Can't Get Up

Last Friday, I had the most stupid and painful accident of my life (so far): I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. If you know me at all, you know that clumsiness is nothing new for me. This time, however, I landed squarely on my bad knee and could not get back up afterwards. I felt like one of those old ladies from the Life Alert commercials, but I was incredibly grateful that I could call for help.

All I was doing was taking a latte to one of my friends who was having a bad day. Next thing I knew, it felt like my knee had exploded. For almost a minute, I couldn’t stop screaming, but there was nobody around. When I could catch my breath again, I found my phone amidst of the spilled coffee and called Security to say that I had fallen and couldn’t get up.

Ken came running out immediately, followed by Hal, Carol, and Steph. All I really wanted was someone to give me a hand up, but they all insisted that I go to the emergency room to get checked. So, off we went. I got right in at CMC and we figured out that nothing was broken. The ER doctor didn’t know what else to do with me though, as the fall had obviously aggravated my preexisting synovial chondromatosis.

A quick trip to the orthopedic specialist I’ve been seeing for the past couple years resulted in the diagnosis of a partially ruptured tendon. Since then, I’ve been on pain meds and anti-inflammatories. I’m off the crutches but still wearing a very serious looking brace. My follow-up appointment next week will hopefully determine whether there was any permanent damage.

The good news is that so far, worker’s comp has been covering everything. Everyone has been very caring and concerned, which has been a huge blessing. Stephanie especially was practically an angel to help me out and drive me around on Friday. Even the timing of the whole incident was miraculous, since I was able to get right in to the see the doctors. It might be quite a while before everything’s all better… but it could certainly be a lot worse, so thank you!