Thoughts about my hospital stay

A few notes from my time at the hospital I want to remember:

1. This was my second trip to Emergency after a 9:00pm hockey game. When I was contemplating whether it would be better to make these trips during the day (as opposed to pulling pain-filled all-nighters) the triage nurse let me know that it's way crazier during the day. 

2. I'm always filled with some measure of trepidation when I do go to Emergency as to whether I have a valid reason to be there, or if I'm one of those people taking advantage of the system. While I could do without my broken ankle, on the bright side at least I'm two-for-two in terms of appropriate Emergency usage?

3. I traveled to Emergency in my skate because I was scared of what I would find (and also figured taking it off was going to be an ordeal). After removing all of the laces, it actually wasn't that difficult to get my foot out. I'm still hoping it saved me some measure of swelling. When you're trying to tell yourself that "maybe it's not that bad", looking down to find the little bump from your ankle bones in the wrong place is not very reassuring.

4. I was oddly calm when it happened. I was laying on my back on the ice, staring up and just said "this is not good". When Marlies got onto the ice, I told her I thought it might be broken, and she told me not to be so dramatic. I have some really great teammates who were able to lift me up off the ice and take my weight. It would have sucked to have to wait on the ice for an ambulance.

5. My teammates are pretty great and acted as human crutches to get me from the dressing room to the truck. This was also the longest hop of my life. My left leg still isn't 100% from my last injury (tear in my semitendinosus at its insertion on the pes anserinus) and forcing that leg into good status was not really something it wanted. We were about halfway to the lobby when I really wanted a break and realized there was really nowhere to take one. I was so happy when we finally reached the benches and I could sit and shimmy across. 

6. I broke down and cried when my x-rays came back and the doctor confirmed it was broken. The pain was tolerable. The knowledge that I couldn't work out for several months hurt way, way more. 

7. I wasn't too scared about having to be put under to have the bones reset - this reminded me of what they had to do with my dislocated jaw. Familiarity breeds comfort, I guess. 

8. As soon as they mentioned pins, plates, and surgery, I cried again. It just seemed so much more like a kiss of death in terms of time off and rehabilitation. 

9. Got to take my first ambulance ride to get from Grey Nuns to the Mis, where I would have my surgery. It made me hate Edmonton roads all the more as I felt every damn bump in the road. 

10. They prepped me for surgery immediately upon arrival, which seemed to involve bathing me with wet wipes. I then proceeded to lay in bed for several hours and wonder if I was actually having surgery that day. 

11. Signs that Marlies loves me: they came to get me for surgery late in the fourth quarter of the Seahawks game (right about when they were starting their epic comeback). She came down to pre-op with me. We "watched" the last plays of the game unfold on my phone. Seattle won the game right before they wheeled me in. I remember saying "you don't have to be here...you can go watch the game". She stayed.

12. I was actually really impressed with the nurse giving me oxygen. I told her that having the thing over both my nose and my mouth really freaked me out (claustrophobia) and she said they actually get that pretty frequently, and just held it over my face instead. A few minutes later I was out like a light.

13. Coming down from the anesthetics from surgery was quite the process. Marlies stayed with me from the time I left the recovery room until visiting hours were over at 9pm and man, that must have been a boring stay. I was in and out of sleep the whole time, and I'm not sure I even put together a cogent sentence during that time. 

14. Sometime around 1am I started to regain consciousness. I also got a nice nurse who played ringette, so we chatted about that. She also brought me some toast, cranberry juice, and two glasses of water. It had been 30 hours since I'd eaten anything, so this was exciting. It took me over an hour to eat the toast, but I managed to keep it down. 

15. Many blogs I've read about people who had ankle surgery describe their terrible experiences with bedpans. I am very thankful my experience involved no bedpans. Creepy commode, yes. But no bedpans. 

16. One of my roommates at the hospital was terribly weird. I was very happy to get discharged. People who pee on the floor for no reason...no thanks.

17. I'm very happy that my physiotherapist is an awesome guy. The one I had for "crutch 101"? Not so much. In particular, he seemed very confused and unwilling to accept the concept that I didn't have a boyfriend at home.