I was asked to accompany a friend and her husband to the hospital so that I could keep the husband entertained (because entertaining is what I do best) while my friend was in surgery. So, at about 4:45am on Thursday, my friend and her husband pulled up to my house. I said goodbye to the boys and proceeded out the door. Knowing that the previous day had been very warm, I made a mental note to be careful on the stairs/sidewalk since there would likely be a nice sheet of ice.
There was.
I fell.
Yes… On my way to the car, I did this slow-motion type of fall straight onto my back (actually, I had a backpack on–filled with some books, Uno, and Connect Four–and it really softened the fall). On the way down, I twisted my knee and did something really nasty to my ankle. For a few minutes (while I was lying on the ice-covered sidewalk, nauseous with pain), I thought it was broken. I told my friends to leave. They were already running late, and I could just call up to Josh in the house and he would come and take care of me. They looked at me with big eyes and said that no, they weren’t going to leave me lying on the sidewalk (these are some of my best friends, as I’m sure you can tell by their care for my wellbeing). Anyway… while my friend’s husband was yelling into the house for Josh, I realized that I could move my ankle if I really tried. I decided to just continue with the day as planned, since we were already headed to a hospital. Josh came out and checked on me, and I told him I would call with an update as soon as I could.
Side note: Jude was/is fine. He was quite squirmy after the fall… I think he enjoyed the ride. (=
Off to the hospital we went! I was lying across the backseat because I was pretty sure that if I stayed upright I would pass out. We got to the hospital and found our way to valet parking. After checking in with the nice attendant, my friend told him that a wheelchair (along with someone to wheel it) was needed b/c her friend (that’s me) fell on the way to the hospital. It was funny. A nice young man wheeled me over to the ER while my friend and her husband went to get checked in for her surgery.
The people in the ER were very nice… they even found me a bed in one of the hallways when I told them that I felt like I was going to pass out. After x-raying me (with three protective vests on my belly) and telling me that I only had a nasty sprain, they sent me up to OB to be monitored. Marie, my OB nurse, was very, very nice. She put the monitors on my belly and got a glass of water for me. She made me nice and cozy with a warm blanket, and made sure to give me my book bag so that I wouldn’t be bored. Really, all of the attention was nice.
Once I got the word that Jude was in fact fine, I started calling around the hospital looking for my friend and her husband. Right as I got a hold of my friend, her husband walked into my room. He has been looking for me too! The nice people in OB gave me a wheelchair to use for the day (I couldn’t put any pressure on my left foot), and we headed down to see my friend before she went in for surgery.
Everyone… really, I think everyone in the hospital knew our story. Since I’m pregnant, I got all of the sympathy. My friend kept telling me that it was all about me, and not her, even though *she* was the one having surgery. (= Afterwards, and to this day, both my friend and her husband tease me (relentlessly) over my request that they “just leave me” and head to the hospital by themselves.
I’m healing up pretty well. Josh has been making me stay off of my feet, and I’ve been icing my ankle and taking Tylenol like it’s my job. (Oh, in case you’re wondering: Tylenol does NOTHING for pain. NOTHING.) We’ve had a long (but lovely) weekend, so I opted to stay home this morning while my husband and our friend Phil went to Abe’s for breakfast. I think I’m going to eat some leftover cinnamon chip pancakes for breakfast. That sounds really yummy right now. (=
