Just When Life is Going so Well

Thursday, Dec. 18, 2019
Just when I think life is humming along beautifully, fate lands a left hook.
Today I am not having fun, going out to parties or attending luncheons because I injured my knee and right leg yesterday. After spending about five hours in the ER, a total waste of time, mine and theirs, I am home with my knee wrapped up, an ice pack on that knee, and all my stuff around me on the bed.

I was told to rest for several days and stay off my feet. That's not hard. I can’t stand or walk because of the pain in my right leg. So, for the time being, I get around my house when I absolutely must, in one of my chairs with casters. This works fairly well, but the chair won’t fit through the bathroom doors.

I learned a good lesson yesterday. Don’t go to the ER unless you are dying or think you are dying.

If you are in pain or can’t walk due to pain or can’t even stand due to pain, your issue is not going to make the priority list.

As people came in with their complaints, my name fell lower and lower in priority. About three o’clock I thought I was going to be seen, but no. When it was found that I was not the one with palpitations, I was wheeled back into the waiting room where my name fell further down the list.

I waited all afternoon, hours and hours, in a tiny cubicle with nothing to read, to hear or anyone to talk with, but finally about six o’clock, someone came and wrapped my knee, and gave me instructions to stay off my feet, and ice my knee several times a day. I didn’t get much information or any diagnosis as to what happened or how to prevent it happening again.
An ACE bandage on my knee is supposed to help me.

Never again will I waste my time in an emergency room at a hospital. To get attention, one must arrive in an ambulance and have life threatening symptoms. I remember giving my sister, June, instructions to call 911 when she began having breathing problems because she would be seen right away. I am grateful for those people who cared for my mother and my sister when they needed life saving treatment. If I have a heart attack or stroke, I hope they will put me first on the list.

But where do you go for help when you are in extreme pain and can’t even stand or walk? Should I have called for an ambulance to take me to the ER? I did not think I should have an ambulance being used for me when someone who has had a stroke or heart attack might need it.

Once again, I learned an important lesson. Actually, I learned more than one lesson. I found out just how terrifying it is to be helpless. To be alone, unable to stand or walk, or dress myself, is very scary. I felt a rush of empathy for those who have to live like that. For the future, I  will make a backup plan. I will try to never have this happen again.

I knew I had people I could call, and my wonderful neighbor, Alice, was the first person I contacted. She, with the help of another friend, Joan, struggled to get me into the car and to the hospital.
Alice and Marsha came back to the hospital and brought me home. It was dark by then, and neither of them are comfortable driving after the sun goes down. I am grateful they are such generous people.

Word spread among my friends and family about my predicament. Mary Mike, when she learned where I was, hurried to the hospital to sit with me. (I was gone by then,)

Estelle called around to try to find out what was going on. Gay, in Roswell, was on the phone and then in the car. She is with me tonight. She brought a “transport chair” which had belonged to June, so now I can retire my chair with casters.

Bedrest for several days this time of year is really the pits. I was sorry to miss the CWPW luncheon which I had looked forward to. I will miss having dinner tonight with my dearest friends.

But enough of my complaining. 

I will have Christmas with family I love, and we will have a great time as we always do. I don’t have any gifts wrapped and some gifts have not made it to my house, so Stu will get an I O U. His gifts will come after Christmas. I talked with him today, and he told me he had just sold another copy of Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins. I don’t know how he does it, but he has sold far more books than I have. He said it isn’t hard. “The books sell themselves,” he said.

Stu Moring, the book seller and my BIL

Postscript: It is Saturday now and I am improving. I can manage with a walker instead of a chair. Just keep moving, I’m told. I will do just that. I hope to be back to normal very soon.