Shells
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Ingles (2019); Camino Frances (2023, 2024)
A few weeks ago, I posted a message about having a bad fall on the Camino Frances, being hauled off the trail by the Spanish emergency services, and receiving unexpected grace and kindness in the midst of personal calamity. Yesterday marked the one month anniversary of my injury. Party due to excessive boredom, partly to boost my own spirits, and partly because so many of you responded so kindly to my initial post, I am providing an update, by way of “My Top Ten Post Accident Greatest Accomplishments (or Hits!):”
1. Navigating a hospital emergency experience in a foreign country by myself.
2. Making a journey halfway across the world to return home, just three days after my injury.
3. Surviving a trip to my local emergency room, after a bad reaction to prescription pain meds, in the days post return trip and pre-surgery.
4. Enduring a spinal block, nerve blocks, and surgery. Yayyyyy —at last, I can truly begin to heal!
5. Finding new and creative ways to move, without putting weight on my broken ankle, including crawling, butt-scooting, and intimate acquaintance with the floor.
6. Avoiding major injury from a fall I took after getting careless and losing focus for a moment as I tried to make a cup of tea. Stupid, I know—I just was temporarily insane from boredom.
7. Only yelping twice when about 30 surgical staples were removed (I don’t recommend this for a good time) from my ankle and learning that the incisions are healing well.
8. Beginning physical therapy. There still isn’t too much I can do, but I can accomplish a few exercises to increase mobility of my ankle and reduce inflammation. I am doing the maximum amount of the prescribed physical therapy and was heartened when my therapist said he would lend me a stationary bike, once I’m cleared for partial weight bearing.
9. My first major outing! I took a day trip with my lovely daughter. She had one business stop to make, so I took the opportunity to lift my leg into the driver’s seat of the car, while she was gone. I was moving it back to my side upon her return, when my huge stabilizing boot, hit a full cup of coffee on the central console and dumped it into my lap. My daughter didn’t miss a beat. She simply drove me to the nearest athletic club, talked the receptionist into letting me use their showers, and bought me a new pair of pants from the facility’s shop. Within a half hour, we were back on track and she had me laughing about the experience—and in awe of her capability and compassion.
10. Celebrating the one month anniversary of my accident. It has given me cause to take stock and realize how far I’ve come, even though each individual day seems endless—and the nights are even longer. In one week, I get assessed by my surgeon and will hopefully be cleared to begin partial weight bearing, though how I’ll be able to judge one quarter of my body weight remains a mystery…
In the last month, I’ve experienced daily correspondence with my brother, with whom I had previously only had sporadic communication—I had forgotten how much we like each other; I have had casual acquaintances reach out to me and they have now become friends; I had never thought of my husband as a caregiver before, which means that after 42 years of marriage, I am still finding new dimensions to this amazing life partner; I was brought to easy tears by the joy with which my tiny granddaughter threw herself into my arms (carefully avoiding my leg) post surgery, and then gave me her favorite stuffed animal to hold, and read me her favorite story book (quite an accomplishment for a kindergartner!)
Grace is everywhere, from small acts of charity to genuine compassion, and I am grateful for each one. This has not been an easy or pleasurable experience, and I still have a very long way to go, but I’m getting a crash course on the nature of being invalid, and now recognize how far a kind word can go. Whether or not the lessons will stay engrained, once I am mobile again, remains to be seen...
1. Navigating a hospital emergency experience in a foreign country by myself.
2. Making a journey halfway across the world to return home, just three days after my injury.
3. Surviving a trip to my local emergency room, after a bad reaction to prescription pain meds, in the days post return trip and pre-surgery.
4. Enduring a spinal block, nerve blocks, and surgery. Yayyyyy —at last, I can truly begin to heal!
5. Finding new and creative ways to move, without putting weight on my broken ankle, including crawling, butt-scooting, and intimate acquaintance with the floor.
6. Avoiding major injury from a fall I took after getting careless and losing focus for a moment as I tried to make a cup of tea. Stupid, I know—I just was temporarily insane from boredom.
7. Only yelping twice when about 30 surgical staples were removed (I don’t recommend this for a good time) from my ankle and learning that the incisions are healing well.
8. Beginning physical therapy. There still isn’t too much I can do, but I can accomplish a few exercises to increase mobility of my ankle and reduce inflammation. I am doing the maximum amount of the prescribed physical therapy and was heartened when my therapist said he would lend me a stationary bike, once I’m cleared for partial weight bearing.
9. My first major outing! I took a day trip with my lovely daughter. She had one business stop to make, so I took the opportunity to lift my leg into the driver’s seat of the car, while she was gone. I was moving it back to my side upon her return, when my huge stabilizing boot, hit a full cup of coffee on the central console and dumped it into my lap. My daughter didn’t miss a beat. She simply drove me to the nearest athletic club, talked the receptionist into letting me use their showers, and bought me a new pair of pants from the facility’s shop. Within a half hour, we were back on track and she had me laughing about the experience—and in awe of her capability and compassion.
10. Celebrating the one month anniversary of my accident. It has given me cause to take stock and realize how far I’ve come, even though each individual day seems endless—and the nights are even longer. In one week, I get assessed by my surgeon and will hopefully be cleared to begin partial weight bearing, though how I’ll be able to judge one quarter of my body weight remains a mystery…
In the last month, I’ve experienced daily correspondence with my brother, with whom I had previously only had sporadic communication—I had forgotten how much we like each other; I have had casual acquaintances reach out to me and they have now become friends; I had never thought of my husband as a caregiver before, which means that after 42 years of marriage, I am still finding new dimensions to this amazing life partner; I was brought to easy tears by the joy with which my tiny granddaughter threw herself into my arms (carefully avoiding my leg) post surgery, and then gave me her favorite stuffed animal to hold, and read me her favorite story book (quite an accomplishment for a kindergartner!)
Grace is everywhere, from small acts of charity to genuine compassion, and I am grateful for each one. This has not been an easy or pleasurable experience, and I still have a very long way to go, but I’m getting a crash course on the nature of being invalid, and now recognize how far a kind word can go. Whether or not the lessons will stay engrained, once I am mobile again, remains to be seen...
