During my run this morning I hit a patch of rocky gravel, twisted my left ankle, and fell to the sandy cement where I further skinned up my right palm and bruised my left knee. I could see my left earphone piece had been knocked to the ground, but Coldplay still mocked me in my right ear as I laid motionless on my stomach, willing my body to move. After slowly rolling to my back, carefully sitting up on my bottom, and discovering my multiple sources of excruciating pain, I thought:
Why, why, why had I chosen to run in the hidden alley instead of the front sidewalks or roadways?! Yes, I was only 1/2 block from home--but three house-lengths still seemed miles away.
With painstaking limps, I gingerly inched my way home and banged with my might on the backdoor (closest to the alley), catching everyone off guard. Lee practically carried me to the couch--quickly assessing my wounds, icing my ankle, and cleaning up my bleeding hand. All the while, little munchkins tearfully asked if mommy was going to be okay. My sniffling 3 year old snuggled tightly against my side wrapping his body around my left arm, my very concerned 5 year old held a pack of ice on my left ankle, and my 1 year old toddled over, lifted my shirt, and began to nurse (obviously a stress-eater).
After about 20 minutes Lee said something like, "You know, at some point we're going to have to have the discussion on when to take you to the doctor or hospital." I said I wanted to wait this out because all they'd tell me is to "ice the ankle, wrap it tightly, and take some painkillers." But after trying to stand up and discovering I couldn't even move my toes without screaming, I caved. We headed to the clinic by 10:45 and they later sent me on to the hospital around 12:30 while our dear friends watched the kiddos for a couple hours.
You know, I've twisted my ankle a great many times and have never, not once, experienced anything even remotely close to this type of pain. Every bone on my foot seems to hurt to touch or move--every tendon, ligament, and other soft-spot is throbbing. The swelling is seriously unbelievable and I still can't even wiggle my toes without excruciating pain. And this from a homebirther!
By 1:45 my x-rays were completed and the hospital sent us back to the original clinic, now with all three monkeys on-hand climbing the walls and ready to be home. As the doctor rounded the corner and closed the door behind him we braced ourselves for the final results after an exhausting day of medical-room hopping (literally, for me). He leaned against the bed, cleared his throat, and locked eyes with me:
Well, you'll need to ice your whole ankle, wrap it up tightly, and take 800mg of Ibuprofin every 4-6 hours. Come back in 5 days if you're not better.
WHAT did I tell ya?
I'm, like, t o t a l l y a doctor, no?
I’m a joyful woman who wears many hats, including: wife, mom, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, granddaughter, cousin, friend, teacher, librarian, and follower of Christ. I’m also an ex-public school teacher turned SAHM turned unschooling mom. Our little midwestern family is tremendously grateful for the liberties we have to home school, 
23 ♥ thoughtful comments ♥:
You da man? No wait.... You da doc! Terribly sorry to hear of your athletic mishap... I hopeit heals quickly and you are up and about soon.
Yes, I'd say you missed your calling!!! I'm sorry this happened. Bet it felt like slow motion. And it reminds me of the time you passed a car on a dirt road, rounded a bend going too fast, and ran into a ditch. You then confessed turning off your headlights in the darkness, so no one would see what you did...
@MrKrisB~ Thank you! I hope so, too.
@bfs~ And no one did--I sat alone on that quiet dirt road for a long time before Lee found me. Call it my personal time out. LOL Seriously mom, why is it that you can't remember a movie you watched a couple months ago but you can pull out any one of my numerous "most embarrassing moments" stories at a moment's notice. When I run out of blogging materials, I'm coming to YOU!
Oh you poor thing. :( I hope you recover quickly. I broke my ankle & tore some ligaments & tendons when I was pregnant with Gavin, and that's when I learned to knit.
Thinking of you - Lisa H.
Absolutly, 100%, TOTALLY, LOVE IT!!! You should write for a living, I'd pay ya to make my blog as cool as yours. Course, you'd get tired of writing about all my clumbsy misshaps.
I an so sorry to hear about yours. Please let us know if you need anything!!!
Shaye, I couldn't help but click over from facebook and I snorted with laughter at your stress-eater. Whoof. I'll be giggling about that for weeks! Hope you heal quickly -
Oh no! That's not fun at all. I'm sorry to hear it (though you did write it so well). I hope you have a few days of pampering and then get all better. Meanwhile, milk it for all its worth.
@ Meanest Mommy~ Wow, I needed to hear that in my "poor me" moment. 'Cause I really am VERY happy that this didn't happen while I was pregnant. YIKES! And I don't know how to knit, but I can crochet anyone under the table. ;) Maybe it's time to pull out the ole hook and yarn. Good idea!
@ Shay~ I think I'm gonna have to frame your comment and hang it where I'll see it frequently. Thank you for your constant encouragement, my friend.
@ Lenetta~ Heehee! Thanks for laughing with me. All day he was like that--even in the doctor's office he kept popping my shirt up. I s'pose ya gotta love the comfort food!
@ Niecey~ Thank you, Niecey. I can't help but think that every time we start to get overwhelmed, something like this comes along to slow us down. It's frustrating to not be able to walk to the next room, but now I also have a good excuse to sit and think or write or read or... Lee keeps telling me to just relax and take advantage of it. It's probably the best time for something like this to happen (with him off work for the summer and all). By the way, I love your tot talk Tuesdays. I hope to join in next week!
Shaye - I am so sorry that you hurt your ankle! I hope that you get plenty of rest and a chance to be pampered a little while you are recovering! Additional note - I love your writing! I look forward to spending more time reading through your blog! ~ Lynn M.
That was hilarious. Sorry about the pain though. Love to your stress eater year old.
@Lynn~ I appreciate your encouragement. And I'm so glad to be back in touch with you. I've been perusing your blog, too. Great stuff there!
@sujata~ Thank you! I know it'll happen slowly, but it's so hard to just sit all day. BTW, I'm headed over to your blog right now. If I remember correctly, I found you through David's POTD post. I so encoy connecting through other blogs!!
Oh honey! Im still giggling about your little stress eater!!!!
I'm such a hypochondriac I would have demanded immediate hospital attention, and then probably have been pissed when it wasn't broken because GAWD the pain!
@beckyw~ I'm tellin' ya, that kid gets overwhelmed and he has to nurse. So sweet, but SO funny!
@April~ LOL After the x-rays they were like, "We don't see a break on the x-rays, but sometimes those take some time to show up. Come back if it's not better in 5 days." Right, like I want to sit in the waiting room that long again and expose my family to all sorts of sickness. Ick! I really hope I'm able to walk on it by Monday. We'll just see. Thanks for visiting!
Oh poor you! It is no fun to be in pain! Yeah, I hear you about the docs, we have almost completely stopped going as they seem to always be wrong or tell me the same things I am already doing! Why pay for what I already know!!!!!
Hope you are feeling better soon!
I'm so sorry that happened to you! It must have been SO painful!! I hope you heal soon. Obviously, you know how to take care of yourself (ice, wrap, pills, lol). Still, it doesn't sound fun at all.
And isn't it so hard when the kids start crying because you're hurt? That one still always throws me off.
Feel better soon!
Somebody should seriously be paying you for your diagnostic services! Sorry to hear about your nasty fall. Ouch! I guess no running for you in the near future, huh?
Wowza! I feel your pain...I had a fall earlier in the year and it was brutal. Hope you feel better real soon.
Hi - This is my first time here and I am so glad that I stopped by. I truly enjoyed my visit. AND this post brought back a gadzillion memories. I could probably write a whole blog filled about medical mishaps, miracles and mysteries! Take care of yourself - and I will be back!
I had to come back by so I could have the last word.....
Oh NO! You and me both girl! Accident prone is what they call me. Maybe we can attach our bad legs together and hobble around with each other like a three legged race! I hate that you're hurtin'! Ice, elevate, and repeat. Oh, wait...I forget, YOU are the Doctor! :) Love you, friend!
@Amy~ So true. We try not to go. I can't believe I caved. Of course, if I hadn't gone, I would have had 3 broken bones and a torn tendon or something that needed immediate surgery. LOL
@Amanda~ Yes, that's so hard when they do that. I remember doing it as a child, too! I just hated seeing my mom hurt--totally freaks a child out.
@FINE~ I agree. Someone should be paying me. LOL I think I'll be off running for another couple weeks, at least. I'm slowly healing, but still limping horribly. Can't wait to be all better!
@Farmgirl~ Thanks for the sympathy. Since my fall, I've gone back to visit the accident scene. Took pictures and everything. I even found a suspicious rock that might have been the culprit. Who knows. But I'm glad to be on the mend!
@Deb~ Oooh...I love reading about mishaps, miracles and mysteries. Start your blogging list--ready, set, go! :) I'm headed your way, too!
@bfs~ Never!
@Zie Zie~ Love you, too! Can't wait 'til you come up here to visit. I'll try to be all healed so we can watch out for one another!
Shaye -- so sorry to hear about your fall. And aint that just the truth, they always tell you what you think they're gonna say?!?!?
How frustrating, but I hope you are feeling better.
LOL at the stress nurser... so cute!!
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