The view from my bed.

An update to my last post, where I detailed my unfortunate slip down the stairs. Turns out, I didn’t tear my ACL – looks like I strained it severely, but didn’t tear it. After an MRI and many days of excruciating pain, here is what I did to myself:

Torn meniscus, severe ligament strain, avulsed ACL, and deep tibial plateau fracture.

No wonder I’m in so much pain – I fractured my knee! Hopefully by Monday or Tuesday (which will mark two weeks since I fell) I’ll know whether or not I need surgery; although it certainly seems like a given, considering how much damage there is. The orthopedic surgeon even said, and I quote, “Dang, girl.”

I’m trying to organize my thoughts enough to write a semi-coherent post about how grateful I am for all the help I’ve received from friends and neighbors, but my head is a little cloudy. Like my friend Lindsay said, the percs are treating me kindly. So here’s a rambling list of things I want to say:

• • We have been showered with love and food from so many generous, kind, and thoughtful friends. It is humbling and SO helpful to Paul, who is doing EVERYTHING for me and these children. Chili, lasagna, spaghetti, pulled pork, hot wings, chicken pot pie – we are eating well. Many thanks to all of you, with a specific shoutout from my husband. You guys fucking rock.
  • I have spent 90% of the past the past nine days lying in bed. My knee is like…sideways, somehow. And until I got this fancy, hinged, expensive brace a couple of days ago, I couldn’t sit up AT ALL, in any position, for more than a moment before the pain was too much to bear. I am loving my new brace, even though I have to wear it all the time, even in bed, and it’s about as comfortable as sleeping with a water heater.
  • I can’t use my crutches well enough to navigate stairs, so when I went to the doctor the first time, I had to come down the stairs on my booty. Which was fine, I guess. Going back UP, though, was just ridiculous. It took me nineteen years to get to the top of the stairs, and then I had to drag myself across the carpet into my bedroom with my forearms, and then hoist myself up to my bed a little at a time. My butt STILL hurts, and I got a rug burn on my elbow. So when I had to leave the house a few days later for my MRI, I dreaded the booty-stair thing! I got down the stairs, and then told Pauly that I was never going upstairs again. Soooo, being the amazing, over-the-top hubby that he is…he brought our king-sized bed downstairs to the living room. Yep. Moved the couch out of the way, and I’m just lying in bed right in the middle of the house. It’s glorious. I get to hang out with the kids all the time now. They all keep me company in bed and it’s just lovely.
  • My Thanksgiving was nice! Thanks to my fancy-pants brace, I can finally sit up in my wheelchair for a little while without wanting to die. Some months ago, my parents mentioned to us that they didn’t feel like doing the typical Thanksgiving dinner this year, and suggested we take in a buffet. My dad made reservations for us to stuff our faces with prime rib and crab legs, and the timing sure did work out splendidly, didn’t it? Plus, my sister the truck driving nurse made it into town in time to have dinner with us. She’s already out on the road again, but it was so wonderful to see her for a little while. I miss her so much.
  • I missed out on Black Friday shopping this year, but Kayley went out last night with her bestie, and then again today to hit the stores they missed last night. Little punk sent this to me: Now that is just mean, don’t you think? Taunting me with those damned knee-breakin’ slippery socks.
  • I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this, but I’m kind of shocked by how hard it’s been to get any love from the doctors. DON’T INJURE YOURSELF THE WEEK OF A HOLIDAY, PEOPLE. Everyone is out of town, or off for the week, or the office is just closed altogether. It’s been a whole lot of waiting around for people to call me back, while lying in bed zoning out on painkillers.

Anyway! That’s where things are in this saga. Hopefully my next update will include sunshine and magic.