What a day!!! SERIOUS injury

[fuzzygruf]

OMG!

Today started off pretty good. I got to Starbucks near work, did some Sudoku, and 3dollarbilly stopped by my table to chat. Nice!

I got to work, and there was a phone call from my boss. She was summoned to appear for jury duty today. Cool.

I clocked in to work around 8am. Shortly thereafter, my co-worker heard a crash and found me on the floor. How shall I put this? "I misstepped from my chair and found myself on the floor." I was embarrassed. My crash to the floor caused a tremor that made the clock fall from the wall. Oops! I laughed.

Then I got up. Ouch.

My right calf was tingly. Oh well. I went to a meeting for an hour, and afterwards I was still in much pain.

After the meeting, I had the RN in charge take a peek. She wrapped my ankle with an icepack and an ACE bandage, gave me some Motrin, and she had me contact our employee health department. They got my information, then called and had me come over to them, conveniently located across the street from my office.

They deemed that I had torn or partially torn my Achilles Tendon. They were fascinated by the clarity and swelling, and I was their show & tell project for the morning. They made an appointment for me with a podiatrist at 2pm. They gave me some crutches, then had me wait back in my office.

The podiatrist was nice. Very informative. I need surgery. Immediately.

After frantic calls to my GP for a pre-op eval (he's not working this week), another trip to Employee Health, and a taxi ride home, I got a call to go back to the podiatrist. Taxi'd back to their office, filled out some paperwork, did some labwork, and I'll have one of their docs to a pre-op tomorrow at 6:15am. Surgery is scheduled for 7:15am.

I'll be off work for at least 10-12 weeks. During that time, I'll be on crutches, in a wheelchair, and getting some physical therapy. I'll probably limp for 6 months to a one year.

Doctor: "You won't be able to do real physical stuff like playing basketball anytime soon."
Me: "So will I be able to play basketball after this all heals in about a year?"
Doctor: "Yes."
Me: "That's great. I never could play previously."

That old joke made her laugh.

I may need some help in the upcoming weeks. Unable to ride BART, someone may need to bring BART to me.

Comments

[bigredpaul.livejournal.com]

I hope the surgery is successful.

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Me, too!

[tdjohnsn.livejournal.com]

Oh, ow. That's awful. I'm sorry I live too far away to do more than wish you well. :-(

Let us know when you get home from the hospital so we know you are okay.

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to writing more Vicodin-induced blogs!

[pinkfish.livejournal.com]

Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!

I hope your surgery and recovery go well.

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

All those owls!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ow!! I'm glad you're getting the surgery right away. That kind of thing deteriorates without attention, and besides, waiting sucks.

Your arms and shoulders will be *so* toned...

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

"Your arms and shoulders will be *so* toned..."

The better to write choreo, my dear...

Medical Emergencies

[cruisebear.livejournal.com]

You have had another medical emergency right near Hairrison. Get well soon my buddy.

Re: Medical Emergencies

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

Steve was quick to point that out!

[canseefour.livejournal.com]

Yikes! I'm glad you're getting it fixed right away. Be good and do exactly what the doctor tells you so you can get back to dancing as soon as possible.

Hugs.

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

I may have to focus on choreo, or just give up any ideas of dancing for awhile. Grrrrrrrr!

Workers' Comp!

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Ooow. Sorry...

Well, if you can't walk around a lot, and you can't dance, and you can't say something nice ... come sit by me. We'll have cawfee and tawk.

I had no idea when I said earlier today that this was the "Worst. Week. EVER." that the statement included nearly EVERYone on my friends list.

On the other hand, this is one way to avoid your boss. After 10-12 weeks without you, the entire office will almost certainly appreciate you more.

Re: Workers' Comp!

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

The week has been fine for me...but then again, the week isn't OVER! I suspect if I had chanced rigging the ladder up over the stairway to paint those odd spots that I'd have fallen off with the karma going around.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Holy crap! Well, I hope the surgery and follow-up gets you back on your feet again quickly. But what a great opportunity to work on choreography, push some checkers and the like. Almost makes me wish I had torn my achilles tendon. Almost.

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

Vicodin-induced choreo might be pretty tragic! Guess we'll see!

[jodfoster.livejournal.com]

ZOMG! Good luck tomorrow, sweetheart. You sure know how to get attention :) And in spite of everything you seem in great spirits, so good on ya. Oh and given your past BART fun, I doubt you'll have any trouble with folks bringing BART to you ;)

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

It's all about the attention!! Duh!

[beeftenderloin.livejournal.com]

HOLY CRAP! GARY! *hugs* I'm so sorry to hear that. Don't be embarrassed I fell down while showering with one of the participants of a threesome in Vancouver and my knee and pelvis and shin still hurt. All of you guys in SF are a wreck, we should just open an LJ convalescence ward. LOL

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

The SF LJ convalescence ward sounds about right!

Your YVR accident isn't that uncommon. We must get at least a half dozen threesome-induced knee/pelvis/shin injuries in the clinic each week.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Geez, Gary! That's awful! All of that for a misstep. I wish you a successful surgery and a complete recovery sooner than they've predicted!

Got to admit ..when I first read the story ... my first thought was ...

Gee, I hope it's not his petal foot!

HUGS!

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

I hope you mean piano pedal and not car or bike pedal! I tried out the piano tonight using the "wrong" foot. It's manageable. I'm still hoping to do Gary-aoke on 9/13. I didn't see your flight itenary yet....

[redbackfur.livejournal.com]

Ouchies. I thought you knew better. Didn't you know those wedgie nurse-shoes were dangerous?

Really now, I hope you feel better soon. Foot pain is a bitch and you don't need none of that.

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

Sure, wedgie nurse-shoes are dangerous, but they are SO hawt.

[squalidbear.livejournal.com]

You poor luv! At least you'll be able to say, "Coffee, bitch!"...

There goes your career en pointe...

[momshapedbox.livejournal.com]

Oh no Gary, How awful. Will be thinking of you tomorrow in surgery. Hope all goes well. Still planning on coming to your Gary-oke if you're up to it. I'm really looking forward to hear you play.

Feel better soon and keep us posted on your outcome. Is this a workman's comp issue. What about salary comp. Will it be enough?

[sfkev.livejournal.com]

How come I don't get a good feeling about this???????

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

Ha! Steve's been quoting that movie to me tonight. You've got him figured out!

[greyguy-sf.livejournal.com]

wow....there is hardly anything clever left to say. I hope you heal well... remember that Vicodin is our friend.

Have you heard from that horrible supervisor? She is probably thinking that you did this just to annoy her.

[auntie-lukers.livejournal.com]

Dang baby!

[hotelbearsf.livejournal.com]

Arrgh! Just what you don't need. On the other hand, this screams workman's comp so make sure all your medical costs are covered and that they pay you your full salary on the days you can't work.

Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well.

[blt4success66.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear of your injury and the worst kind too!

I can come out there and show you how to cross stitch. It'll pass the time.

You'll be in my thoughts tomorrow during surgery!

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. You don't think my cross stitch skills are up to snuff? ;-)

[redsquared.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about your injury. Good luck on the surgery tomorrow. It is nice that you have many comments from the LJ community wishing you well. It must certainly help you feel a bit better having all these people thinking of you. regards.

[qbear.livejournal.com]

Dammit, Gary!! Bad job!!!

Seriously, sorry to hear this--I know how frustrating it can be doing the whole wheelchair/crutches/PT thing, from watching Steve. We have a bedpan and a lovely assortment of canes if you need them. Steve is also free during the day, so if you need transport, give us a ring.

And I second Mark's advice on the workman's comp---make sure they pay for everything.

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the bedpan & cane offer. Maybe I'll take you up on that once I'm fully recovered. Hawt!

I may end up bugging Steve during the day at some point. Like Karl, it's hard for me to pass up anything that is "free."

[bearhedded.livejournal.com]

Ouch.

My friend, Erin just came back to work today, on crutches, except she broke her ankle/lower leg parasailing. We are experimenting with comfier cushions/padding on crutches.......lemme know if you want the results.

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

I'm sure the results are fabulous. She's gonna be the envy of he Orthopedic clinic next time she shows up!

Yikes!

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

Ow! Ow! Ow! That really sucks Gary.

I hope you heal fast!

Chuck

[timbear.livejournal.com]

Ouch! Hope it stops hurting soon.

It's always a worry when the doctor says "Oh, that's neat, you don't mind if I take pictures of this do you?" ...

[etriganuk.livejournal.com]

Oh hell! That's bad news. Hope surgery and recovery go as well as they possible can. Sounds as if it's gone smoothly so far, which I guess is one benefit of working in a hospital...