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broken or sprained?
by sub_handyman at 1/26/2008 10:19:26 AM


Good morning to you. If you are reading this, maybe I am the sort of man worth knowing?

I was all set to return to work on Tuesday, feeling that I had spent more than enough time not being productive, and was well enough to brave the sub zero tempretures. However fate once again rose up, and played it's joker.
I was bringing firewood in from the truck, and slipped on the ice. Gravity is obviously very fond of me, as it pulled me down really hard, and my foot went out at an angle that it really was not suppose to. I lay there in the snow and ice for a minute or two, and finally managed to crawl my way back inside, ( still clutching my firewood), made it to a chair, and crawled into it.
I phoned Lillian, a lady who is a great friend, and has the dubiouse role of being a sort of surrogate mother to me, and asked if she could pop up and get me an elasticated bandage for my ankle, as it definetly was not behaving as it should do. I had gone into shock for about 20 minutes, which was an interesting experience, and my ankle was now the size of a grapefruit.
Any way she turned up, armed with crutches, and said that she thought that I should finally go to the ER. She has been trying to get me there all year.
Well after being shoe horned into her car, we headed off there. Wow what a collection of very sick people, and poss some not so sick people, one reason that I do not like hospitals, is that sick people tend to congrgate there
We waited an hour, and were then called in for "pre-registration". during which were told that it was going to be about a 4 or 5 hour wait. well I do not like wasting my time, let alone some one elses time, so I said that it was proberably sprained, at least that is what I was willing it to be, ( note to self, willing has not been approved by the FDA, nor any branch of the medical profession).
So we went home, stopping to get the bandage that I had originally requested, and feeling very vindicated at my self diognoses .
Luckily I did have a decent supply of ibroprophene 600 ml, and was taking them like they were M&Ms. I did the normal stuiff, put ice on it, and kept it elevated.
The next morning when I woke, I could hardly move. 5 mins to get from the bed to the bathroom, a journey that would normally take all of 20 seconds. My pain meds were downstairs, 5 mins to get down stairs, with constant breaks, and plucking up the courage to take the next step. The return journey was even more eventful, and totally impossable, so I ended up crawling on my hands and knees. Much faster and less painful. The first set of meds kicked in, and I was ready to go out for my hang gliding trip.
When I looked at my foot, it had changed color quite dramatically. This I put down to "substancial bruising", and boasted what a wonderful; color I was turning.
Wendnesday was not much better, so early thursday morning, I put myself in the truck, and headed back to the hospital, to get my "sprain" properly diagnosed, and hopefully some more pain meds.
I walked into the ER and joy of Joys, I was the only sick person there. 2 hours later I went into a exam room, took of my sock, only to hear the nurse exclaim, rather loudly, " Oh God !!!!", Believe me when a nurse says that, it does not bode well.
So foot up on the bed, I waited for the dr.When she came in, she followed the example of the nurse. "I think we need to get this x-rayed", she said, as she rushed out of the room. I then had variouse visits from differant people who were making excuses to come into the room, to get a look at my foot. It was generally agreed that it was a lovely color. I asked if it was just significant bruising, and was told, that it could be called that, if I ran out of other ways to describe it.
There was also some amount of disbeliefe that I had been walking around for 4 days on it. I said, that it was just a flesh wound, and I did not want to bother them, as they seemed to be rather busy with people who were really sick, not bloody idiots who forgot how to walk.
After the first set of x-rays, the dr came back, and I asked her if I was right, that it was just a sprain? "Oh no she said", with a degree of certainty, " It is certainly really broken".
"Oh crap" I said, and then apolagized for my language., " Should I have stayed when I first came on Monday?",
"You came on Monday?" she said. "Definetly", and I was taken for more x-rays, to see what else was broken.
What I did not realize was that the swelling was not just to my ankle, but my leg all the way to the knee.
So I now have a splint caste on my foot, thank god it is my left foot, as I am right handed, and can strill drive.
One thing that a nurse did say, was that I obviously had a high pain threshold. I thought of you when she said that , knowing how much pleasure you could have .
So I am now off work for yet another few more weeks. and cabin fever is setting in