"The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstance." -Aristole
I was on my way to a workout class at the YMCA on Tuesday, October 3. On nice days, the instructor takes the class outdoors to the parking lot. To get to the parking lot, one has to walk down a hill. I was a little late, and the class had started. I grabbed my weights, a mat, and headed down the hill. It was like the perfect storm for an accident. My hands were full, my shoes old with slick bottoms, dew was on the grass. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground. I had heard a pop, felt the pain in my ankle, and noticed my foot was not facing the right way. I knew immediately I had done a number on my ankle, and it was not good. The people from the exercise class asked me if I was okay, to which I replied, "No, I am not!" They all came running to help. They asked what they could do. I thought calling 911 was a good idea. And I called Warren, my husband, to tell him I had broken my leg...met me at the ER. The class put me on the mat and pulled me down to the bottom of the hill. They got me a blanket to put behind my head, and under my leg, and covered me with someone's jacket. I was pretty calm even though my ankle hurt like the dickens.
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| I tried to keep a positive attitude during the whole thing. |
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| Up close...note: I threw these shoes away since they reminded me of my accident. |
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| Waiting for EMS |
I was very glad when EMS arrived. But then I remembered I had worn brand new Lulu Lemon tights. They were going to have to be cut off. I was pretty distressed about this because Lulu Lemon clothes are very expensive. I had bought these at the end of the winter season, and got a pretty good price for them. I had put them away to wear when the weather got a little cooler, and the day I broke my ankle was that day. My class members told me they would take up a collection so I could get a new pair. One of the first comments the EMS personal made to me was, "I hope you don't mind if we cut your tights."
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| Answering all the billions of questions... |
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| More questions... |
They removed my shoe, and put a pillow around my leg, and off we went to the ER at a hospital just across the street. Very convenient!!!! They started an IV, and gave me morphine which did not help with the pain very much, but I was glad to have it.
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| Here you can see the hill, and the EMS lady is taking off my shoe. |
When I got to the hospital, the ER doctor was so wonderful. She gave me more pain meds that she said were stronger than morphine. I didn't know there was something stronger. I was glad though. She did not want to take off my splint because until the last possible moment to spare me the pain, but she wanted a peak at my leg so she could see what she needed to do. I told her I had pictures, and gave her my phone. Who knew the pictures would help. Being a photographer, I have to have pictures of everything. The ER doctor was thrilled to have the pictures. She said she knew just what had to be done. We'd get X-rays, then she'd put me to sleep, and pull my leg. Getting the x-rays on something broken is interesting. At that point, I just wanted it over, so I told the technician just tell me how you want me, and I will do it. And I did. It was at this point that I questioned the stronger than morphine pain killers because my leg was cramping something awful, and it was very painful. So much so that I started screaming. Lots of people ran into my ER room to calm me down. It was hard to calm down. Thankfully, the x-rays arrived, and they put me under. I woke to a straightened out leg. Thankfully. Painful, but straight. I was splinted and Warren and I went home.
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| before x-rays |
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| After...It looks much better. |
We were told to call the orthopedist for an appointment the next day. We called and got scheduled. I was very thankful that my appointment was with a foot and ankle specialist. I liked her the minute she walked into the room saying she was so sorry this had happened to me. I had a trimalleolar fracture with dislocation. (broken in 3 places) I would need surgery which couldn't be done until the swelling went down.
Before surgery my walking girlfriends came to have lunch with me. One of them was on the scene when my accident happened. She told of how I more concerned about my tights being cut off. Another one said, "I bet if you called the store, they would give you another pair." She called when she got home. Told the store manager the whole story, and she said when I got better to bring my tights into the store and they would give me another pair. Nice! I like Lulu Lemon even more.
...to be continued.
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