So are you in a full leg cast? I’m thinking your break is actually a bit worse than mine as I got away with just screws. Is it cast and crutches for now and eventually a boot to walk in? I was SO happy to have the boot and no crutches, but the darn thing I think messed up my hip — that leg is shorter than my other. Coincidence/just noticing it late in life or not, but it can be a pain (literally) sometimes. So sorry you did this. I’ve gotta quit looking at my scar now…your post is bringing back some pain.
I’ll second the votes for Hunger Games and The Help.
Not in a cast right now because of the severe swelling. Have to go back in a week and a half and I’ll either go home in a cast then or not at all and I’ll have to start training. No walking at all for me for at least six weeks. Have crutches and one of those walkers at home.
How horrible Kay, thank the Lord J man was there what a trooper. Take care of yourself. I broke my foot a few years back and remember that pain, I can’t imagine how much you were in
Heel veel beterschap Kay!
Ik ben afgelopen week zelf ook geopereerd en je verhalen zijn heel herkenbaar. Ik moest verschrikkelijk lachen om je foto van je ziekenhuisvoedsel. Ik heb nl afgelopen week zon beetje dezelfde foto gemaakt aangezien mijn zhvoedsel ook niet te eten was!
Wat betreft de boeken: ik ben gek op de boeken van Harlan Coben. Verschillende verhalen lopen door elkaar heen die op een gegeven moment bij elkaar komen op een manier die ik tot nu toe nog geen enkele keer heb voorzien. Ik kan zijn boeken nauwelijks wegleggen!
Ik heb al zijn boek in epub-formaat(en ook behoorlijk veel van andere schrijvers). Mocht je ergens belang bij hebben, dan moet je even een bericht achterlaten. Dan zorg ik dat je een mailtje krijgt. :)