23 October 2012

Update


Update

Well, here is an update of the last several months, delivered while I am still institutionalized.
On July 16th, I became aware of pain in my right foot. I have had off and on pain in it for several years, but never to the point of using painkillers for it. I got grumpy, and went outside to sit in the garden and weed for a bit. Several hours later, I realized that my foot was exquisitely painful, and I could not stand on it. I thought about calling the volunteer fire department, and having them come out and use their lift to pick me up and get me out of the garden, but got very grumpy about the thought of their big feet and big lift squishing baby plants. So, I had Doug put a chair out in the garden, and I fussed and messed around until I was able to pry myself off the ground and into the chair. I then used the chair as an aid to get inside, and took large doses of Ibuprofen. At 4:00 A.M. the next morning, after more doses of Ibuprofen, I drove myself to the local emergency room. “Hey, guys, I can’t get out of the car. Could someone come help me?” No, I can’t park in the handicapped parking spaces that have no curb. I have to park in a parking space where the aides must not only take the wheelchair over the curb to get to me, they also have to run over a bunch of shrubs. Deposited inside, I begin to wait. I was smart. I brought a puzzle book and a pencil. Broken (shattered? crumbled?) navicular bone in my foot. Referral to another doc, painkillers, “go get a wheelchair”. No, may I please have a knee scooter, as it will fit in my crowded house much more easily. Okay, K comes to get me, bringing her sister S to drive my car home. S goes to get more of my painkillers, while K and I go to the local medical supply house, and get me a knee scooter. Mobility! We get me home, and I collapse into the bed. Over the next several days, my foot also swells up, and turns red. Meanwhile, I get a ride to the referral doctor, and find out that the bones can probably be reset, but I have to get financial help  first. Then, I switch to the new painkillers, and start throwing up. Is it the painkillers or something else. As of Sunday afternoon, I haven’t eaten in several days, and more importantly, am not drinking (or urinating). A friend comes to get me. It takes an hour to load me into the car, as I am in extreme pain, and my head isn’t working right. At the emergency room, we wait. They finally take me in, and admit me straight to the hospital. Sepsis and kidney failure. I ask my friends if I can have one of their dangly fuzzy people, hanging off the purse, to take with me and cuddle. I clutch it through everything for the next several weeks. (to be continued).

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