As a part of my recovery from surgery, I can't use my quadriceps muscle in my right leg for 6 weeks. Basically, what that means is, if I want to move, someone must move me. This can be quite humbling and even a bit humiliating, as I am dependent on everyone.
In the midst of this, there is a certain amount of trust that must take place. For one: I have to trust that people won't drop my leg. But there is yet, even a deeper trust. People can wonder around my house and I can't see them. They can play with your stuff when you are not looking. You can't get to, or even keep an eye on your stuff... so you have to trust that your friends, for example, won't play with your camera.
Showing posts with label knee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knee. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
the knee, part 2
[When we last left our now lame hero, SuperRev, he was given a medication to make him forget... but because of his incredible superpowers, he remembered absolutely everything. "@#$@#!" yelled SuperRev. He didn't really hurt, he just wanted the Evil Dr. Emergency-Room to know that he Evil medicine wasn't working. Now, the saga continues.]
So nurses make or break a hospital. Yea, I guess you need a good doctor, but it's the nurses that make the stay bearable or a living hell. I had 3 great nurses, and one that got her training from Ed Debevic's. She was pretty surly and complained about how understaffed they were and how much she had to do and how she could do what she needed to do if only they had enough staff, but because they didn't "this might hurt." [It did]
But the others were very gentle and compassionate. I remember one saying, "Wow, that must hurt. I know this is hard, but you are doing a great job." A note to any of my readers who may be in the medical field: that thing where people fall in love with their nurses... I can see why that happens. And you know, I'm not sure it's a bad thing. (I say that as a married pastor.) Maybe it's true for women as well, but sickness is very emasculating for guys. You are weak. You are needy. You hate to ask for something but you need it. When someone is proactive and shows compassion and treats you like a human being... it really does stand out and it does have an effect. To be honest, it's very healing. It makes you feel stronger. So all of this is to say, "Thanks to the nurses at Magruder Hospital. You rock."
So the doctor gave me that IV medicine that "would make it so that I would not feel or remember the pain" [ha ha] and set my knee. According to the X Rays I had just dislocated my knee, but he admitted that when he popped it back, it wouldn't stay. So he was about to send me home (on the 4-hour-car-ride) but when he got me up... well... I screamed like a 6-year-old girl.
Upon seeing me scream like a 6-year-old girl, the doctor came to the conclusion that he "might not have completely diagnosed my ailment." He then sent me down for a CT scan only to discover that I "may have done more than simply dislocate my knee." By now it was 11:30 PM and he still was going to just have me drive home then (4 hours) to see my doctor in the morning. After my wife and I begging to be admitted for the night (rather than loading me into the back of the van and having my wife drive through the night), he decided that might be best. (Where do these guys get their training?)
So I slept the hospital, and my wife slept on a couple of chairs in the room. Other than the occasional pain shot and some Morphine to keep me calm, it was a very uneventful several hours of sleep.
To be continued...
So nurses make or break a hospital. Yea, I guess you need a good doctor, but it's the nurses that make the stay bearable or a living hell. I had 3 great nurses, and one that got her training from Ed Debevic's. She was pretty surly and complained about how understaffed they were and how much she had to do and how she could do what she needed to do if only they had enough staff, but because they didn't "this might hurt." [It did]
But the others were very gentle and compassionate. I remember one saying, "Wow, that must hurt. I know this is hard, but you are doing a great job." A note to any of my readers who may be in the medical field: that thing where people fall in love with their nurses... I can see why that happens. And you know, I'm not sure it's a bad thing. (I say that as a married pastor.) Maybe it's true for women as well, but sickness is very emasculating for guys. You are weak. You are needy. You hate to ask for something but you need it. When someone is proactive and shows compassion and treats you like a human being... it really does stand out and it does have an effect. To be honest, it's very healing. It makes you feel stronger. So all of this is to say, "Thanks to the nurses at Magruder Hospital. You rock."
So the doctor gave me that IV medicine that "would make it so that I would not feel or remember the pain" [ha ha] and set my knee. According to the X Rays I had just dislocated my knee, but he admitted that when he popped it back, it wouldn't stay. So he was about to send me home (on the 4-hour-car-ride) but when he got me up... well... I screamed like a 6-year-old girl.
Upon seeing me scream like a 6-year-old girl, the doctor came to the conclusion that he "might not have completely diagnosed my ailment." He then sent me down for a CT scan only to discover that I "may have done more than simply dislocate my knee." By now it was 11:30 PM and he still was going to just have me drive home then (4 hours) to see my doctor in the morning. After my wife and I begging to be admitted for the night (rather than loading me into the back of the van and having my wife drive through the night), he decided that might be best. (Where do these guys get their training?)
So I slept the hospital, and my wife slept on a couple of chairs in the room. Other than the occasional pain shot and some Morphine to keep me calm, it was a very uneventful several hours of sleep.
To be continued...
Friday, July 20, 2007
The knee, part 1
Well, if you have not heard, this past Saturday, I was in a biking accident and blew my knee out. "Biking accident" makes it sound like I was on the Tour De France but it was much less dramatic than that. We were on Put in Bay and rented those cheap bikes where you have to back pedal to stop -- remember when you were in elementary school? I had to make a sudden stop and I was on the top of the circle and pushed back.
I heard this loud pop.
I felt this excruciating pain.
The next thing I knew I was laying on the ground with a police officer hovering over me. She was asking, "Are you okay?"
I mean how do you answer that question and not be a smart aleck?
"Sure I'm okay! I always lay in the street, surrounded by people, holding my knee and screaming!"
Fortunately, the Police officer was right there, she called the EMT and they were there in minutes. They cut off my favorite pair of pants, secured my leg and loaded me in the ambulance. They said that they would put a splint on me but since they didn't have a hospital, that is all they could do is secure the leg. It was then that it hit me that I was on an island.
Surrounded by water.
Very choppy water.
Now, the funny thing is they asked me if I wanted to take the Life-flight Helicopter. I mean, I blew my knee... it's not a gunshot wound to the chest or anything. So they loaded us on the jet boat (yes, we all had to pay for the tickets, including the EMT person), they wedged my bed against some chairs, and across the water we went. [SPLASH! JUMP!]
They took us to the hospital in Port Clinton and admitted us to the Emergency room. My wife told me the hospital was really small, but all I can say is they had some nice doctors, nurses and some really nice ceilings -- no water marks and mostly drop ceilings. They used can lighting rather than a lot of Flurescents. You notice these thing when you are laying on your back for a day.
Like most emergency room visits, the majority of time was spent waiting. They did some X Rays, poking and prodding, they gave me meds for pain and the emergency room doctor tried to re-set my knee. ["Now, we are going to give you this medication and you won't remember anything. You won't be asleep, but you won't be aware of what is happening" -- for the record, I remembered EVERYTHING.]
To be continued...
I heard this loud pop.
I felt this excruciating pain.
The next thing I knew I was laying on the ground with a police officer hovering over me. She was asking, "Are you okay?"
I mean how do you answer that question and not be a smart aleck?
"Sure I'm okay! I always lay in the street, surrounded by people, holding my knee and screaming!"
Fortunately, the Police officer was right there, she called the EMT and they were there in minutes. They cut off my favorite pair of pants, secured my leg and loaded me in the ambulance. They said that they would put a splint on me but since they didn't have a hospital, that is all they could do is secure the leg. It was then that it hit me that I was on an island.
Surrounded by water.
Very choppy water.
Now, the funny thing is they asked me if I wanted to take the Life-flight Helicopter. I mean, I blew my knee... it's not a gunshot wound to the chest or anything. So they loaded us on the jet boat (yes, we all had to pay for the tickets, including the EMT person), they wedged my bed against some chairs, and across the water we went. [SPLASH! JUMP!]
They took us to the hospital in Port Clinton and admitted us to the Emergency room. My wife told me the hospital was really small, but all I can say is they had some nice doctors, nurses and some really nice ceilings -- no water marks and mostly drop ceilings. They used can lighting rather than a lot of Flurescents. You notice these thing when you are laying on your back for a day.
Like most emergency room visits, the majority of time was spent waiting. They did some X Rays, poking and prodding, they gave me meds for pain and the emergency room doctor tried to re-set my knee. ["Now, we are going to give you this medication and you won't remember anything. You won't be asleep, but you won't be aware of what is happening" -- for the record, I remembered EVERYTHING.]
To be continued...
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