Question Broken Leg...remind me never to step without looking again

I said I'd post about this in my previous post, and here it is: Yesterday afternoon I was walking back to my apartment when I missed a step on a concrete staircase, tumbled down the said staircase, and landed hard on my left leg. I fractured my femur and smashed my patella (broke my thighbone and shattered my kneecap for those unwilling to use the correct anatomical terms).

So, I'm in hospital yet again healing up because I wasn't paying attention to where I walked.

I'm pissed. It's nearly Christmas, and I'm probably going to spend it sending off medical insurance. God, I've gotten to know the insurance forms better over the past year than my new apartment.

It's really pissing me off because I'm dosed up on painkillers, and I'm not thinking straight. Thank god my parents visited with a care package of my laptop and phone, cause otherwise I'd be going crazy from boredom.

CrazyMinh wrote: I said I'd post about this in my previous post, and here it is: Yesterday afternoon I was walking back to my apartment when I missed a step on a concrete staircase, tumbled down the said staircase, and landed hard on my left leg. I fractured my femur and smashed my patella (broke my thighbone and shattered my kneecap for those unwilling to use the correct anatomical terms).

So, I'm in hospital yet again healing up because I wasn't paying attention to where I walked.

I'm pissed. It's nearly Christmas, and I'm probably going to spend it sending off medical insurance. God, I've gotten to know the insurance forms better over the past year than my new apartment.

It's really pissing me off because I'm dosed up on painkillers, and I'm not thinking straight. Thank god my parents visited with a care package of my laptop and phone, cause otherwise I'd be going crazy from boredom.

good grief man watch out!

and can an American take out a life insurance policy on an Aussie??? wondering for a 'friend'

take care....please...for heavens sake please!

Well, the attending doctor came in a hour ago and gave me the results from my second round of X-rays. She told me that I've also torn a ligament in my knee. It's only ruptured slightly, but I'm probably going to be in a wheelchair until it heals. She said they're not too sure when, but it's not nearly as bad as it could have been. The knee and bone have already been set, although I'm going to be missing Christmas for sure now. No major surgery thankfully, but I'm going to be layed up for at least 2-4 months, though I'll probably be out of hospital and at home for most of that time.

Shit, if only regen was a thing.

At least the pain meds help. Sleeping's a bitch of a time though. My leg's in a full cast, and that makes it really hard to sleep. I'm also hooked up to a drip, and I can't stop thinking about the needle that's buried in me. I have a intense phobia of needles. So that's real helpful. I tried going to sleep earlier, but I couldn't get to sleep. Last night was a pain too, literally and metaphorically. The pain meds hadn't fully kicked in, so I spend half the night clenching my teeth to stop myself from crying out. Thankfully they realised I was in significant pain, and gave me a higher dosage to counteract it.

Is your cast straight or bent at the knee?

Hopefully your rehabilitation goes well enough and you can get one of those little steerable knee scooters. People can really fly around on those!

Please be careful with pain medications though.

Best wishes!

It is not a Needle in your arm it is a Soft Plastic Catheter, that they use a needle to get into you.

I despise Needles, I would say to the doctor don't worry about me and drugs I could never stick the needle in.

Just remember it is not a needle its just a flexible plastic tube that is small so it can go into your arm, they stopped using needles for IV drips years ago, metal needles being left in can do to much harm if you moove to much.

MadTechOne wrote: It is not a Needle in your arm it is a Soft Plastic Catheter, that they use a needle to get into you.

I despise Needles, I would say to the doctor don't worry about me and drugs I could never stick the needle in.

Just remember it is not a needle its just a flexible plastic tube that is small so it can go into your arm, they stopped using needles for IV drips years ago, metal needles being left in can do to much harm if you moove to much.

Huh. What you learn online.

The pain's gone down a bit, as far as I can tell. I definitely can think a bit clearer, so they've dropped the painkillers. I'd love to know what they're using, cause I'm pretty sure painkillers aren't meant to either fog your mind this much, or be given in such doses that it makes your mind cloudy.

In any case, I'm apparently healing well. The docs say I should be out of the hospital before Christmas, which is a nice bit of news, but I'm going to have to spend it in a wheelchair. To answer the question Katssun put forwards, the knee on my cast is slightly bent. Not 90 degrees, more like 15 or 25. At least as far as I can determine without a protractor or other angle measurer. I did ask the doctor whether I'd be able to use a knee scooter, and they said no. Something about my knee not setting right. I don't remember properly. I'm going to go look up opioids, because I'm apparently on morphine (really hope the docs know what they're doing) for the pain. Be right back.

Dude, with your run of bad luck, in comparison I feel pretty good about my situation.

Pretty soon people with think of you the same way they SHOULD think of the fictional character Jessica Fletcher - if she shows up, RUN. Run fast, run far, don't look back.

elrodw wrote: Dude, with your run of bad luck, in comparison I feel pretty good about my situation.

Pretty soon people with think of you the same way they SHOULD think of the fictional character Jessica Fletcher - if she shows up, RUN. Run fast, run far, don't look back.

Well we would think of you like that, El, except we know if we wait a few minutes you'll incapacitate yourself and we can stroll away

Welp, I'm out of hospital now. There really wasn't any point to staying, and the doctors let me out with a prescription for painkillers and a warning to watch where I put my feet. However, I'm stuck either in a wheelchair or the couch. Mainly the couch, because the apartment block I live in has had a broken lift for three fucking weeks, and there's no ramp. Because a ramp would be pointless and impossible to use in a building that has six floors and a lift for primary access. So, I have my brother running errands for me, something he's not that pleased about. As I write this, he is glaring at me while he hangs out the washing. Serves him right for all the times he got me to do that when we were kids.

In other news, the fog has lifted...mostly. I still have a bit of fuzz over my thoughts, and I think that's probably not normal. I did ask the nurses before I left the hospital, and they said it was normal.

Then again....nurses.

Well, I hope nothing else goes wrong.

Shit.

Those were famous last words.

CrazyMinh wrote: In other news, the fog has lifted...mostly. I still have a bit of fuzz over my thoughts, and I think that's probably not normal. I did ask the nurses before I left the hospital, and they said it was normal.

Then again....nurses.

There's a saying in the medical community:
"Doctors may save your life, but nurses will keep doctors from accidentally killing you."

They're the ones looking after you far more regularly. They know what you've been given and what your readings have been looking and sounding like.

You're only the 100th person they been monitoring on a narcotic medication...that week.

Imagine how you'd be feeling if you were allergic to opiates and couldn't take them!

Nah, they do have alternatives now for people who are allergic.
Not as much fun, apparently.