And Then This Happened

So life was moving on in August. My son, his wife, and my almost two-year old granddaughter moved to Italy courtesy of the US Army. We're happy for them. Jealous, even. Sad for us. It's been nice having them be a six hour drive down the road from us. But I will now get to make that long awaited Italian vacation. 

Then end of month approached and I was just starting to ramp up some planning for attending the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar in Myrtle Beach in September. When one morning, rushing off to work, I fell right in front my own house. We used to have a half-step in our sidewalk that collected water and had puddles and ice and was generally useless. In the spring when we had our sidewalk redone they eliminated that half-step. 

Apparently that morning my muscle memory remembered the step. And down I went like the proverbially ton of bricks. I knew I'd hurt a finger on my left hand - I actually thought I'd ripped the nail off. And that my right knee was questionable. I limped back in the house. Bandaged my fingertip. Took ibuprofen and grabbed and ice pack for my knee which I kept on it while driving to work. 

The next morning I knew a visit to the ER was in order being a Sunday and all. 

Sure enough. Broken finger. (I think there were two broken fingers.) A splint. X-rays showed no broken bones in knee. A few days later I got to an MRI machine and few days after that I finally had a referral to an orthopedist. 

Meanwhile, I've been sitting with ice, ibuprofen, and the occasional vicodin. Hardly moving and watching my knee swell. And wallowing in self-pity because what if I had screwed up my trip.

I got to that fateful appointment with the orthopedist this past week. Had the needle under the kneecap to drain fluid. And then another to inject a steroid. Don't ask how much this hurts. Because I'll have to use very bad words. 

Meanwhile, all kinds of things that should have been getting done, weren't. Hubby stepped up nicely with cooking and laundry. But all my usual planning and organizing for Seminar wasn't happening. 

So today I sit here. Able to sit at a table again. First hurrah!

I've got water on the knee. This should dissipate with time. RIGHT. It's uncomfortable. And annoying. 

And I have nerve damage from the fall. Can't feel my skin from my kneecap to half-way done my leg. That's disquieting and strange. This, too, should improve with time. 

But I can move without massive amounts of pain. And I didn't tear anything major in the way of ligaments. I've got a follow-up appointment this week with Doctor Pain and then I am leaving for Myrtle Beach. 

Stay tuned for updates!