So, I came back from our girls trip all pumped up to be more active and physically fit. I grew up rollerblading and have always felt comfortable on rollerblades, and it's something I love to do. So I thought that it would be easier to start my goals with something I actually like to do. I hate running.
On the Monday morning following the trip I put on the rollerblades, put the girls in the stroller and headed for the nearby trail. But I encountered a few problems. Our street had been having work done on it, so there was gravel and rocks everywhere. Anyone who has rollerbladed knows that those things get stuck in between the wheels-you don't just glide over them. They get caught up and stop you completely. So I went on the uneven sidewalk, which wasn't much better. Then I got up to the newly paved street, but it wasn't smooth. It's so so so bumpy-you can't skate on it at all! So back to the uneven sidewalks. When you walk on the sidewalks, or even push a stroller, you don't realize how uneven the sidewalks really are. But on rollerblades you feel it more because you're going faster. So I just worked my way to get to the trail. The stroller helped me keep my balance when I hit really uneven spots. When I finally got to the trail I was a little fed up, and the trail was a kind of crowded, so I just turned around and went home. But Dave wanted to go that night. So he took the the stroller and I had my hands free. We went the same route to get to the trail, only when we got to where I had turned around earlier, Dave yelled out "bump!" but it was too late for me. dum, da dum dum. He was able to use the stroller to balance when he hit that huge uneven spot in the sidewalk, but I had nothing. I went down hard and felt a pop and knew instantly I had broken my wrist. It looked pretty gross :) Not through the skin or anything, but completely deformed. A lady had driven past us at that point and flipped around, and other people walking behind us ran to help. They got me in her car and she took me to the ER while Dave took the girls to a neighbor's house and got the car.
At the hospital they got an IV in and gave me morphine, which I think I'm immune to. Another dose still didn't do anything. The lady who brought me to the hospital turned out to be the person who built the house we are renting! Her name was Monica and she was so nice and trying hard to soothe me. She said a prayer with me which I was so grateful for. Since the morphine was doing nothing they gave me something REALLY awesome :) But then they brought the x-ray machine down and had to manipulate my arm to take the x-rays, and that was pretty excruciating. By then Dave had gotten there and Monica left. They sedated me so that they could do the retraction. I don't even remember them giving me the stuff to sedate me. All I knew was that I woke up and my arm was bandaged. Dave told me that I swore a lot and then asked me who Randy was. The nurses got a kick out of that. I knew there was no way I swore because I just don't swear anyway. So he told me the truth-I screamed out when they put the bone in place. Before they did it I kept saying I had an itch in my nose (where the oxygen tubes were) and was fighting with them because I wanted to scratch it. No recollection of anything!
The doctor came in and said that there was the chance I would need surgery because the bone supporting the broken one had also been a little crushed and might not be able to support it completely. Of course, the only thing on my mind (besides the pain) is that we're supposed to go to Cancun!! What was I going to do??!!
The next day we went to the surgeon and he said he would definitely recommend surgery and putting a plate in so it would be more stable, so we scheduled surgery for the next day.
We couldn't really afford for Dave to take work off, but luckily we have awesome friends and neighbors who pitched in. Michele took me to have surgery, Kimmy was waiting for me when I got home, Mom came and took over the next day, and the day after that was the worst day. I don't recall much from it, but I know that another neighbor, Heidi, came over and put me to bed and mopped my floor and did my laundry. My friend Summer had called me that morning to check on me and I said I was going to pass out and hung up the phone. She ran over b/c I think it freaked her out a little. I was too out of it to know what was going on. But she took Bree and called Heidi, and selfless, wonderful people that they are, they took over. Adrienne called and I don't know what I said, but she ended up at the house too. Then Dave called and somehow ended up taking the rest of the day off of work. I guess I was pretty bad-I just don't remember.
But now I'm healing and getting more movement everyday. I learned a lot from this. First thing being that I need to be more aware of the people around me and how I can selflessly help them the way that others helped me. Second is that I don't need to control everything :) For the first few days of school Emma looked like a ragamuffin. I still can't completely do their hair, but it's better than before. You don't realize how much you use two hands together, much less your dominant hand, until you can't. For the first couple weeks with the bandages I couldn't do ANYTHING. And I had to humble myself and let other people do things for me. It's extremely frustrating. But Dave has been so tender and gentle throughout this. He helped in such a loving way. I get really emotional when I think long and hard about everyone who helped me, especially Dave. He was completely aware of what I would need help with before even I knew it. Whenever we're sitting next to each other now he massages my arm so that it doesn't get tight and so the muscles don't seize up. I just love him so much. The girls were really afraid to touch me at first. One morning I was helping Bree get dressed and she accidentally pushed on my arm, and I shouted out a little in pain, which caused her to start crying and say it was an accident. Poor girl, I had to console her for a few minutes. They were both so tender towards me and it helped me see them in a different light and feel even more love for them. So, even though this really stinks, there's been a lot I've learned from it and it has drawn me closer to my family.
**and a special shout out to Summer for taking the girls every day for a couple weeks and arranging meals, and to Sherrie for doing the drop off and pick up for school for 2 weeks! So blessed to have selfless friends!
