How I broke my Other leg!
I just wanted to say hello and fill you in on how I broke my darn leg! I was at Epcot on June 5, with my sister and we were walking to a place to watch the fireworks. We were going down some stairs on an island in front of France, for those of you familiar with the area. I couldn’t hold onto the handrails going down the steps because there were a bunch of people in front of them blocking them off on both sides of the stairs waiting to watch the fireworks.
As I descended the stairs, I stepped down with my left foot and stepped on something round, it felt like a marble or something, and my left foot just shot out in front of me. My right foot then got bent backward and down I went, with that sickening crunch you recognize if you have ever broken a bone. And of course, the instantly blinding pain that accompanies it! Luckily it happened at the bottom of the stairs so I didn’t fall the whole flight of them. As I lay there, I knew I had broken my leg – having just done it last October I was very familiar with the feeling. People around us were saying, ”Are you all right? “Do you need help getting up?” And I would say no, and no. The fireworks then started and my sister sat down and rested my leg on hers until the pain subsided enough that I could scoot over the foot or so I needed to get out of the middle of the stairway. We knew I had to get out of the middle as once the fireworks stopped, all those people would be streaming back up that staircase. Paige said later she never wished fireworks would end so quickly.
Once the show was over and most of the people had cleared out, some kind soul told a park employee (excuse me – in Disney they are cast members!) and he called the EMT’s. They came with a pillow and put my leg on it and wrapped it around sort of secure with an ace bandage – called it a “pillow cast.” The island we were on is one of the few places in the whole park where there is no ramp, only stairs. They knew they couldn’t carry me up, so they called the firemen. They strapped me to a backboard and carried me up, with a fair amount of screeching on my part. Then they loaded me on a stretcher and took me to the ambulance. Unfortunately, it was trip over several section of cobblestones and boy did that hurt! Once they loaded me in the ambulance, still strapped to board and stretcher, I was frantic to make sure my sister was still with me. She was, they let her ride in the front.
They took me to Celebration Hospital Emergency Room and it wasn’t busy, so we got right in. They had to x-ray it, of course, and that was excruciating. When the x-rays came up on the screen, it was about 10 feet away from me and I could see it was fractured from that distance! Oh my! The ED doc confirmed that I had broken my tibia and gave my some oxycodone and a prescription for more. She put on a temporary splint on the leg and sent me out on my merry (?) way.
Paige and I had taken the Disney bus from our hotel to the park, so we were at the hospital with no car, but the Disney cast member had told us that since we were staying on the property, the hotel would send a car for us. Paige called our hotel and discovered that they wouldn’t send a car, but that they would reimburse us for a taxi. The nurse called a taxi service who does this for them quite frequently. Apparently, that ED is filled almost exclusively with park guests! They loaded me up in the back seat, stretched out with the leg on the pillow from the EMT’s, and with an ice pack. We asked our driver to take us to the 24 hour Walgreens so we could get the prescription filled. Paige took it in and I chatted with the driver, all the while only wanting to suffer in silence. Paige came back out and it had taken a half hour just for her to give the prescription to the pharmacist. Apparently he was the only guy there and he was doing it all, and none too swiftly, it appeared. So, we had Joe the taxi driver take us back to the hotel.
I got out of the car and tried one step with crutches and knew that that was not going to happen. It was way too painful, even though you don’t put the bad leg down or put weight on it, you use muscles in it and they were pulling on broken bone!!! Youch!! The hotel did have a loaner wheelchair so we got it and Paige wheeled me up to our room. By now it was about 1:30 am and we were beat, but had to wait to get the prescription. Finally it was ready, we went and got it and I started getting some pain relief. Not a lot, but some. The pain would come in sneak attacks and startle me so I would yelp – didn’t make for a restful night for either of us. We had planned to go to Animal Kingdom the next day, but of course that was out of the question!
After considering various options, we decided for Paige to drive me back to Jacksonville in my car and we would get her to Gainesville. I called Keith and told him I would have to have a wheelchair waiting for me or I couldn’t get out of the car, that I needed a potty chair by the bed, because the wheelchair won’t go through the bathroom door, and to call and make an appointment with the orthopedic doctor I saw last time. He did all those things and it wasn’t until I got home that I found out he was sick too. He had had a fever all weekend and it was about 104 that day. He saw the doctor the next day and he had pneumonia! Can you imagine! What a pair!
When my doctor walked in the room, she just smiled and shook her head. How in the world did I get into this fine mess? (She was the same orthopedic surgeon I had seen for the other broken leg in Oct.!)She x-rayed it again and said I had a complete break of the tibia and she would put on a temporary cast that day ( to allow it to swell as it needed to,) and in 4 days put on a permanent cast. No handy boot for me this time!
I went back Thursday and got my full leg cast – from mid thigh to toes! And it is supposed to stay on 5 weeks then she will look at it again, then leave it on, or put me in a half leg cast, depending on the healing
It is amazing how much more restrictive this cast is than the last one! With the last one I could do almost every thing, and with this one, just getting from room to room is an accomplishment. We went out and bought a new chair as our living room couch and living room chair were both too low for me to get out of. The new chair is great – now I can be somewhere rather than in the wheelchair or in bed! We also bought a WiFi card for the laptop, so I can be on the web – yeayyyyy! The computer in the office is hard to get to, so unless I am paying bills or something, I use the laptop set up on the kitchen table, sitting in my wheelchair with my leg propped up,
So, that is my tale of woe. I asked the doctor if I could have bone cancer or low bone density and she said no, I just had two freak accidents. I had a bone density test a couple of years ago and it was great and she said you don’t lose it that fast. So, with those worries off my mind, now I just have to figure out how to do some art work in the pig sty I call an art room. Sure would have been nice if I had cleaned it up before this! Oh well …
We sent Paige home with one of our cars as we won’t be needing it for some time to come – I can’t drive for weeks yet! I can’t shower – have to do sponge baths, I wash my hair by sitting down and sticking my head in the shower while Keith is inside with the sprayer and lathers me up and rinses me. We usually don’t get more than gallon of water on the floor! I have a lovely metallic blue walker so I park my wheel chair at the bathroom door and use the walker (should be called a “hopper” for me) to the toilet. Sure beats having a potty chair by the bedside though!
My mother has been a God send. She has been over every day and has brought me new pajamas, flowers, gotten groceries, cooked meals, done the laundry, done dishes. She has been so wonderful, I don’t know what we would have done without her! Keith was home from work the first week, and is better now, but since he is gone all day, it is great to have Mom here.
Well I am 2 and a half weeks out from the break and have been able to really reduce the medication I was on, so I am very grateful for that. I was on some pretty heavy duty stuff for a while, and the pain was still breaking through that! Not fun! So, that’s where I am at the moment.
As I descended the stairs, I stepped down with my left foot and stepped on something round, it felt like a marble or something, and my left foot just shot out in front of me. My right foot then got bent backward and down I went, with that sickening crunch you recognize if you have ever broken a bone. And of course, the instantly blinding pain that accompanies it! Luckily it happened at the bottom of the stairs so I didn’t fall the whole flight of them. As I lay there, I knew I had broken my leg – having just done it last October I was very familiar with the feeling. People around us were saying, ”Are you all right? “Do you need help getting up?” And I would say no, and no. The fireworks then started and my sister sat down and rested my leg on hers until the pain subsided enough that I could scoot over the foot or so I needed to get out of the middle of the stairway. We knew I had to get out of the middle as once the fireworks stopped, all those people would be streaming back up that staircase. Paige said later she never wished fireworks would end so quickly.
Once the show was over and most of the people had cleared out, some kind soul told a park employee (excuse me – in Disney they are cast members!) and he called the EMT’s. They came with a pillow and put my leg on it and wrapped it around sort of secure with an ace bandage – called it a “pillow cast.” The island we were on is one of the few places in the whole park where there is no ramp, only stairs. They knew they couldn’t carry me up, so they called the firemen. They strapped me to a backboard and carried me up, with a fair amount of screeching on my part. Then they loaded me on a stretcher and took me to the ambulance. Unfortunately, it was trip over several section of cobblestones and boy did that hurt! Once they loaded me in the ambulance, still strapped to board and stretcher, I was frantic to make sure my sister was still with me. She was, they let her ride in the front.
They took me to Celebration Hospital Emergency Room and it wasn’t busy, so we got right in. They had to x-ray it, of course, and that was excruciating. When the x-rays came up on the screen, it was about 10 feet away from me and I could see it was fractured from that distance! Oh my! The ED doc confirmed that I had broken my tibia and gave my some oxycodone and a prescription for more. She put on a temporary splint on the leg and sent me out on my merry (?) way.
Paige and I had taken the Disney bus from our hotel to the park, so we were at the hospital with no car, but the Disney cast member had told us that since we were staying on the property, the hotel would send a car for us. Paige called our hotel and discovered that they wouldn’t send a car, but that they would reimburse us for a taxi. The nurse called a taxi service who does this for them quite frequently. Apparently, that ED is filled almost exclusively with park guests! They loaded me up in the back seat, stretched out with the leg on the pillow from the EMT’s, and with an ice pack. We asked our driver to take us to the 24 hour Walgreens so we could get the prescription filled. Paige took it in and I chatted with the driver, all the while only wanting to suffer in silence. Paige came back out and it had taken a half hour just for her to give the prescription to the pharmacist. Apparently he was the only guy there and he was doing it all, and none too swiftly, it appeared. So, we had Joe the taxi driver take us back to the hotel.
I got out of the car and tried one step with crutches and knew that that was not going to happen. It was way too painful, even though you don’t put the bad leg down or put weight on it, you use muscles in it and they were pulling on broken bone!!! Youch!! The hotel did have a loaner wheelchair so we got it and Paige wheeled me up to our room. By now it was about 1:30 am and we were beat, but had to wait to get the prescription. Finally it was ready, we went and got it and I started getting some pain relief. Not a lot, but some. The pain would come in sneak attacks and startle me so I would yelp – didn’t make for a restful night for either of us. We had planned to go to Animal Kingdom the next day, but of course that was out of the question!
After considering various options, we decided for Paige to drive me back to Jacksonville in my car and we would get her to Gainesville. I called Keith and told him I would have to have a wheelchair waiting for me or I couldn’t get out of the car, that I needed a potty chair by the bed, because the wheelchair won’t go through the bathroom door, and to call and make an appointment with the orthopedic doctor I saw last time. He did all those things and it wasn’t until I got home that I found out he was sick too. He had had a fever all weekend and it was about 104 that day. He saw the doctor the next day and he had pneumonia! Can you imagine! What a pair!
When my doctor walked in the room, she just smiled and shook her head. How in the world did I get into this fine mess? (She was the same orthopedic surgeon I had seen for the other broken leg in Oct.!)She x-rayed it again and said I had a complete break of the tibia and she would put on a temporary cast that day ( to allow it to swell as it needed to,) and in 4 days put on a permanent cast. No handy boot for me this time!
I went back Thursday and got my full leg cast – from mid thigh to toes! And it is supposed to stay on 5 weeks then she will look at it again, then leave it on, or put me in a half leg cast, depending on the healing
It is amazing how much more restrictive this cast is than the last one! With the last one I could do almost every thing, and with this one, just getting from room to room is an accomplishment. We went out and bought a new chair as our living room couch and living room chair were both too low for me to get out of. The new chair is great – now I can be somewhere rather than in the wheelchair or in bed! We also bought a WiFi card for the laptop, so I can be on the web – yeayyyyy! The computer in the office is hard to get to, so unless I am paying bills or something, I use the laptop set up on the kitchen table, sitting in my wheelchair with my leg propped up,
So, that is my tale of woe. I asked the doctor if I could have bone cancer or low bone density and she said no, I just had two freak accidents. I had a bone density test a couple of years ago and it was great and she said you don’t lose it that fast. So, with those worries off my mind, now I just have to figure out how to do some art work in the pig sty I call an art room. Sure would have been nice if I had cleaned it up before this! Oh well …
We sent Paige home with one of our cars as we won’t be needing it for some time to come – I can’t drive for weeks yet! I can’t shower – have to do sponge baths, I wash my hair by sitting down and sticking my head in the shower while Keith is inside with the sprayer and lathers me up and rinses me. We usually don’t get more than gallon of water on the floor! I have a lovely metallic blue walker so I park my wheel chair at the bathroom door and use the walker (should be called a “hopper” for me) to the toilet. Sure beats having a potty chair by the bedside though!
My mother has been a God send. She has been over every day and has brought me new pajamas, flowers, gotten groceries, cooked meals, done the laundry, done dishes. She has been so wonderful, I don’t know what we would have done without her! Keith was home from work the first week, and is better now, but since he is gone all day, it is great to have Mom here.
Well I am 2 and a half weeks out from the break and have been able to really reduce the medication I was on, so I am very grateful for that. I was on some pretty heavy duty stuff for a while, and the pain was still breaking through that! Not fun! So, that’s where I am at the moment.
posted by colbysmycat @ 6/23/2005 03:10:00 PM
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