I’ve had one HELL of an adventure. Not the fun, cool kind.
A week and a half ago on the 14th was the drag show in which I performed. It went well. Afterward I went to a well-known karaoke bar to eat and chill out before going home. I was with my friend JP. I took a step back on their patio and I fell – hard. A weirdly placed step was there, and I was still wearing my high heels. I regret that so much. I could not get up, when I tried my foot flopped around on the end of my leg. I sat, took my shoes off, and attempted to pop it back. I was in shock. I reached up to the table I had been sitting at and yanked the purse off and yanked out my phone. I called my mom. In shock, just said I broke my ankle, you gotta come get me. But she is night blind, and I knew that. She told me to get JP to take me, so I got on Lyft and we got in and when dropped off, ER staff had to come get me at the doors. The pain was starting to set in. It was about one in the morning.
After the Xray, I got taken back rather quickly to a room. A doctor came right over. “It’s dislocated and fractured in two places. You’re going to need surgery. We’re going to prep you for admit.”
My face fell. This was the hospital in which I work, Sacred Heart. Familiar turf, but not to be a patient! I had just been talking with JP about how I hoped it was only a dislocation.
They had the IV in me. Put morphine in me. They told me I would be put under a conscious sedation to set it for a temporary splint before surgery. Next thing I know, I’m sitting back up, JP is coming back in the room, and my leg is splinted. I don’t remember any of it. That is the beauty of propofol.
By 5am, I insisted JP get home. He had stuck it out with me since the show and had got me to the ER. It was any minute they would take me upstairs as an admit, and I just hoped to God it wasn’t the 5th floor, where I worked.
Sure enough, they came for me right after he left. I was hooked up to some fluids and declared NPO. In the hospital room, oh god the familiar hospital room…they wrote NPO in big letters on the board. They attached a yellow wristband in addition to my regular wristband to designate fall risk. They did a skin check (always awkward for me, I am very modest) and gave me a pain med. They set the bed alarm and encouraged me to rest before surgery. I was so thirsty. After a night of drinking and pain meds, I was so dried out. I tossed a little in the bed, dozing off and on.
They came for me around 9am Thursday. I was prepped and met a whole ortho surgical team. The doctor told me he would be putting nuts and bolts in over here and a metal plate over there…I went white. He paused, seeing me inwardly freak out. “You will recover. It’s going to take time, but you will recover.”
I was taken in and put to sleep and when I woke up, all I knew was pain and I moaned. I was still in full face, keep in mind. I had been in full costume when I fell. I had only removed my wig. The nurse said I looked fabulous. Everyone already knew I worked there too. I was on the 4th floor.
My leg was wrapped and in a special boot. “Don’t worry, a nerve blocker is coming. You’ll feel a little pinch…” I heard the doctor say. I felt him prodding my thigh. A needle went in and I moaned again. But almost instantly, it started to work. My whole leg started to go numb. I sighed.
My mom and brother came to see me later when I was taken back to my room. They gave me more pain meds. I woke up a little more. The doctor had called my mom as soon as I was out of surgery and she asked the same thing about my prognosis and recovery. He assured her I would recover. They fed me some dinner. I realized I was starving!
They wanted to keep me that night. I had to see a PT lady and learn a few tricks on the walker. She showed me what shower chair I would need. And they started arranging with the VA getting me a walker and scooter for mobility. I can’t bear any weight at least six weeks. The doctor was adamant.
That night, maybe a little mixed up from not being in my own bed and on pain meds, I sat up on the edge of the bed to grab the walker and go to the bathroom. Immediately, alarms and sirens and the bed saying “please do not get up. The care team is on the way.” That was the most surreal moment of them all. To be a patient setting off that alarm, the very alarm I would have put in place if the patient was mine. And I knew better. I had the yellow bracelet, I know they had set that alarm earlier before the surgery. I apologized profusely, feeling stupid, as they came in. They reassured me it was okay and helped me to the bathroom. I can barely toilet myself. After, they set that alarm and put the walker far away across the room, hahaha.
It’s been 11 days since that surgery, and I ran out of the first batch of pain meds, and I used them very sparingly. I also use a lot of ibuprofen. Yesterday my mom insisted I go in after seeing me unwrap it in preparation for a shower. It was bloody and messy and red and swollen. I also don’t have any wound care supplies. The lateral incision is around 7 inches, and the medial is closer to 3 or 4. I was in terrible pain. At the VA, I was seen in urgent care and the doctor put in an IV and they gave me a morphine shot. Instant relief. No signs of infection after lab work was done but the VA sent me by ambulance transport for a ride back to Sacred Heart to rule out DVT. The doctor there gave me another morphine shot and I was taken back to radiology. No DVT. I spent a whole day doing hospital shit but Ceila took me home. This morning at the VA, I went in with the SH doctor’s prescription for a few more pain meds. I felt a lot better today after getting a couple in me. I will probably be in a lot of pain when they are gone but I don’t think I want any more after that.
I see the ortho surgeon for a follow up November 5. More X-rays and hopefully things will be looking a lot better. Then I see my VA doctor November 10.
Can’t do shit around the house. That really stresses me out. Mom can barely keep up with the litter boxes and chores and makes food besides. We need help.
I got a shower chair and a scooter and walker. I can hobble about in limited bits. I can scooter my way around the house. I made it to choir Thursday with a Lyft but had to have my brother with me for loading and unloading the scooter. The pain and other sensations – some not necessarily painful – have been powerful. If I hold still it’s not as bad.
The first pic is 5 days after surgery and the second is yesterday, 10 days after surgery. The doctor yesterday also drained the giant blood pus blob hanging onto my heel. It was disgusting.
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