Two days before Thanskgiving and I am heading to the doctor's office with one of the boys. WHY?? Because my boy decided to wait 3-4 days before telling me he had something hurting on his bum. It was a nasty spider bite that looked infected. A lot of pus and nasty stuff came out of it but I was worried it was infected. So off we go, the whole time I was thinking, we'll stop at the store before heading home to make sure we had everything for our Thanksgiving meal.
So we arrive at the doctor's office and as we are walking into the lobby my left foot slips out
from under me and down I go. Now if you have read this blog for any time what so ever you will know that I have arthritis really bad in my left knee. So much so that 4 years ago my ortho. informed me that I would eventually need a knee replacement. Oh yay ....NOT!!! Well what did I fall directly on in a not so friendly position...my left knee and ankle. OUCH!!!!! Let's say that again....OUCH!!!!!
Definitely not the way I wanted to start the day or the holidays. SO I call Sean to let him know what I have done and to meet me in the ER. I dislike going to the hospital!!! I do not have insurance, can not afford insurance and we all know what the cost of a trip to the ER is like. YIKES! I get there and call home to let Jaron know what has happened and to make sure to watch after the other two kids. Well Kris my autistic son, answers the phone. The conversation went a little like this...
Kris: Hello
Me: HI Kris it's mom.
Kris: Mom dad's not home, I don't know where he is, I think he is lost.
Me: Kris Dad is with me. I fell and am at the hospital.
Kris: I am really worried about where dad is he is lost I just know it.
Me: Kris Daddy is with me at the hospital and so is Eli. Take the phone to Jaron, please.
Kris: OMG you are at the hospital? WHY?
I hear him running up the stairs taking the phone to Jaron and the next thing I hear is, "Jaron moms on the phone shes in the hospital and dad is lost and I can't find Eli!" all in a panicked voice. I can't help but laugh as Jaron gets on the phone and says, "ok what in the world is going on!" ...
Needless to say I ended up waiting an hour and half to see a PA who was just plain wacky. I am sitting there in a wheel chair, in severe pain and was offered no ice, no pain meds and crying. NOT A HAPPY CAMPER let me tell ya. Once we got in and they took the xrays all the PA wanted to do was talk about how bad my knee was ate up with arthritis...uhm yea I KNOW THIS! After 10 mins of explaining I know how bad it is she finally says well let me go look again. Ok so now I have been in the ER two hours, it's been about 2 1/2 hrs since I fell and I still have not received any ice or pain meds. About 20 mins later she comes back and tells me I have a avulsion fracture of the talas bone in my ankle and she thinks it will heal ok on its own but recommends I see a specialist. Oh great another major bill before Christmas and not a present has been bought.
I was in such pain I never asked her about my knee again, it took another 15 mins before I got an ice pack and another 10 mins before I got pain meds. By this time, I was in so much pain they could of cut my leg off and I wouldn't of cared. So 3 hours after my great fall I finally get the pain meds and they DIDN'T help.
Ok so here is the funny part in all of this...
Goal: They want to put a temporary splint on my leg.
Problem: I am wearing jeans because it is in the 30s outside and raining. Pants won't fit over splint and I was NOT going to let them cut my jeans.
Solution: Remove pants, have splint put on, and cover myself with hospital gowns.
Do you see the issue with our solution? Let me tell you it was not pretty! Here I am with two gowns wrapped around my waist like a skirt that was not attached being rolled out to the van where it is cold, sprinkling and in pain. The whole time I was thinking, "Please let the parking lot be empty of people!" Was it? NO! Not at all. In fact in two separate cars sat two men. The thoughts that ran through my mind at that point were not pretty. But being in the kind of pain I was in I really didn't care if they saw my big naked butt trying to get in the van! Sean did his best to make sure I was covered but let me tell you that cold rain was not refreshing! It was quite comical.
So I have shared all of this to get to this point, here I am it's Thanksgiving and I am the one that usually does all the cooking. Well it was a great time for Sara to learn how to prepare her first Thanksgiving dinner. She did FANTASTIC! I am so proud of her! She helped on Wed. to prepare all of the different dishes so it would be easy to just put them on the stove or in the oven the next morning. Thanksgiving morning, she set the table, cleaned the house (all without being asked) and then helped chop veggies and put the turkey on. Remember she is 9 years old! She basically took over the duties the house, making sure things were done. Just so proud of her.
