A Birthday Is Just Another Day

For most people but my David is certainly not most people. On Monday-which was two days before his birthday- he was in the house on the ladder on the steps installing the trim on the windows. I was in the living room working on my new file cabinet (gee how fun does that sound) when I heard the most god awful kabang, a much bigger kabang than just the usual kabang of a nailer hitting the floor. In I ran to find poor David sitting/laying on the steps with his left leg still in the rung of the ladder that had fallen farther down the steps. Now David is always banging something, his head or a hand...well you know, and he very rarely feels pain. Oh wait there was that time that he almost cut his finger off, but I digress.... There he sat/layed on the steps, leg hung up in the ladder that had fallen as well, face as white as a sheet and beads of sweat all over that bald head and forehead. He had busted his watch that was laying on the floor and his hat flew off as well. He didn't fall far, only a couple of feet off the ladder but he twisted and hyper extended his leg which was the cause of his pain. It took quite a bit for him to untangle his leg from the ladder and to get up to a chair I had waiting for him at the top of the steps. It was no easy feat for him to hobble from there to the living room where he collected his thoughts for about an hour before we went to the ER.
We left it all as it fell...
And oh yeah he looks like a happy camper. He actually banged up both legs but the right was pretty superficial.


The ER doc did an initial exam as well as an xray. Exam caused David way too much pain but the xray showed nothing broken. We were to make an appointment with the the orthopedic PA so they could do their assessment but until then we got a brace like wrap to wear, elevate, ice and no weight bearing....really????
David looks a bit relieved here as he hobbled out of the ER. Relieved that nothing was broken and it is probably just a good/bad sprain/strain. I didn't have the heart to say to him, 'You are having way too much pain to have it be just that' Nah, let him feel OK about it all for now:)
That was Monday. Tuesday bright and early the ER doc calls me to tell us that when he looked at the Xray he saw some fluid in the knee area and would we come in to see the ortho doctor today? Off we went. Here he is in the position I am afraid he may be in a lot in the next few weeks. This is prior to the ortho doc coming in so he stills looks to be in an ok mood....

The ortho doc did his own very thorough exam and ordered an additional xray to be done of the entire lower leg...humm he is wondering is the fibula broken perhaps? Because, he says, there is way too much pain for it to be a strain...gee didn't I say that?
Oh yeah - he has a break of the fibula (small bone in the leg) however it is a clean break so no cast and no surgery needed...on that one. He is also suspicious that the tibia (big bone) may be cracked on top where it goes to the knee and does he have any internal stuff going on (muscles-tendons). So we will be having an MRI and CT to get a good look. Poor David now has an immobilizing brace on his left leg that he has to wear for 6-8 weeks and no weight bearing. That is it, so far, we shall see what the additional tests bring.
Now the ole boy is in a chair bored to tears...and the worst of it all is....he cannot get his boat out because there is stuff and more stuff in front of it. Not only can he not get the boat out but my lawnmower is back there as well. I swear I need to learn how to run that bobcat so that I can get stuff out of the way! If the boat was out at least we could go fishing. And of course he is bummed because he can't do any of the house projects. I keep telling him they will always be there. He says that's the problem.
Happy birthday to my poor David. This getting older isn't all it was cracked up to be.