A BIT OF ADVICE . . . WATCH WHERE YOU'RE WALKING!!!
Janene Oliphant
Holy Cow, Kids! What a crazy month. As I mentioned in my previous, very brief post, I fell and broke my right leg. I don't know why I said it was my left leg. Pain pills, I guess.
Simple story. Hubby was getting ready to go outside and work for a few hours. He had set his work boots in front of one living room chair, to put them on. I remembered that son Dan had sent us pictures of his new house, and I asked Hubby if he wanted to go downstairs to my office computer to look at them. He left his boots and went downstairs with me. While we were down there, I heard my phone ping! upstairs announcing a text. I came up and sat down in another living room chair to look at it. When I finished, I jumped up and began to walk across the room. Uh . . . forgot about those boots sitting there. I tripped over them and in one incredibly quick second, landed hard on the floor. I heard no snap. I felt no pain. But I knew it was something really, really bad. I screamed for Hubby that I had broken my leg. He came running upstairs, trying to comprehend what in the world I was yelling about. Then he saw me sprawled out on the floor by the front door.
Poor Hubby looked stunned and said, "The only thing I can do is call 911", whereas I replied, "YES!!!!" Then, when the poor guy was telling them our address he got the house number backwards and I had to tell him our correct house number (which we've had for decades). Then I told him to go move my truck and car, so the ambulance could park up close to the front of the house.
Okay. So I'm still not feeling any pain, but I did run my hand lightly across what I thought was the back of my right leg. I felt a huge lump. (It turned out being on the inside of my thigh). That wasn't good. I thought maybe I had just dislocated my knee or hip, but unfortunately, it was in the middle of my thigh. Uh oh.
Fire Department and the EMTs arrived. After they cut my pant leg open, they got a good look at my leg twisted in a completely inappropriate position. The femur had snapped into and the bottom of my leg was twisted and aimed in the wrong direction, Eeeewwww. Still no pain.
Niece Tina, whose husband, Kale, is not only a professional fireman, but is also on our local volunteer fire department, came in. Kale and son Kaleb, who is also a volunteer fireman, were there. I'm not sure who else from our community came, because I was not moving a muscle and lying pretty much face down. Bit I knew there were a lot of people there to take care of me.
When they gently put me on the stretcher, Tina took my hand. That was very reassuring. I didn't scream while I was being moved because I didn't want everybody to get upset, but I did about 30 seconds of moaning. After I was on the stretcher, they put a traction device at my hip and ankle and began to crank. Tina said later that she wished she had video-taped it for me, 'cause it was cool seeing the leg extend and the lump go down. When they aligned the bone up a bit, it felt like heaven. That's when I knew it was going to be okay.
So, 1:30 PM fell. 3:00 start for the hospital. Get to the hospital and have leg X-rayed. The doctor was contemplating having me wait until the next morning, because I had eaten lunch at noon the he wanted to wait a certain amount of hours before he did surgery. Also, I needed two hours worth of potassium pumped into me, because mine was so low. But thankfully, he decided to do the surgery about 9:30 PM. I was one happy camper. I just wanted to be knocked out and then wake up later, all fixed.
Let me pause for a minute, and tell you why . . . once again . . . I consider myself a very lucky person. If I had fallen over something else or caught my toe on the edge of the chair and fallen, because Hubby had put on his boots and left the house, I would have been in BIG trouble. My cell phone had flown out of my hand and it was a bit chilly lying on the floor by the front door. But stop and think, he was going to be outside, down at our shop FOR HOURS. I would have been lying there FOR HOURS. If this was meant to happen, I was lucky that he was still home. NOTE: I am getting one of those "I've fallen and I can't get up" monitors!!!
And that's what happened. Oh, sure, there was pain, but it was such a relief to have the procedure behind me.
We decided to have the ambulance take me to the same hospital that I was having radiation treatments at. I only had three more sessions out of 28, and if I had gone to my usual hospital, they would have had to transport me by ambulance to go have my treatment. This way, they just stuck me in a wheelchair and drove me downstairs. My nurses who had been treating me in Radiology were shocked when I appeared for my appointment in a hospital gown. But, now that is done.
As far as the cancer situation goes, I keep checking off the crap I have to go through, First had 4 months of chemo, then had surgery, then 5 1/2 weeks of radiation. And, now, for a triple loopy-de-loop finale of Janene's second cancer adventure, I get to do 6 months of systemic chemotherapy. Fortunately, it is just taking pills, but the doctor will keep doing labs on my blood, and I have to be very careful about any problems with diarrhea since it can be life-threatening. jeeze Will this ever stop?
I have a bunch more to talk about, but I am getting a bit tired sitting at the little table Hubby set up in the spare bedroom, where my computer is now. I'm going to go settle into my recliner, with all my books, magazines, TV remote, and phones surrounding me on TV trays. I have a fluffy, warm quilt and pillow to prop up my leg.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY
Janene Oliphant
Holy Cow, Kids! What a crazy month. As I mentioned in my previous, very brief post, I fell and broke my right leg. I don't know why I said it was my left leg. Pain pills, I guess.
Simple story. Hubby was getting ready to go outside and work for a few hours. He had set his work boots in front of one living room chair, to put them on. I remembered that son Dan had sent us pictures of his new house, and I asked Hubby if he wanted to go downstairs to my office computer to look at them. He left his boots and went downstairs with me. While we were down there, I heard my phone ping! upstairs announcing a text. I came up and sat down in another living room chair to look at it. When I finished, I jumped up and began to walk across the room. Uh . . . forgot about those boots sitting there. I tripped over them and in one incredibly quick second, landed hard on the floor. I heard no snap. I felt no pain. But I knew it was something really, really bad. I screamed for Hubby that I had broken my leg. He came running upstairs, trying to comprehend what in the world I was yelling about. Then he saw me sprawled out on the floor by the front door.
Poor Hubby looked stunned and said, "The only thing I can do is call 911", whereas I replied, "YES!!!!" Then, when the poor guy was telling them our address he got the house number backwards and I had to tell him our correct house number (which we've had for decades). Then I told him to go move my truck and car, so the ambulance could park up close to the front of the house.
Okay. So I'm still not feeling any pain, but I did run my hand lightly across what I thought was the back of my right leg. I felt a huge lump. (It turned out being on the inside of my thigh). That wasn't good. I thought maybe I had just dislocated my knee or hip, but unfortunately, it was in the middle of my thigh. Uh oh.
Fire Department and the EMTs arrived. After they cut my pant leg open, they got a good look at my leg twisted in a completely inappropriate position. The femur had snapped into and the bottom of my leg was twisted and aimed in the wrong direction, Eeeewwww. Still no pain.
Niece Tina, whose husband, Kale, is not only a professional fireman, but is also on our local volunteer fire department, came in. Kale and son Kaleb, who is also a volunteer fireman, were there. I'm not sure who else from our community came, because I was not moving a muscle and lying pretty much face down. Bit I knew there were a lot of people there to take care of me.
When they gently put me on the stretcher, Tina took my hand. That was very reassuring. I didn't scream while I was being moved because I didn't want everybody to get upset, but I did about 30 seconds of moaning. After I was on the stretcher, they put a traction device at my hip and ankle and began to crank. Tina said later that she wished she had video-taped it for me, 'cause it was cool seeing the leg extend and the lump go down. When they aligned the bone up a bit, it felt like heaven. That's when I knew it was going to be okay.
So, 1:30 PM fell. 3:00 start for the hospital. Get to the hospital and have leg X-rayed. The doctor was contemplating having me wait until the next morning, because I had eaten lunch at noon the he wanted to wait a certain amount of hours before he did surgery. Also, I needed two hours worth of potassium pumped into me, because mine was so low. But thankfully, he decided to do the surgery about 9:30 PM. I was one happy camper. I just wanted to be knocked out and then wake up later, all fixed.
Let me pause for a minute, and tell you why . . . once again . . . I consider myself a very lucky person. If I had fallen over something else or caught my toe on the edge of the chair and fallen, because Hubby had put on his boots and left the house, I would have been in BIG trouble. My cell phone had flown out of my hand and it was a bit chilly lying on the floor by the front door. But stop and think, he was going to be outside, down at our shop FOR HOURS. I would have been lying there FOR HOURS. If this was meant to happen, I was lucky that he was still home. NOTE: I am getting one of those "I've fallen and I can't get up" monitors!!!
And that's what happened. Oh, sure, there was pain, but it was such a relief to have the procedure behind me.
We decided to have the ambulance take me to the same hospital that I was having radiation treatments at. I only had three more sessions out of 28, and if I had gone to my usual hospital, they would have had to transport me by ambulance to go have my treatment. This way, they just stuck me in a wheelchair and drove me downstairs. My nurses who had been treating me in Radiology were shocked when I appeared for my appointment in a hospital gown. But, now that is done.
As far as the cancer situation goes, I keep checking off the crap I have to go through, First had 4 months of chemo, then had surgery, then 5 1/2 weeks of radiation. And, now, for a triple loopy-de-loop finale of Janene's second cancer adventure, I get to do 6 months of systemic chemotherapy. Fortunately, it is just taking pills, but the doctor will keep doing labs on my blood, and I have to be very careful about any problems with diarrhea since it can be life-threatening. jeeze Will this ever stop?
I have a bunch more to talk about, but I am getting a bit tired sitting at the little table Hubby set up in the spare bedroom, where my computer is now. I'm going to go settle into my recliner, with all my books, magazines, TV remote, and phones surrounding me on TV trays. I have a fluffy, warm quilt and pillow to prop up my leg.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY
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