My Accident - Post II

It was Super Bowl Sunday (well at least I can’t forget the date) in the morning and I was on my way to the Laundromat. A typical day with a typical task to do. The bag in hand and down the stairs I start. We take so much for granted. Little things that is a given become astronomical in an accident. It was so surreal. The fall is like slow motion in my mind still. You take a step with one leg and you take a step with the other but all of a sudden the rubber on the step and the bottom of my hiking boot just didn’t go together and I started falling down. I started to slide down the stairs and my leg went under and then came back out. I remember sitting on that bottom step as my whole body shook with disbelief. I kept rocking as I held my leg saying this just can’t be happening, no this isn’t happening, why is this happening to me.

I wanted to believe it was not as bad as it really was. I don’t even fully remember how I got back up the stairs. Thank goodness I had the bag of laundry because that prevented me from hitting my head. But I tried to break the fall. Just writing this brings a chill again. I was in disbelief. I couldn’t wrap my brain around being by myself and trying to get through this experience.

I knew that ice was good for the swelling or trying to prevent a huge swell from happening. So I started to ice it. I called a couple of my friends and told them what happened. They asked me how much pain I was in. It didn’t hurt that bad. I guess because I was icing it which numbed the pain. I thought it was a bad sprain (I wanted to believe that) so I continued to ice it and watch it.

The next day we had a snow storm so no chance to go anywhere. My ankle was puffy more. So I waited until that Tuesday and my cousin took me to the hospital. I was working from home and so I kept my computer on and things around because I just knew I was going to the hospital and they would patch me up and then I was coming back home that evening.

Not – after I had my ankle X-rayed they told me the bad news. Not only did I break my ankle on both sides I had a torn ligament in the back where the heel is. I also would have to be operated on to insert pins and plates to hold it together. Of course not what I wanted to hear so I stayed in a daze until after the operation.