Sunday, April 13, 2008

Twisted ankles and frustration~~~

Well Darlings,

I guess you've noticed that I had not posted for almost a month. ***sigh*** Sometimes life can be so frustrating.

Here I was, taking care of things, enjoying life, content that I've paid my income tax, took care of the property taxes, paid the house and car insurances--(I like to get all of that out of the way by April)---and then I think, I'm going to have a bit of fun.

It was not to be, a few weeks ago I was planning to post on my blog, but I decided to take Princess for her walk first, she loves to go to the beach, not that she gets dirty in the sand but there are so many nice people with their little dogs, and it's fun for her to exchange greetings.

I have fun too meeting on occasion a friend or acquittance that I've not seen for a while, I thank the Gods above that it was not raining and the weather was mild for March. Princess and I walked home and I was just even with my house, just 30 more steps and we would be home, when I tripped over an elevated portion of the side walk. I landed heavily, but I kept my hand on Princess leash.

I have to confess I was frightened, I found that I could not get up, my ankle was sending sharp pains, and I feared it was broken, all I could do was call out for help, but it was a late Sunday evening and most of my neighbors were out for the evening. Thank God Juanita was in her room, and her window was open to allow fresh air in and she heard me.

Running out to the front she found me helpless on my back with poor Princess just whining with fear, she helped me sit up as best as the pain would allow, then she used her cell phone to call 911. And the firemen and the paramedics showed up***sigh*** they are so handsome and as "mean Kitty would say" hunky.

Well the up-shot was my ankle was so swollen that they could not tell if it was broken or sprained, and they were concerned about any other fractures I might have received, so I got Juanita to get my purse and while the ambulance transported me to the ER, Juanita took care of Princess and called my brother Tom in San Francisco.

So spending 4 hours in the ER (and I'm not complaining--there were people coming in who had life threatening injuries, so they had a higher priority) They found that my blood pressure was severely elevated, my ankle was very badly sprained and I would need to be off of it for several weeks, seems some tendons were injured as well. But they kept me in the hospital for 3 days to make sure that my blood pressure would come down to normal. And the Television programing was such a bore, one can stand Jerry Springer and Maury Povich for just so long, my room mate an older woman just loves them, so I endured it, I felt she was much closer to meeting her end than I was so who was I to deny her what pleasures she got.

Fortunately Tom and Lois came by and we all had a chance to talk to the doctor who wanted me to have a practical nurse for a week or two to help me bathe, get to the bath room and monitor my blood pressure, which was good thing, I didn't want to put any strain on Juanita, but Juanita took a bit of a personal affront about all of this, but I talked to her privately and told her that she had enough to do without injuring her back helping me, I wanted her to stay healthy or we both would be bed-ridden, then who would take care of Princess?

With that she was satisfied, and then it turned out that the practical nurse that Tom had found was a friend of Juanita's daughter Constance, so with the two of them helping me I began to make my recovery, the hard part was driving, I couldn't drive with my ankle, so Isabella my nurse drove me to the Doctor's office in her car.

It was very nice, and as a treat for all of us, since Isabella was going to be staying with me for a while in the guest room, we all watched the Telenovella stations (I do speak and understand Spanish) and I didn't feel bored.

But sometimes my ankle would throb so badly that I couldn't think straight and I hated taking pain pill, but to sleep I had to. I put off any decision making, both financially and otherwise which was a good thing, by letting some of my investments ride, they came out better and stronger in a fluctuating market.

We finally reached a point where I could finally maneuver myself into the shower and with one of those shower stools I could bathe and wash my hair, what a blessing!!!

I now can get around the house with a cane for support, but to do any shopping or any walking my ankle was not well enough, I was given a temporary handicapped placard, and Juanita insisted that I use the electric carts that the grocery stores have. Wheeee it was fun and Princess could ride in my lap.

But my friends were concerned, there were several events that we had all planned to go to, so I rented a small lightweight wheelchair---not one of those big clumsy ones---it just folds up and fits into a trunk.

And it was wonderful to finally have my hair styled again.

In another month or so the doctor says I should be well enough to do away with the wheelchair and the cane, but I have to say that what concerned me was the feeling of helplessness, I began looking at my lovely house with a different eye, and as soon as I am able I'm going to install things to help me get around especially when I get older. I never thought of becoming old and frail, but this was a wake up call.

Diva's need to know that to everything there is a season, you can be glamours at any age, but you have to acknowledge that there will come the time when you have to look at the frailties of old age, and to consider being prepared for it.

If nothing else My Dear Diva's please learn from this personal lesson.