I feel like I don’t get time to blog, so I decided that today, while I am working on my laptop and waiting on it to format, I will blog. I guess it’s been over a month since I last blogged. It’s amazing to me how fast time has been flying this year, well, the last six months. Six months ago last Friday (the 13th), was my ATV accident. I ended up in the ER, having to go to Gunnison instead while still in a lot of pain, going to the hospital in Gunnison, only to be told I had to go up the street to the orthopedic surgeon’s office. Then I had to wait a while, still in pain, not having any of my other cuts and scrapes doctored, still covered in dirt and stuff from the mountain. It honestly sucked. Then the doc comes in and I finally get them to doctor me up. They take me to a room in the back and set my foot. I had to fight with them to give me something to numb my foot so I wouldn’t feel the pain too much. Then they put my foot in a splint because they couldn’t do surgery that day. My friend may have needed immediate surgery and so my doc wanted to keep his schedule clear in case he needed to be in that surgery. So my dad got a hotel across the street and I went there. I had nothing! I had my little bag I had on the ATV ride, I had my MP3 player, thank God! I had sunglasses which I didn’t need. Praise God I had my glasses because my contacts began getting very dry. It seems when I cry at all my contacts go dry. My parents left me in the hotel room while they drove the hour back to Lake City to grab all our stuff. They had to pack all our stuff and all Robert’s stuff. Then they drove both vehicles back to Gunnison. All the while I’m going crazy. I can’t do anything. I’m in so much pain. I was so cold but couldn’t bear to have the blankets from the bed on my foot. The receptionist was kind enough to bring me a blanket that I could just put wherever. I laid down and just watched TV. I couldn’t eat or drink anything. After my parents got back, I did have a little bit of water and took the last pain pill before the surgery.
That was the longest night of my life. I couldn’t sleep. Not only was I in pain, my parents snore. AHH!!! So if I would doze off, I’d wake up to snoring. I had my MP3 player on with headphones so as to drown out the noise, but I was so restless I think I kept pulling the ear buds out. I got up early that next morning and watched my parents eat what looked like a yummy breakfast. I hobbled around. We packed up and my dad brought a wheel chair for me from the surgery place which was directly across the street. I went in, put on the awful gown, and just waited. I finally started getting tired. They put an IV in my for fluids and the anesthesiologist came in and numbed my foot. They turned me back over and they rolled me back to surgery. I was supposed to be awake for the surgery, but I don’t remember, probably a good thing. The last thing I remember saying was I can still feel my foot, freaking out because they were fixing to start the surgery and I didn’t want to feel it. I woke up in recovery, once I was actually awake, they took the IV out and let me get dressed. Then I hobbled to the car in my humungous splint they put on me. (It wasn’t a cast…weird) this thing was HUGE!
We went to see Robert before we left I think. He cried and cried. He still feels bad about what happened, but that’s why they call it an accident. I know he wouldn’t have purposely hurt my like that. He does know that I won’t ride an ATV with him for a long while. We drove home, dad drove Robert’s truck and mom drove me back in the Explorer. Robert stayed in Gunnison because he required extensive surgery.
The recovery process to me was irritating. I was in bed all day unless I went downstairs to eat. Stairs were fun. One step at a time. One day, I forgot about the stairs and swung forward on the crutches. I felt like Elmer Fudd chasing bugs, he’d keep going and look down only to see nothing, there’d be a gulp and then the whistle noise of him falling to the ground thousands of feet down. I skipped an entire flight of stairs and landed on my humungous splint. I was in severe pain at this point. Mom heard me and came to me, dad was outside. She got him and he carried me to the couch. Once the pounding stopped, I realized the splint had turned slightly. We went to the ER to get it looked at, to make sure I didn’t do any more damage. Thank God, I didn’t. That big splint really protected my foot. They did cut it off though and that felt good. They put a much smaller one on for a day. I could actually move more freely. The next day I got my boot on. The air cast one.
I was so grateful to get back to work. I couldn’t do much, but I wasn’t in bed all the time. I actually had the chance to get out of the house. I soon started doing too much, but it was worth it. I’d go to church with my parents by my side. I went to YAM and other activities I had going on. Robert came back that weekend we got back. Dad drove down and brought him back. He stayed a little while. Then dad arranged a flight for him and Robert arranged for some friends of ours and his to pick him up and he stayed with them for a little while before he went home.
Robert really stepped up during this time. I’m sure it was mostly guilt, but either way, he saved me thousands and thousands of dollars. I chose to do everything out of network because I had already met my surgery team. If I wanted to be in network, I would’ve had to go to the hospital, stay an extra day which we couldn’t afford, and have a completely different surgery team. Robert chose to pay for all this out of his own pocket. He didn’t have liability insurance where we were and so I was not covered in the accident at all by him. He is continuing to pay to this day for bills still coming in from the accident. I am very grateful to him for doing that. I know he can’t afford it, and the fact that he’d step up like that is great.
I am finally out of the boot, I think it’s been a few months or so. It’s great. I can move around like I want for the most part. My ankle is still real weak so on days I do a lot of walking, I use a brace. I decided to help me get stronger and slightly more fit, to join a gym. One day I had the guts to actually try running. I did it! I can now run a half mile. Not all at once unfortunately since I can’t control my breathing (never figured that out…ideas anyone?), and my ankle starts throbbing after a little while of running. The first day I did the half mile, I could barely walk after, my ankle kept giving out on me. It was a good day though. I’m glad I can run. It is a huge accomplishment for me. I still have the bruising in my foot which I’d like to go away because I hate the way it looks. Makes it look like I have a dirty foot. I still have numbness going up my leg which the doc things is from the bruising. Thankfully it’s nothing that really affects me, I just get annoyed when I touch a certain part of my lower leg to scratch it and all of a sudden it feels numb.
The last six months have truly flown by for me. I am still healing. There are still things I’m afraid to do and things I can’t do. I have a lot more healing to do and all I can do is be patient and wait for that healing to finish. God has helped me through all of this. I was mad for a little while, but I can see that God’s hand was in it all. He really protected me. I should be dead right now, but I am alive. Thank you God for allowing me more time on this earth.
Okay, so I’m sure you wanted to read me reliving what happened august 13th and 14th, sorry. Just wanted to get it out there, it’s therapeutic I think.
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