Wednesday, August 16, 2006

It was too long so I chopped it. (still to be read with caution)(AKA part 3)

No liquids for me,
no liquids, and no food.

Yeah, I had an IV, but I just don't think that's very satisfying.
And I got thirsty.
But I wasn't supposed to eat.
Sadly the hospital did not have the Food network,
or, if they did, I couldn't get it in my rooms. I remember being wheeled to surgery. But I don't remember much else. The Anesthetist told me he was going to do something, and appearantly he did, because the next few hours just didn't exist. I don't remember exactly when I woke up, But then there was nothing unusual about it. I was just in my room, surrounded by the same friends that had been there before, doing basically the same kind of things. The first couple of times that I awoke, I was very tired.

Usually I would go back to sleep shortly after hanging up my phone. Just enough people had my contact number to re- wake me when I would fall asleep. The doctor came by, he said things went well. He told me that I would probably end up staying there that night. I was pretty nauseas. I think it was the pizza, particularly the cheese that just hadn't digested yet. It was about 10 that evening when I decided to stay that night.

It was probably also about ten when I actually could have come home. I stayed one last night, and it was a very LONG night. I had no idea how slowly time passes when your leg weighs a little extra. I probably woke up a dozen times that night. I still wake up a few extra times each night. By about 1 a.m.

I was soooooo ready to go home.
Every hour or so I would wake up and try to figure out the quickest way home.
Early wednesday morning I called my brother. He was awake, but I think a little surprised to hear from me so soon. When I heard that I got a regular breakfast, that gave me a little motivation to stay. But I was pretty anxious. It didn't take me long to Make that meal a memory. Eggs, and potatoes, and bacon, three slices, and mush, and fruit, and everything else. The nurses were shocked that I was “leaving so soon.” But the hospital had nothing else for me.

I talked to my doctor one last time. He the surgury had gone really well. He also said he needed a refresher on my business, because he knew that the operating staff would have more questions. I've heard he doesn't have great bedside manner, but I guess that was never really my experience. He was plenty nice to me. And I believe my leg is as good as can be. So I ended my hospital visit. The food was ok, but nothing to write home about. The service was good, And I liked my surgeon. I hope to see him again, but next time... maybe I'll get to be the one working. Yes, that would be nice.

In two parts Part 2 (some content may not be suitable for all audiences)

I went home, we ordered pizza.
I was very hungry.
My mom said I should check with the instacare.
(unfortunately the instacare wasn't listed in any of the phonebooks.)
The instacare had only been open about a month.
They told me their hours were 9 to 9.
I decided to eat first, then go in.
We borrowed some crutches from a neighbor,

(but their reccommended height was about six inches shorter than mine.)

And to the Instacare we went.
I found great irony, that they didn't have handicap accessible doors.
They found me a wheel chair, and asked for my phone number.
The process was actually quite smooth.
I really was brought in almost instantly (of course the office was empty when I got there.)They checked my vitals, (medical people seem to like that because it happened a lot). I think this was the third time.
After about twenty minutes the doctor came to check me out.
She thought I probably had a fracture. She seemed very nice, maybe too nice. Maybe she was in pediatrics, I don't know, but she was very um delicate. Whe would barely touch me, and ask if it hurt. Of course, it did not. Or at least, not very much.


Then the nurse took me back for x-rays. Recognized the nurse, (this was a very common theme through out my experience). Xray's weren't all that fun. I had to put my leg places it didn't always want to be. Then I had to hold it there.

I could see the scans on the computer monitor outside my window, My leg looked pretty good. I guess I missed something, because my leg was not so good. In fact it was broken.
When the doctor came back in, she looked pretty surprised. She had be right, I had broken it, but she how no idea how large the fracture was. It was much more broken, than even she expected. She said I should go to the ER pretty quickly.
Getting in and out of the car was harder than I expected, but somehow I managed.
In the ER, we saw a few more people we knew, then checked in. My nurse was awesome. Her name was Vanessa. She said somebody had really messed up on the crutches, because those ones weren't the right size. She promptly found me some taller ones. My friends came up to visit. While we waited we played cards. Phase 10 cards.
This really made Vanessa laugh. Phase 10 in the ER at um midnight, I guess it's not common. Then one of my friends (who was also one of my EMT's came in) he was there to IV me. He was a bit surprised to find out how serious my injury was. I was very good at phase 10, in fact I was winning.

Corey did my CT scan. He said it was pretty sweet.
Not every day that you get one that good.
Dr. Delcore happened to be on call, so he was assigned as my surgeon.
He came and found me. I did not expect what I saw. He was young. Reallly young. Not like Doogie Houser young, but not much older than me. He asked me about my accident,
and then about my work. He started taking notes on his pants.
I admit, this caught me off guard. He was pretty interested. He asked if I wanted to see what had happened. I obliged. So he pulled out his pen, and started drawing.
He just drew right there on the bed. There was my tibia, there was my femur and there in the middle, was my fracture, or perhaps I should say fissure. Right down the middle, it was split right open. And a little piece of bone, just propping it open.
He was pretty nice, but he was going home to bed. I had eaten too recently, and he had just finished a pretty serious surgery, so he scheduled me for surgery in the morning.
Venessa made sure the hospital got me an extra tall bed. I got a new batch of nurses, and big surprise, I knew them too.



A man and his bicycle (not for the faint of heart)

Yes, it's true, I broke my leg, or rather, the road broke it. There I was, just minding my own business, riding my my bike home from work. I dind't see the the small pile of cement that had ben left on the bike path. I guess it didn't see me either, because it didn't move. Suddenly my bike was wobblely. I couldn't get control. Down I fell. Ouch it hurt. A six year old called to me, “Are you ok?” I did not know. He was persistent. I still didn't know. One car stopped, and then another. Rumors started to all around. “Somebody hit him!” “Call 911.” A man came toward me. He asked if I could stand, I thought I would try.
I did try.
But I did not succeed.
He caught me as I fainted.
More cars stopped. I wasn't gone very long.
I was still thinking, but when he said “you just passed out,” I knew it must have been true, So I woke back up. They helped me to the side of the road.
A nice, but slightly hard section of grass,
and shade.

The police started to arrive.
Four of their cars showed up.
I knew a few of the officers.
Then the paramedics came. I got two car loads of them too.
I knew three of the paramedics. Some from school, some from church.
They were nice. No one knew for sure what was wrong, but they thought I would probably be ok. I decided that I did not want to pay for an ambulance ride. So I called home for a ride.
My brother didn't have his car, so he sent one of our friends.
Two of my friends just happened to be in town, and happened to be staying at our house. But my instructions weren't very good, and my brother's instructions were a little weak too. By the time the message got to my friend, he was pretty much lost. Ok, I admit, in retrospect, I probably should have mentioned something about the ambulances, or that I had an accident. I did say that I was on the road. But I guess it wasn't very clear. Eventually he found me, but I saw him minutes before he saw me.

The EMT's gave me three options.
I could go with them to the ER.
I could go home, and see what I felt like the next day,
or I could see if the instacare had x-ray capabilities.
I admit, I was a bit surprised that they didn't know more about the instacare.
(I, however, am now an expert)