How I discovered what an avulsion fracture is and also that I’m a complete, uncoordinated klutz on crutches.
Last night I discovered a tear in a gel icepack, so I decided to put it in the outside trash; my first mistake. John held the doors open for me so I wouldn’t spill the gel, but as I was going down the steps, my ankle rolled.
Second mistake: I had put on Dansko clogs for the task. If you’ve ever worn them, you know once you start rolling, you have very little control. You’re better off curling up like a roly poly bug and waiting for the momentum to stop.
As I stepped off the last stair with my left foot, my right ankle rolled. Something popped. I had nothing to grab on to, and I crashed to the garage floor, slamming my hip into the corner of the concrete steps. I broke my fall on the car’s bumper, which I’d parked way too close to the steps. Good thing, in this case; I landed on my butt and back and didn’t hit my head.
My ankle hurt like crazy. The popping I felt was not normal and moving hurt, but nothing tore through the skin and there wasn’t immediate swelling like you hear about with a break.
Third mistake: we never removed the stupid, useless screen door leading out the garage. So there I was, trapped between the bottom step, the car, and two doors: the garage side door to outside swings in, which swings in, and the screen door at the top of the stair, which also swings in. So I’m trapped. Also, I have a really bad right shoulder, so I’m weak on that side. John tried to help me up, but since I could only bear weight on my left side, I was like a pole dancer swinging round and round with any weight shift.
I was a sweaty, shaky mess. Adrenaline had clearly kicked in.
After several failed stripper-pole attempts to get upright, I got in the house by scooting backward up the stairs and across the floor until I lay in front of the fridge. It wasn’t pretty, but I was inside. Then I laughed and cried. I felt so stupid. The kitchen garbage was right there; I could’ve avoided all this by tossing my stupid, broken ice pack there. John felt stupid for not just taking it to the trash himself.
So, I eventually got up and realized I wasn’t gonna put weight on my right foot. I iced it and called the triage nurse to see if I could wait to get an X-ray today. Sunday nights in the ER are hell. Nope. They wanted me seen in 4 hours. So I found an old Aircast and immobilized my joint because it was so easy to move. I’d howl, but even just sitting still, pain came and went in waves. Tylenol eventually helped, but then I had to hop to the car.
I used to be a graceful dancer. Grace is no longer a word I’d use to describe me.
After 4+ hours in the ER and multiple X-rays of my ankle, leg, and knee, I found out I have an avulsion fracture, oh, and rheumatoid arthritis in my big toe (Haha!). It could’ve been so much worse.
I have an avulsion fracture. Basically my tendon was yanked so tight when I twisted my ankle that it pulled a chunk of bone off. Avulsion fractures are painful but mostly because of the tendon being yanked about. No surgery, so thank God for that.
I’ll wear an Aircast for now, hobble around on crutches until I can bear weight on my right foot again, and take OTC pain meds. So much better than I feared when things popped.
But I’m an absolute novice on crutches. Like, horrid!
I might be better off just hanging out in bed for a bit. Less likelihood of breaking something else. It’s a great place to edit and write, so there’s that.
Good thing my job requires me to sit a lot.
Posy, Has Fresh Earth and Fresh Shares been published yet? Thanks
Jim
Author
Not yet, but I have not abandoned this series. Promise. I will shout it from the mountain tops when I’m getting close. 🙂 To get an email about upcoming releases, sign up for my newsletter or follow me on BookBub or Amazon, whichever you prefer.