Sunday, April 08, 2007

Happy Easter/ Broken ankle

Happy Easter! It's been a rough spring. 2 employees quit which ended up being a very positive experience.

This morning, I went into work early and I've always been concerned that one day I'll fall off the ladder and well, today was the day. The new hardwood floor we installed has a thick varnish layer that can be very slippery. As I was going up the ladder I realized it wasn't locked into place and found myself desperately trying to grab onto the ledge as I was falling with the ladder. The height was only about 10 feet and I landed ok on my left foot but as I landed on my right foot, it got stuck between the rungs and the ladder fell on top of my foot. By the way I was laying on the floor and how my right foot was at a grotesque angle, I knew I broke it. I was panicking and tried to get up but once I stood up, the pain was so intense I screamed and fell back down. I hurried crawled to the phone and quickly got up on my left foot and fell back down on the floor to call Neil and 911 right way. 911 arrived in less than 5 minutes. While waiting, I was laughing that I was the lady in the commercial, "I've fallen and I can't get up!"

I realized that I had locked the door behind me and had to crawl across the store with my right broken angle up in the air jutting out 90 degrees up and away from my body. Once I had the door open, I crawled back behind a table to hide myself from passer-bys. I didn't want them to see me on the floor as I knew the Fire Dept was on their way.

Once the Fire Dept arrived, the put me in a splint and cut my shoes off. The pain was excrutiating and throbbing at this point. The took me to Swedish in Ballard and there, they cut off my jeans. I was thinking, Fuck!...there goes a few hundred bucks!

I concentrated on breathing and tryingto relax through the pain and they gave me dilauded. The pain instanted subsided and became more dull than sharp. The attending told me to was going to pull my ankle and snap it back into place. Despite the pain meds, I felt everything.

A few x-rays and hours later, Both the tibia and fibula were fractured and broken in a few places near the foot. No bones in the ankle or foot looked broken. I'm going to an orthopedic specialist tomorrow for a consult where they'll suggest I either put the leg in a cast or have surgery to put some pins in.

In the meantime, the dilauded made me extremely groggy and I was going in and out of consciousness. I'm now at home on oxycodon with my leg elevated upon my heart and I' ve been told I'd be out of comission for at least a week. The cast might be 6 months.

I've also realized that crutches are not very useful and can be extremely challenging. It's so hard to use especially going up or down the stairs.

2 comments:

strawberryroses said...

So sorry to hear that. As you know, I have been through almost what you have or will be going through with my ankle, arms, etc. You will heal and everything will be fine. It will take time and there will be minor inconveniences like showering and sleeping. Learn to use the crutches; you'll be better off. My mom recently had pins put in her leg and she's doing a lot better now. Figure it out and I'll get back to you. Take care, cuz.

Gonzo said...

That sucks man! Hope you get better soon. Just ask for vicodin and all your troubles will do away...you'll also sleep for about 15 hours at a time but that's not so bad.