Tuesday, February 08, 2011

The Other Shoe Dropped

Remember how happy and I love life-y I was last Friday? That old superstitious feeling of when life is really good, something crappy is waiting in the wings didn't stop me. The other shoe dropped: I fell really badly on ice Sunday and have wrecked my knee. I've been out of the office (working remotely) for two days. I've also had an X-ray and will have a cat-scan/MRI tomorrow. Yeah, this shit is FOR REAL!

By the way, I suggest never to google images for swollen knees. It's just too gross. My driveway is on a slight incline so when there is any melting, the run-off collects at the bottom and freezes. I was walking to my car Sunday ready to go grocery shopping when the world went sideways and I fell on my ass (my knee did something special too). After the yelped swearing I started nervously giggling. I was just sore and I tried to get up. The ice was coated with water from all the melting so I couldn't get any traction. Thank goodness a nice neighbor came by to help me up. It was only when I sat down in my car that I felt a twinge of something in my left knee. But I was already there with a soaking wet ass so why not go grocery shopping?

As I was pushing my cart in the canned food aisle, I felt it. Yeah, my left knee is not my friend. Every step came with pain and my knee felt incredibly unstable like it would suddenly ostrich on me.


I got home and shuffled over the sheets of ice in my street and driveway opening with many, "Oh shit, oh shit..." Somehow got me and my groceries up 3 flights of stairs then collapsed in pain on my couch. The rest of the day was RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation). I decided the let my knee breathe at night when I slept which was a horrible decision.

I woke up Monday morning in incredible pain and had to call in to work to explain my situation. I worked in my bed for as long as possible until I realized that I needed to see a doctor and I could not drive myself to the doctor because getting down 3 flights of stairs and getting across sheets of ice to my car without breaking my neck would be improbable. This is why I need a husband/boyfriend. Or at least a manservant. I'd call him Toby. But alas, I have no Toby to rescue me. I have a mommy.

The doctor's appointment was a lot more anxiety inducing than I had expected. I thought they'd poke it, give me good drugs, and re-wrap my ace bandages. Nope! Just a lot of concerned poking and range of motion tests then an order for an X-ray and a follow-up with an orthopedist. I forgot a key piece of this injury. It is on my left side. The side that has screwed up feeling. The side I have cut, burned, and pinched by accident because my brain didn't get the pain scream from my nerves. Man, those are fun gross out stories. So, the fact that I was feeling this much pain on a dulled side sent alarm bells off at my doc's office. So, naturally, I did what I did when I feel overwhelmed with anxiety. I cried. Oh I made sure I was alone and it was just stoic tears. But my complexion doesn't allow me to mask tears (damn it). It was just a litany of can I afford these scans, what will happen if I lose my temp job, and being in an exam room getting unexpected news. The RN was really nice when she came back to the room. Not in a condescending way like talking an emotional loon off a ledge. She offered to write a letter to my boss explaining my medical situation which alleviated at least one concern. And she got pricing on all the scans I would be getting. Awesome, huh?

The X-ray was uneventful other than being twisted into a human pretzel. Good news though. Nothing is broken! Now, they think it's ligament/soft tissue damage. The knee is feeling a bit better today. I slept with it ace bandaged so compression at night seems to be key. It is still swollen to hell. The only way I can find my kneecap is pressing around to feel for bone.

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