An Auspicious Start to the New Year

I took an extra day off for New Year's this year, hoping to have a day to clean up & organize and a day to just chill. I decided not to be so lazy as to do nothing all day, so I sort of snuck the chillin' in between cleaning & organizing.

So yesterday, after doing a great job of cleaning up the den, I took some trash bags out to the van. As I was throwing the last one in, my knee felt like it was giving way. *Weird* It's done that before, but usually it straightens right up. *Hmmm....*Not so this time. This time, severe pain...

I hobble into the van, surprised at the pain level. A friend calls, & I pull off & talk to her when I get close to the dump. Once there, I get out & hobble around to the other side to throw out the trash, still amazed at the pain level. A kind gentleman helped me throw the trash bags away, and I hobble back to the van.

Once back home, still unable to walk properly, I decide that perhaps something is amiss. *Duhhh* I try ice, which causes more pain. I get in the tub and soon realize this is pointless, too. A call to my pastor for prayer, a call to my sis for general medical advice, and once I've eaten, my daughter drives me to the ER.

Visiting the hospital where I am employed, disguised as a patient, is an enlightening experience. (For instance, what stroke of genius made them to decide to put the restrooms at the very back of the long waiting room? It's not like there are sick people who might need to get there in a hurry or injured people who might have trouble walking there & back...) After a 2 1/2 hour wait in the waiting room, I finally make it to the back to be seen. *Thankfully, I am given a bed in a tiny room, rather than a hallway bed. They seem to be reserved for people suffering from nausea or dementia. A gentleman who doesn't seem aware of what he's doing accosts my bed as it is wheeled through the hallway, making me wonder what is going to happen next.*

After telling my story to a nurse, a doctor, a radiology person, a CNA, and another doctor, I am outfitted with a knee immobilizer, a pair of crutches, a pain shot, a pain pill and no prescription for pain. (Someday, I hope to advise a doctor whose bodily part has just been injured to take ibuprofen for pain until they see the next doctor.) First doc promised pain meds, second one just disappeared.

(*Note to self...it might also be good to inform someone at some point that giving crutches to someone who hasn't used them in eons in order to visit the restroom down the street and around the corner with a full bladder, I might add, is just short of idiotic. Add a self-flushing toilet to the equation which flushes twice before you're done and none afterwards, and you have a very entertaining few minutes to discuss...*)

Jenny & I arrive home around 2am. I am very sleepy from said pain pill, but I discover something interesting. It only makes me FEEL sleepy. Finding it nigh unto impossible to sleep on my back, I spend the night tossing & turning & keeping my husband sick with a stomach virus the last three days awake almost all night.

This morning, I venture into the kitchen to get a cup of Pepsi. *Sounds simple, huh?* Try it with a set of crutches. I wind up on the floor, on my keister, with husband and daughter flying into the kitchen to discover the source of the THUD that shook the house. Upon being scolded for trying to wait on myself, I meekly go into the living room to await yogurt & Pepsi.

It's been a rather interesting day. I go to the ortho doc tomorrow to see what he says about the whole thing. Is it a pulled muscle or a pulled or torn ligament? *Round and round and round she goes...* Then I hope to go back into work, since I have a big meeting Monday I must prepare for.

To say my life is interesting is an understatement. *Sheesh* I was just trying to clean up & get a good start for the new year. I think I must have missed something somewhere along the way!