I broke my ankle last month.
The exact terminology is fractured lateral malleolus.
Ooh, fancy.
At the moment, I’m a little hobbled (like James Caan in Misery, but with a nicer nurse).
Here is one of the highlights…
“The Clot:”
I had a follow-up with my doctor on Wednesday.
“So, here’s the problem…” he began.
I thought my broken ankle was the problem.
Apparently, I had other issues.
“I’m worried about the temperature of your foot,” he said, placing his fingers on my heel. “The fact that it’s so cold tells me you’re not getting enough circulation.”
I felt my foot and my toes. Those were some frozen piggies.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means you’re at risk for Compartment Syndrome, which can be pretty scary.” He looked me in the eye. “Don’t look it up.”
(I did.)
Yikes!
He then proceeded to elaborate on the warning signs, and informed me that should I experience any of them, I should go straight to the ER.
I nodded, gazing at my troublesome little appendage.
He continued, “The bad news is that without enough circulation, you are also at risk for a blood clot.”
And the good news…?
There was none.
Come on, Doc, you should know, if you dole out bad news, you best follow up with good news.
Sorry you’re only going to have one foot, but just think how good you’ll get at hopping.
A couple days later, the situation hadn’t improved. I told my daughters all about the frozen foot fiasco.
Quincey’s face filled with terror. “Yikes.”
I know!
I turned to Parker. “But it will probably be okay, right?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “It sounds pretty bad.”
“But…?” I prompted them.
They both shrugged.
WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP FORGETTING ABOUT THE GOOD NEWS?!
I tried not to think about it, but that night, while trying to sleep, I had some sharp pains in my heel. (This was one of the warning signs.)
I tossed and turned, growing increasingly anxious.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.
I shook Steve. “Honey, I have a weird pain in my foot.”
He yawned.
“You’ll be fine,” he said.
“Are you sure?” I whispered.
“I’m sure.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Words of assurance!
Finally!
Then he groggily added. “It’s probably just a blood clot.”*
He rolled over and went back to sleep.
I was tempted to kick him for that, but I couldn’t.
Because of the fracture.
And the blood clot.
*It wasn’t. I’m alive and well.
Check out Fractured Tales: Part 3: “The MRI” – Coming Tomorrow!
Love Steve’s comments!!! LOL.
So happy to see Part 2 as I just checked my email! Oh Steve, “It’s probably just a blood clot”. Can’t wait for part 3!
Steve’s response is the best! 🤣. The bad news is that he didn’t get you to the ER STAT. Luckily there’s good news that you’re ok🙏
Can’t wait for the MRI tale!! The continuing saga! (Even though I already know what happens!). Hope those cold little piggies are better!
You’ve got to get one of the iwalk 2.0 crutches and a knee scooter. That’s what I used when I broke my foot a couple of winters ago. Then you’ll have some more great story content!! And don’t let nurse Lorraine push you around in a wheelchair while you’re recovering. Unless you don’t mind crashing into elevators and walls.
Oh and it’s real fun if you go to the airport and they make you take off your boot cast in the security line so they can brush it down inside and out, looking for hidden drugs! : )
Love it!!
“You have real sturdy thighs.” Lol. Love it. You KNOW the doc wanted to say that; he was just nervous about having to fight Steve. Yay for strong circulation and no Compartment Syndrome or clot! All those miles and miles of running — what a fabulous payoff 🙂
You are the wittiest! Oh Steve and his nonchalant attitude about your clot! Yes, good advice not Googling our aches at this age! Another gem of a post!💙🙌
So glad that you didn’t have a blood clot and you are still around to write more of these fabulous stories. I hope your fractured lateral malleolus is healing well. And in regard to the reference that was made above regarding my nursing skills when driving a wheelchair, you should’ve seen me when I had to push patients around the corners in stretchers. It wasn’t pretty. 🙄 Thanks, January, and keep ‘em coming.