Greg-Take a couple of minutes out of your day and be thankful you have two functioning feet. I have a story for you.
A week ago I was asleep at the Greenbrier station. It was 2:30 am and I was sleeping hard. I heard a dog barking outside and jumped up to see if we had a walk up patient (and also to shut the dog up). My right foot stepped but my left one was asleep. It drug on the carpet causing me to step down with it under me. I felt it crack and felt the lightning bolt go up my leg. Crawling back to the couch, I yelled at my partner, Brit Ball, to come help me. We assessed the foot in question and decided that I was going for an xray. I called dispatch first to tell them to take my truck out of service. The maniacal laughter at the other end of the line gave me the strength to drive myself to the hospital. Foxtrot was pleased to hear from me at 3a.m. but was pleasant enough to advise me on proper procedure. At the er, I could only get around by wheelchair and hopping. After my xray, I was advised that it wasn't broken and I could return to work the next day. I reiterated that I heard it crack (which for future reference...sounds like velcro being ripped apart really fast). He smiled sweetly and said that there wasn't even very much soft tissue damage (refer to picture). In his defense, there are alot of bones in the foot and it is easy to miss a fracture. It did not help me however, when they put this pitiful little splint on that wraps around my heel and goes up my leg. It stablized nothing. I could still move my foot. I didn't want to...but I could. Now, I'm driving myself home with a prescription for some pain meds but none actually in me. I sit in my carport, on my arrival and cried...looking at the stairs leading to my door. I hopped and crawled my way into my house.
Without a dear friend showing up, I guess I'd still be sitting there in my uniform, hoping that somebody would eventually miss me. The next morning I got a call from the hospital saying that the radiologist found a fracture and I should go to the ortho doc. We fashioned a better splint out of an old raggedy sam splint I had at home. I got a set of crutches from the goodwill and waited until the next day for my ortho appointment. Diana and my workers comp representative were probably very sick of me for a couple of days, but we got it all worked out. Now I'm in the walking boot and able to ambulate. It's not real pretty, but I'm up. My oldest son says I move at the speed of mayonaise.
Take a moment and be thankful that when you are thirsty, you can go get a drink.
And make sure everything is awake before you try to run.
Shelly Antone
