ALWAYS turn your power chair OFF when getting out!!!

The holidays this year were a little better than other years in some ways with the exception of my stupid accident. As a rule, when I get out of my power chair for even a moment I turn it off and this story will tell you why this is so important. I had just arrived home from a dental appointment and was in a hurry to make it to the washroom. I stood up to take my coat off, without turning off my chair, and my coat caught on the controller of the chair, moving the chair forward. As I was standing sideways, the moving chair was pinning me between it and a counter and causing my legs to bend sideways in a completely unnatural way, under the chair. Caught up in my coat, my screams brought my roommate running and she managed to turn off the chair but not before I heard the tell-tale "pop" of a breaking bone.

A trip by ambulance to the Emergency Room revealed that I had a hairline fracture and torn ligaments and tendons in my left leg and strained ligaments in my right leg. Both legs swelled horribly and were so sore that putting the absolutely necessary compression stockings on was a terrible experience for me and, even more so, for the person unlucky enough to be elected to help get them on. They were necessary to keep the swelling, and the pain, from getting out of hand but that didn't make it easier to tolerate getting them on. At one point, my partner was trying to get the stocking around the heel and her knuckles dug into the flesh around my ankle and this caused an involuntary scream on my part that nearly gave my partner a heart attack.

My legs are better now and x-rays this week show that everything is healing well. There is an ulcer on my right leg that is getting larger instead of smaller but so far it is not painful and I can tolerate having the stocking over it. The doctor said it is imperitive that I wear the stockings and maintain pressure at the site of the ulcer to keep the lymph fluid from developing an infection that could spread throughout my body with dreadful consequences.

Although the holidays were more painful than usual, I enjoyed them even more than usual. I spent Christmas Eve day from about 4 p.m. until Christmas Night around 9 p.m. at my daughter's home. My grandson's are just the thing to make anyone forget their pain, if only for a few minutes. They range in age from 17 months to 11 years and are a barrel of fun. Having them to distract me from my pain is better than any drug on the market.

Feeling ?Better????

The last time I posted I was finally starting to feel better from having double pneumonia. That did resolve but then I started having chest pain. My doctor has prescribed Advair for me but I haven't been able to get it - have to wait for "special authorization" to cover the cost.

This chest pain seems to be related to anxiety - at least most of the time. I've had the blood tests, ECG and Chest Xray and have an appointment with a cardiologist September 8th. I almost think that this is related to my esophagus but I'm not absolutely sure of that. With all this excess weight (70lbs) it wouldn't surprise me to find out my heart is struggling. Chronic pain is very hard on the heart and this is why doctors are willing to prescribe pain medications - to reduce the strain from dealing with constant, unending pain.

I don't know what is worse - the pain or the disbelief you see when you tell someone about it. You can just see them thinking "Pain! She would probably be fine if she lost all that blubber. She's just using pain as an excuse to be lazy." Even when you come home from the doctor with a Rx for pain, they don't believe it. They just don't want to believe it because then they would have to be at least somewhat sympathetic.

I am still anxiously awaiting my power chair which will give me a lot more freedom to get out and about. I'm told it should only be two weeks but I thought that at the beginning of the month. I'm just worried that once I have the ability to get out and about, my partner will feel left out and it will put distance between us both literally and figuratively. Hopefully, after twenty years we are strong enough to withstand the change.