OK, so I was gone for a few days. A couple weeks is more like it. On 6/24, I did something I've done hundreds of times in the past few years. Only this time, Murphy or some gremlins or a big gust changed my path, and the next day, I woke up in the hospital. What I assumed was a dislocated knee was assumed by others to be badly sprained. We were all wrong. When they rolled in the X-Ray cart, and the nurse snuck my water away, I knew something was up.
I shattered my knee. Instead of taking the extra 30 seconds to walk over and take the stairs, I ended up seeing an old co-worker I haven't seen in a while in the ER admitting area, to the ER to surgery, fairly quickly. They don't even tell you to count backwards anymore. That or I went out SUPER fast and didn't even catch it. Surgery #1...
Woke up to a device I can only describe as a necessary evil: An External Fixation Device (or X-Fix). It's not fun. It's the pins & rods they put in to keep things in place. After a stay in the hospital, it was off to rehab for TLC and learning how to deal with the X-Fix. In short, you obey the X-Fix and don't try to do anything because the X-Fix doesn't move. Period.
Kinda looks like my leg got wrapped up for Christmas with an Ace Wrap.
Checked into rehab and all I can say is, I am GLAD these facilities exist. They take people who are banged up and unable to deal and help us get back on our feet. They made sure I could get to all my appointments without being able to drive cuz... my leg is in a cage.
These people taught me how to move again. Admittedly I spend most of my day in a wheelchair but from time to time there's a walker complete with tennis balls. Oh, and a really cool recliner.
BTW, getting clothes over an X-Fix is a major issue. It takes time and sometimes help from others. And it's pretty much baggy athletic shorts as an option. But make sure you don't buy the cheapies that come in a set of five because those come with a pre-torn hole in the crotch and...
Did I mention I had managed to break BOTH my Fibula AND Tibia? And the Tibia was blown to pieces from the inside, out.
Last Wednesday, it was rise & shine at 5:30am to go from the rehab BACK to the hospital for surgery #2. This is the one where they started taking screws and plates and remodeling the top of my Tibia. I'm not sure just how many photos I want to share because most of them look like someone is playing with an Erector Set on bones. People tend to find them a little weird.
From there, back to rehab with a NEW X-Fix. The old one needed to be changed and reconfigured for even more weirdness. Another week of nurses, making sure I don't do too much, nurses making sure I don't do to little, blood draws, vital signs, shots, and fun.
And then, 16 days and three surgeries later, no more X-Fix.
Still not walking. In fact, far from it. This morning's physical therapy yielded only 20-30° of movement in my knee but apparently that's good progress.
So I'm kinda back.
More to come.