Jaci Dawn

It has been a week, to the date, since I have attempted to climb the stairs to the loft where my computer is. I probably should not have, but there you go. I do a lot of things I probably should *not* do.

A “for example” would be wrestling with a chair. I took two or three steps and collided with a chair. I don’t know which toes wrapped around the chair leg: either the fourth or fifth on my right foot. I did a rather quick pirouette that my childhood ballet instructor, Mrs. Bosch, would have been proud of, except that I landed on my tush and banged my head on the empty dog crate under the stair well. I think I may have said, “Oh Shit!” or “Oh Jesus!”.

The offending chair leg

My husband rushed from the living room to find me heaped upon the floor. Graciously, he helped me up onto the bed and I weakly asked for two things: an ice pack and a shot of whiskey. I skooted back as best I could and stuffed a pillow under my right leg, applied the ice, and attempted to drink the whiskey.

The next morning, after a failed attempt to crawl to the bathroom (my husband carried me back to bed), I did three things: I remembered I had a set of cructhes left over from knee surgery 8 years ago, I reluctantly called in sick to work, and I reluctantly called the advice nurse. Please, God, let her say it’s just a bad sprain and I just need ice…

She didn’t. She made an appointment for me, and then told me I just needed ice and elevation. Gee, thanks.

See those pens? They represent my fourth metatarsal bone in my right foot. I didn’t take a photo of the x-ray, so you just have to use your imagination. The fifth metatarsal (instep bone leading to the little toe) is also cracked, but not split in two like the fourth. I spent the better part of Tuesday hobbling from regular clinic to orthopedic clinic and home again.

The ortho gave me this really cool Storm Trooper™ boot. My grandsons will be jealous. Unfortunately (or, rather – fortunately), I only have one boot, not a matched set. I have orders to try to keep it elevated, and to try to stay off of it. No pins, no resetting the bone (“it will grow back together”), and follow-up in 6 weeks. He gave me a three month window to heal.

In other words: my summer of gardening, going to yard sales, and getting in those long walks with my dog are toast.

But I got the really cool boot.

Today was my first day back at work. I worked the full 8 hours. I could only do so because for $139, I got this super-duper awesome scooter.

I could have rented one, but the rental places wanted $100/week for a minimum of four weeks, and I could pick this up off of Amazon for … well. The thing glides. It’s got speed. It’s rocking my crippled world! My husband keeps threatening to add plastic flowers to the basket, a bell or horn, and streamers from the handles. My grandchildren are drooling.

So – I may not climb the stairs again for a few days, at least not to post here.

Oh – and I will be having a bone density test because, as the ortho said, “You’re a lady, you live in the Pacific Northwest, and we’re calcium deficient by default.”