Could Have Been Worse

Yesterday I slipped on a step and fell down a flight a stairs, mes amis.  It was quite a shock to me and still is a bit now as I write.  I had gone downtown to the County Courthouse, a stately old building from the 1880s, to pay for license plate and registration renewal for the car.  As I was going down the first few steps to the desk in the lower level, somehow I slipped and then went tumbling down the stairs.  And when I hit the bottom of the stairs I heard a loud snap like a tree branch.  I laid there for a moment and realized--My God, I've broken my leg.  Then after a few seconds--incredible pain.

I suddenly broke out into a dripping cold sweat, couldn't move, and started going into shock I guess.  Luckily for me, one of the clerks had had some trauma training, and she keep me just hanging on to a conscience state--asking me my name, b-date and all that--as a wave of pain came and went, and then came back over me again.

I could not believe this was happening to me, Gentle Reader of This Blog--slipping on step?  Falling down a flight of stairs?  My left leg above my knee, the femur--the big leg bone, felt like a car was parked on it.  I could hear the ambulance on the way--and all I could think about was some surgeon waking me up to tell me all the screws and plates were in place.  I also clung to the notion that I was a cyclist--an athlete--not some careless idiot.

Got and IV with some magic in it I suppose, but no pain killer because of blood pressure or something like that the Paramedic told me.  I'd just have to hang on a few more minutes until they got me up and out to the ambulance.  "Any thing else?  Did you hit your head?  Your neck okay?  Are you allergic to any drugs?" and all their questions.

So I got to the hospital, the ER, and got some pain medicine, and got down to the X-Ray.  Which I have to say was pretty tough, because every time they moved me, man but it was really really painful...

The good news--and I mean really good news from the x-rays--my leg was not broken.  What a relief I have to tell you, Gentle Reader--and about this time, although I was in a funk-state--the pain started to retreat.

By this time Rico was there and I was able to relax and try to un-clench my self.  With all the IV and fluids they pumped in me I had to piss like a race horse.  With some negotiations with the nurse, a plastic bottle was procured, and she and Rico helped me sit up, kind of stand on my right leg, and while the nurse went out I was able to pee.  I was also able to steady myself on my right leg and stand, and hold myself up by holding on the rails of the bed.

Getting a bit scolded for that, the nurse got me back to bed and then the doc came in and I said, "Give me the shot or pill and let me outta here, man." He was still a bit concerned about that snap I heard when I fell.  He poked and squeezed around my thigh, saying, "That hurt?" "What about here?" "How about there?''  "HOLY F_UCK!!!"  to that spot was my reply.

Well, maybe my quadriceps were torn--a tendon maybe torn--they would know from a MRI.  That would be from a specialist he set up for me.  Your quad is that big muscle from your knee to your hip--the one that as cyclists we use for all our power (which I hoped I'd still have after this) Actually he was very impressed, as were the nurses, that I had not broken my leg--or anything else for that matter.  I fell down a set of 110 year-old granite steps so it was a hard fall.  The doc said my cycling, and the weight training I'd been doing at the Jim Thorpe Fitness Center definitely saved my leg from breaking.  Surgery to fix a torn quad, if that was it, he would not speculate.

My nurse got got one of those big leg support straps on me to keep my leg straight, and then, just over an hour from falling down the stairs and writhing in pain,  I was hopping around and able to go back and forth on the crutches they gave me.  Again the doctor was like, "Dude you lucked-out on this one."

Tired-out now and feeling dopey from pain killers, I took the wheel chair to the car Rico had waiting for me, and I was able to get myself in and sit down.  From the weight training I could tell those muscles were there for me--the squats I had been doing, and the push-ups, and the lunges I'd been slowly building up with at the Jim had payed off, mes amis.

I'm not saying by any means that I'm some  kind of power-house--I'm just saying that the weights I'd been doing since January when I started at Haskell, on my lunch hour, gave me some stability.  When I started I couldn't even do one push-up and had no upper body strength--I mean none--seriously.

Celebrity Spin class helped me out too I know--heart-rate and power training for 10 weeks probably saved my leg from breaking.  Just got to hope the damage, if there is any to my quadriceps, is not severe (no surgery) and that I can get back on the bike here soon.

Well, wish me luck, mes amis.  As I know more, I'll let you know--but really, I'm feeling strong and I'm going to try and go to work in the morning.

Cheers!  Bruce