Watch Out For Those Curve Balls

If you've been reading my blog for a while you may have noticed that I fall a lot! Last September I fell off my bike, bruising my whole right side along with my ego. Before that, I fell down the back steps bruising my tailbone. Once, I tripped over a safety cone during one of our marathons. I've also fallen while aboard Mystic more times than I want to count. I don't see myself as clumsy but apparently I may just be! I took the mother of all falls only five days after Dave had his hip replacement surgery. I broke my ankle in three places! At least I can say I gave it my all this time!

Things were going so well; Dave was improving each day. I was making him healthy meals, keeping track of his medications and assisting in his transfers from here to there. I helped him dress and made sure he had a good environment for healing. Winter is a good time to be laid up. Especially when you have a dedicated caregiver who attends to your every need. I loved caring for Dave; he's always been the one to take care of me! This was Dave's turn to be pampered!

Winter has been cold and wet, snowy and icy; just a miserable season this year! The roads and sidewalks are dangerous; the weather coming in waves of snow, melt, and ice over; a never ending pattern! Most folks hunker down and enjoy the quiet of winter at home. We usually just embrace the weather and go outside in spite of how bad it gets. We snowboard, x-country ski and even go for runs during the winter months. We bought spikes that slip over our shoes and give us just a bit of traction. They slow us down but keep us upright in icy conditions. Unfortunately, they do not fit over my new Keen winter boots, so I had been walking our pup, Jess, without them. My neighbor and friend, Pat Murphy, is always warning me about ice and asking if I have my spikes on.

Jess, has to go out, preferable for walks, even when the weather is not favorable for outdoor activities. It looked like a beautiful day to venture past our front yard with blue skies and mild temps. Jess loves to bound through the snow with her snout sometimes buried deep in search of some delicious smell she is tracking! She's a hound dog; part mini pinscher, part beagle! She is our son's dog but we spend a lot of time with her. It was on a walk with Jess that I was thrown the unexpected bend in the road; a curve ball when I was expecting a fast ball, straight and predictable.

Jess, always attentive

As we left the house, I noticed the severe icy conditions right away, but I decided to walk my way around the short block with Jess to give her some exercise in spite of it. I was confident that Dave would be fine for the 10 minutes it would take. I was walking in the road because the sidewalks were so bad. My thought was that the roads would be salted but I was terribly wrong! Jess was being careful, no pulling on the leash in exuberance like she usually does. She was stepping carefully too! One minute we were shuffling along, the next my left foot hit a patch of ice. It looked like a bathroom mirror where my boot slid through the new dusting of snow that had hidden the ice from me. My right foot took all my weight, rolled outward with a terrible snapping sound, As I tried to get my balance, my ankle rolled inward with another terrible snap and down I went. Luckily I did not land on Jess and I held tight to her leash. I could move my foot so I tried to put weight on my leg but heard or sensed the horrific sound of crackling bones. Yup, I was pretty sure it was broken. I made my way on my knees, crawling about 20 yards when I remembered that I always carry my phone. Before I could get it out, a good samaritan stopped to see if I was ok. I crawled over the snowbank and climbed into her truck and she drove me home. I'm sure I was in shock and so focused on getting to Dave that I never even looked at her. She followed me as I crawled to our door then led Jess inside. I thanked her profusely as she shut our door and walked away. I will be forever grateful for our chance encounter and the assistance she gave me!

As I crawled inside, I called to Dave, in tears, telling him I'd hurt myself really bad! Dave called 911 for assistance. I called our neighbor Pat, in near hysteria, I begged her to help! She and her husband Tom came to our aid right away. They put Jess upstairs where she would be safe while the emergency team worked on me. Pat tried to help me calm my breathing while we waited. The police arrived first and stood over me, offering words of encouragement. I had pulled my new Keen boot off as soon as I could, which made my leg swell up fast! I kept thinking, I'd better get it off before they have the chance to think about cutting it off! When the ambulance arrived and the EMTs entered our bedroom I was in a lot of pain but found my sense of humor asking. "Don't you have a magic wand in your goodie bag that you can wave at me and make this better?" One EMT played along, pulling out his pen and waving it at my foot then responded, "Well let's see. No, sorry, I guess it's not working today!" Instead, my new EMT friend started an IV line then gave me pain medicine. The sweet relief worked quickly, calming me to submission. My ankle was put in a splint and I was loaded onto a chair type gurney. There are about 10 steps leading from the street to our front door. Two EMTs carried me down those steps as I mentioned, several times, that it seemed rather unsafe! With great patience, they took turns reminding me that they would not drop me and I was to keep my arms wrapped at my chest.

Pat found me in the ER. I was waiting for x-rays. I could not have water or ice in case I needed surgery. The pain medicine gave me cotton mouth. I was miserable and so very sad, feeling like I'd let Dave down! Pat sat with me, advocated for me and held my hand as I cried after hearing I had, in fact, a trimalleolar fracture that needed surgical reduction. Unfortunately, I would have to wait for two days for that surgery. Pat let me use her chapstick to help moisten my parched lips, and stayed with me until my admission was complete and I was taken to a room. Tom stayed with Dave until our son could get home. Our friends took the time to care for us, physically and emotionally. We will be forever greatful for their kindness and friendship.

Beth with friends Sonya Stylos & Pat Murphy

Pat & Tom selfie in New Zealand 

I stayed in the hospital for four days, two of them in a splint that held my broken bones where I'd put them during the fall. It was unnerving to know and feel that they were out of place. The nurses at our local Lakeview Hospital were kind and compassionate. My surgeon, Dr. Knudson, was confident and reassured me that she'd make me whole again. Ironically, it's going to take me a lot longer to heal this ankle than it will take Dave to heal his hip. He was up and putting weight on his hip the day of surgery. I will be not be able to bear weight for six weeks.

Feeling miserable

Sweet Jess feeling sorry for Beth

Post-Surgery X-Ray, Hardware & Staples

Fibula incision one week post-op

Tibia incision one week post-op

Post-surgery splint

What I learned, or maybe relearned, through this experience is that it's ok to need and accept help! I learned that things can always be worse; that healing takes patience and time moves slowly when you are in pain. I learned that everything takes longer to accomplish on one leg. I learned that Dave and I are loved by many people, including friends and family, who came to our aid during this challenging time; armed with patience, love, food, support and encouragement! I learned that I have a high tolerance for pain but I also have a threshold! I learned that I am a clutz, not a graceful athlete as I imagined. I learned that being human can be humbling!

I find myself thinking about the blog post I wrote last March about Tom and Marsha West aboard s/v Faith. We look back at the challenges they faced which were far greater than ours; and we dig deep to find the courage to move forward; with a new plan that includes faith that we will get through this; just another one of life's many curve balls!

Tom & Marsha West

 Link to Blog Post: Faith

It's not how many times you get knocked down that count; it's the number of times you get back up!

George A. Custer