Brief (or not) Catch-up on Kai the Mustang

Kai is alive and well!! 

Me? ...Not so much...! 

August 29 this happened:

Although the knee replacement/implant is most obvious,

even someone without anatomy knowledge can see that the bone (femur) is broken).

Because this happened:

Making this happen:

Once I hit the ground I realized there was blood midway down my right thigh. With that, plus the position of the leg, I knew it was busted in two.

It felt necessary to to pick up and move the (dead weight) foot from shoulder level and put it down somewhere near to where it "should" be. 

That was surreal. The whole thing was surreal; having gone through 3 1/2 joint replacements and two additional kind-of-major orthopedic repairs, I knew essentially what the immediate future had in store for me.

It took four calls to reach 911, and a few texts and calls to get the farm owner. I was down a hill in a pasture beyond the barn, it was morning, and not a lot of people were around. Those moments were again, surreal!

Eventually people and ambulance arrived....

And this (below) would basically describe how I felt (e.g., anguish). All I could think of was what lay ahead: long long long "time-standing-still" recovery; dependence on others; PAIN, struggle, frustration; desperation, impatience, annoyance, aggravation. And all of that did, and largely still is, happening. 

Also, the gravity and shock and severity... and fact that this involved horses.... I could sense the inklings of PTSD. 

I knew this was going to have an historic effect on me... physically of course, but mentally and emotionally.

After arrival at the hospital I underwent all kinds of imaging (radiograph and CT), of what seemed like every inch of my body. With this kind of "fall" it is quite common to have breaks or injuries elsewhere (I knew it was all my leg and leg alone, so for that I am very very grateful). But all of that means waiting and waiting and being wheeled around, and more waiting.

The following are some moments I captured or got nurses to (like my mom Judy, I like to document):

Prep for traction of tibia to align femur parts (prior to surgery)

Completed traction, same day as accident, 8/29/2024

My view, still prior to surgery

       

Surgery was the following day, August 30. Full bandage, but they want you up and walking and working flexibility ASAP, thus no hard cast.

I am lifting my leg. Started my own PT early!

Sept. 2, while contemplating my situation, I looked at my hospital side table, and took this picture... A still life! representing me and current situation: Miralax, 3-day-old carrot pieces and cookies out of my pocket, and the visit summary(!). 

Just seemed poignant. Or weirdly funny.

So everything was about as miserable as expected. In part because I was staying at Bruce's (my brother's), already in his space, and now not only am I going to really be in his space, but he's got dog-care-duty! This was a stressor for me. And him. He is not a dog person. I thank God that Tori is so dang funny and "good" that he managed really well. He got this video of my return home. She hadn't seen me in five days. 

Twelve days into recovery I got acute appendicitis. Another visit to ER and more hospital days and misery. About this same time a screw migrated and caused serious pain and some complication:

(Painful)...

Took this pic while waiting for results of CT scan on abdomen for the appendix. 

Kind of a pain-everywhere deal. I have had an onslaught of additional problems since the accident that are just uncanny and almost unbelievable. Something... some force or will... or the planets... have put a check on every organ-system I have... and like whack-a-mole, as soon as something is managed, another thing comes up. Some are related to the leg, some to the appendicitis, and others to seemingly nothing. I will not bore you with it all - after all it's just "welcome to old age!"... but seriously, I think my friends agree... 

It is a bit bizaare. Who's got the voodoo doll?

I haven't mentioned Kai --- I got her back to FL and she is now residing at my Community Barn, and doing great. I have posted a few things on Facebook but here she is in typical form; 

we were just messin' around.

I'll be back with more Kai stuff sometime. I apologize that I have a hard time getting paragraphs to either stay centered (as I would like under photos) or left-aligned (as I would like for regular text). It bugs me.

Thanks for reading!