When Life Enters the Picture

There is no excuse.  None. At all.

However I'm going to offer one up anyway.

Life.

Life is crazy busy.  You know it.  It's true for you, too.  It seems to be true for everyone these days, doesn't it?  Work.  Cooking.  Shopping.  Movies.  Dinner out.  Family visits.  Friend visits.  Cooking for said visits.  Phone calls.  Life.

Personally, my life has taken a turn further into crazy with appointments and testing out the wazoo (I can't believe wazoo is a real word!).  I won't go into all the craziness of it all, but it's there.

My last post (embarrassingly nearly a year ago) was about a month after I fell.  I had had my MRI and was doing PT.  Ahhhh, such innocent days.  After PT was unsuccessful, the doctor and I decided it was best to schedule surgery.  Eeep, surgery!

Ok, I'll back up.  I go to the surgeon for the first time and he tells me that the type(s) of injuries I sustained rarely needs surgery.  I laugh at him because I had the same injury on my other ankle years ago and wound up having surgery.  I have the surgery in early December and was told that I needed to be non-weight-bearing for 3 weeks.  For someone the size of a hippopotamus that essentially means that I have to live upstairs for those 3 weeks.  To be clear, 3 weeks/21 days after surgery is Christmas Day.  Brilliant.  Someone morbidly obese... ok, I cannot use my weak upper arms to hold up my big-fat body with crutches.  I borrowed a Knee Scooter from a friend and that was a life-saver.  It took a bit to get used to, but crutches were absolutely NOT an option, I was thankful for this.  I had a really hard time going up and down the individual steps in front of the house and wound up crawling on my knees.  It wasn't pretty.

Moving on...  ok, so, I had the surgery on a Wednesday and had a quick check-up on Monday.  All looked good.  Monday night the pain was unbearable.  The doctor had already given me Percocet and Vicodin, but when I called him at the end of the day, he prescribed Dilaudid.  Ok, taken.  But OUCH!  I was still hurting in agonizing pain.  I called him after-hours and he said there was nothing else to do; I should go to the ER.  He also mentioned that he's never had anyone go to the ER for post-op pain.  Hours later, after a lot of groaning, MrB came up and said that I really should head to the emergency room.  Off I went.  They gave me IV Dilaudid and I remember nothing after that.

Changing the bandages was a multi-step process on the outside of my ankle.  Given my size it was a difficult spot to make sure the dressings were secure, so MrB helped me - a lot!  One morning it looked as if I had popped a stitch and called the office to see if they would fix it in the office or if I needed to head to the ER (again).  They said to come, so MrB drove me over to see the partner in the practice.  The bottom line of that adventure was that I had a hematoma which burst at the incision site.  A couple of weeks later I had another follow-up with my doctor.  By that point, the area was ugly absolutely disgusting!  After removing the bandages my surgeon said that he had never seen this happen.

Have you lost count?  That's 1) injury doesn't usually require surgery, 2) never had anyone go to the ER for IV pain meds; 3) hasn't ever seen this problem.

Moving on to #4.  The wound was infected and I wound up going through four rounds of antibiotics.  The surgeon has never seen this (I've come to expect hearing those words by this point), but the wound wasn't healing after some time and he had to refer me to a wound clinic.  Yup.  Is anything ever easy?  So, off to the wound clinic I go.  The clinic treated me with some medical honey and it cleared up after 6-ish weeks.

That's enough life for this post.  But yeah, life has kept me busy since I'd last written.

The Saga Continues

Yes, more drama...

My injuries have created a difficult time.  I have been instructed by the yucky doctor that I am to begin non-weight-bearing.  What is this guy thinking?  First of all., my "900 lb" body cannot be held up by my arms (on a walker or crutches).  In addition, my other ankle and knee are also injured!  So, I am supposed to put all of my weight onto a sprained ankle and knee.  Sure.  No problem...  Well, I was WRONG.  I have to say, I have a Rollator so I was still weight-bearing on my injured leg, but attempted to at least lessen the amount of my fatness being put onto that ankle.

That was yesterday.  There were some errands the hubby and I ran.  For a normal person, it would have been fine, in fact it would have been very few stores.  For me, let's just say that I was virtually unable to put any weight on either leg by the end of the day.  I wasn't able to make it to church today and wound up in bed until 11:30am.  I think the pain wore me out and/or kept me sleeping because it was so bad.  You know, pain can be exhausting!

Hubby has been great!  He isn't letting me get up from the chair for the most part since he got home from the supermarket.  However, he can't get me to the bathroom and sure can't carry me up and down the steps.  I have a therapy appt on Tuesday and his office is on the second floor.  I'm not sure I can make it - especially when I take into account the hour's drive to get there.  Wednesday is a haircut.  Friday I have to do a ton to get ready for a party for my Father on Sunday.  Just writing it is making me tired and causing my knee and ankles to throb.

I am scheduled to see the yucky doctor in about a week and a half.  He danced around the idea that he'll order PT for me at that point (but that I'm too fragile for that right now).  I think it's best (maybe) to wait and see what the good doc says - though that isn't until 8/9.  I don't know... do I wait that long so I can see the good doc, or do I go with the yucky doc and try PT, even though I'm not entirely non-weight-bearing, so don't feel like I"m ready for that; I need to rest my ankle more since I am putting weight on it.  Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, y'all!

Crash, boom, bang

It was suggested to me that the following story would make a great blog post, so I'm taking her idea and sharing this with you.

Last Friday, my Mom and I were in an accident.  It wasn't serious - it could have been a whole lot worse.  This particular car "wreck" (in quotes because no cars were wrecked beyond repair) shows the ineptitude of some people.  There was a car in the right of two lanes; we were in the left lane (my Mom was driving).  The right lane ends; I figured this was why a little teal-colored sedan cut in front of us... as if he just then realized it.

Of course it couldn't be that simple.  Noooo, this guy wanted to turn left.  Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you hang out in the left lane if you know you have to turn left?  I mean, if he was unfamiliar with the area, he should have been in the left lane from the get-go.  Well, he zapped in front of us and wasn't able to turn due to a school bus coming the other direction.  This meant he had to slam on his brakes.  Of course, to avoid hitting him, Mom had to slam on hers, as did the guy behind us.  Well, Mr. Teal Car made his turn while the big pick-up truck behind us didn't stop in time and rammed into my Mom's SUV.  It was loud - there is NO way the guy didn't hear the accident!  No, though, he evidently had more important things to do.

We get out of the car and the truck is driven by a kid with a junior license who has four friends with him.  There was talk of PA adding a clause to the junior license that there can only be 'x' number of passengers in the car (I want to say it was only one, but that is just a guess from someone with a bad memory); this kid had one in the front seat and three (!) in the back.

Damage: Mom's rear window - gone... instant and constant a/c (great for the end of October in PA); Mom's rear door suffered a fatal wound and can no longer be opened; the truck's hood is bent up, not to mention there is glass all over it from Mom's back windshield; me.  Yep, my neck hurt immediately after we were hit and my back started hurting - badly - shortly thereafter... the neck pain disappeared.

My Mom called 911 and then my Father.  I called Keith.  He didn't pick up at first, so I immediately dialed a second time figuring that he'd know it was important if I did that.  Well, he didn't hear the phone (I later learned), so I texted him.  The only words I got typed were "been in accident" before the paramedics arrived (since I had back pain).  I told the paramedics and as soon as I'd given all necessary information, I was able to let him know the rest - that I was fine, at least in the grand sense of the word.

Like I said first on the scene were two very nice paramedics.  One was even a Disney fan and had just gotten back from WDW, staying at the Wilderness Lodge, our favorite.  The two local hospitals here are ones I wouldn't take my worst enemy to but they were all I had to choose from; the good hospital is too far unless it's a more serious injury (or serious at all, for that matter).  So, I gave a statement to the police officer and off I went - by flipping ambulance.  I know, I know, it's procedure, but it's embarrassing.  It's also nauseating - riding backwards, looking out the window?  Not good.  I'm getting old if these things bother me.  Also, that first step in to an ambulance is a doozy!  Try carrying a bunch of extra weight and heaving yourself up in to the ambulance.  It was NOT a pretty sight and I sure hope the teens didn't video it with their cell phones.  Who knows... my butt may become an internet sensation!  I'd say my butt would go viral, but that sounds like I'd need another trip to the ER.

I arrive at the hospital with Mom showing up shortly thereafter.  Keith arrived as soon as he could.  Of course he was in Princeton (one of his furthest clients) that day.  My first human contact was with one very cranky woman.  She came to take all of my medical information, which meant that we had to interact for quite some time because it's extensive.  I was seen by a PA who ordered x-rays and told me what I already knew - there were no fractures.  The med assistant gave me Advil.... on an empty stomach - who does that????  If I wasn't still nauseous from the backwards trip to the joint, I was now!  My discharge instructions: take some pain reliever (OTC) and muscle relaxer and follow up with my GP on Monday.  She didn't even order me to have an apple every day.  How disappointing!

Before I knew it, Monday was here and the phone rings.  It's a nurse from the GP's office.  It seems that the x-rays showed some dense collection of cells, a 15mm mass, probably in my gall bladder.  This is perfect, just perfect.  I've been having abdominal pain for years, but not on the side of the gall bladder, not to mention that I already had testing done in '09 which showed the stupid stones.  The surgeon then said that there was no need to remove my gall bladder if I'm not in pain.  Anyway, I'm having surgery in January (a post for another day) and didn't want to go under the knife again.  Fortunately since I'm not experiencing any pain, they are leaving well enough alone.  While I was waiting in the doc's office, one of the nurses came into the waiting room and told me that she was in the middle of dialing my phone number when she looked out and saw me.  She wanted to follow-up on the ER visit.  I know I've been seeing them for 14 years, but is it bad that they know me by name?  This is not Cheers!  "JEN!"  Yeah, I think not!

Here's the kicker (and the main reason this whole experience is rather comical): I was on my way home from an appt with a pain specialist when we were hit.  Ironic much?