Thanks for the kind words. I have to agree with Margie. The first picture is the scariest. For those of you who missed how I injured myself, here it is in a nutshell.
Thursday morning Feb 26th, I got to work an hour early. I was planning to drive to Atlanta on Saturday, so I wanted to wrap up all my projects early. Our engineering lab is in the process of being moved from one building to another. I was running integration tests in the old lab and I needed the help of another engineer to complete my tests. Alan (the other engineer) needed to stop by the new lab to check something out, so I accompanied him there. When we were done, I suggested that we take the "shortcut" to the old lab. This involved exiting the building and walking along a sidewalk to the old building. This sidewalk in on the side of the building that is shaded in the morning. We walked out of the door at a brisk pace. Then it happened. I hit a patch of invisible ice. I pride myself on my balance. You can ask anyone who saw me on the Golden Eagle Catamaran in St. Maarten. I can keep my balance under the worst circumstances. And this was my downfall. My legs started flying around like a cartoon character. I did my best NOT to fall. Unfortunately, I managed to twist my right ankle and I collapsed like a house of cards straight down onto my twisted ankle. I heard the bone snap like a piece of chalk and I felt a sharp pain like nothing I've ever felt before. I let out a scream and told Alan to call 911. He hesitated, but I told him that it was BAD. I was lying on my left side on the patch of ice that had caused the fall. I imagine that my right ankle was at an odd angle and the pull of gravity on it was causing me excrutiating pain. Alan eased by right leg on top of my left one which temporarily relieved the pain. He ran into the building dialing 911 on his cellphone. After a minute or so, I reached into my pocket and used my cellphone to call Sue. I told her that I had been hurt really bad. I kept talking to her until a crowd started to form around me. Alan came outside with my coat and his and covered me. The rescue squad seemed to appear out of nowhere. They cut my pants leg to check for a compound fracture. Fortunately, there was none. They were going to cut off my shoe, but I begged them to try to remove it (which they did). They put an air splint on my leg and lifted me onto a stretcher. I was in the back of the ambulance and on my way to the hospital in very short order. The ride to the hospital was six or seven minutes. I was admitted to the ER where they took my vitals and removed the rest of my street clothes. It took a while, but they got me to Xray where they discovered that I had indeed broken my leg and ankle. When I got back to the ER, they gave me something for the pain and something so that I would forget what they were about to do. I vaguely remember them "settting" my leg which must have really hurt. I was admitted to the hospital. Sue had been waiting to be allowed to come back and see me in the ER, but was not allowed back until they were ready to take me to my room. The on call surgeon was able to schedule my surgery for 5:30PM that day. He talked to me and Sue about the surgery and then all I had to do was wait for my turn in the operating room. I had eaten a bowl of cereal that morning, so they didn't want to put me completely under for the surgery, so I ended up with a spinal for the surgery and some sort of anesthetic to keep me unconcious during the procedure. Dr. Helper spent over 3 hours putting my leg back together. He had hoped to do the surgery through two small incisions, but as the surgery progressed, he had to make the longer cuts on both sides of my ankle. I also managed to damage a tendon in my ankle, so he had to stablize that during the surgery as well. If you look at the Xray, there is one screw that appears to have no purpose. That screw imobilizes my tibia and fibula to allow the tendon to heal. And that screw will have to be removed before I can put weight on my ankle. That is scheduled to happen on or about April 15th. The plate and remaining 8 screws will remain in my ankle and leg.
I checked out of the hospital on Saturday evening. I found out just how difficult it is to negotiate stairs (even small ones) on crutches. But at least I was home. Sunday on my way back from the bathroom, I fell flat on my back, knocking over a chair as I fell. I managed to save my leg from further injury, but I did hurt a finger on my left hand. A week later, it still hurts, but I don't think I broke it. Just sprained.
I have had many sleepless nights, but I am managing to cope with the pain.
Today I had my first appointment since the surgery with Dr. Helper. He removed the splint that had been on my leg since the surgery, removed the staples, and applied my lime green cast. I'll go back in two weeks for another xray and, if everything goes well, I'll go back in four weeks to have the cast and one screw removed. Then it's off to physical therapy for six weeks. I should be healed just in time for our WDW vacation in June/July.
In the meantime, I am concentrating on healing so that I can get back to work. I can check emails and sign documents from home, but I am looking forward to returning to the workforce.
In the meantime, I will take the advice to watch lots of movies and eat lots of popcorn. My family has been taking good care of me. My church family has been dropping by on occasion to check up on me. And my DIS family has been there throughout this ordeal with a kind word and good advice.
So that's my story. Pembo suggested that I post this on the TRIP reports board, but just typing TRIP makes my leg twinge.
You poor baby! What a way to get a little R & R. Hope you're not in too much pain and you're on the mend soon.
Hope you're feeling better soon.
And a cute pose. Nice cast.
Oh, and I love the new fur.
