Update:
Yesterday slammed the end of my residual limb into the floor. Oh my, did that hurt! I elevated and iced it
for the rest of the day. I’m thankful to
report that I really don’t have any swelling, pain, or discoloration
today! Whew! I think I dodged a bullet
on this one!
I was babysitting my two-year old granddaughter when she declared that
she urgently had to go potty. So we
raced into the bathroom trying to avoid a mess.
I didn’t have my prosthesis on and was in my wheelchair. Trying to get her pants down quickly, I
leaned over too far while sitting on the edge of the wheelchair. It flipped over and dumped me out right on
the distal end of my amputated limb.
Despite the pain, I got her pants down and my granddaughter
successfully used the toilet. Yeah! Afterwards, I was still sitting on the
floor trying to get control of my emotional response and accepting the
pain. The wheelchair was tipped over on
me and also caught in the doorway. It
took a bit of effort to get untangled and get the chair back upright. As I sat on the floor still trying to catch
my breath, my granddaughter told me, “PawPaw, get up!” I was blocking the door and obviously didn’t
know what to do next—she was just helping me get out of the way so she could
get out and go back to playing. Ha! Ha!
Banging the end of my leg like that gave me an instant headache and upset
stomach (due to pain/ adrenaline release??).
I wasn’t able to be too attentive to my granddaughter after that so my
daughter came and picked her up. I spent
the rest of the day in the recliner, icing the leg and keeping it elevated.
It is amazing to me how quickly things can go from being alright to suddenly
being painful and stupid. It just takes
the smallest, momentary lapse in judgment for things to abruptly go wrong. It is shocking how much of my confidence was
destroy in that fleeting moment as well.
Usually I transfer to my wheelchair and back again without a conscience
thought or concern. After tipping over,
I was paranoid and was overthinking every move I made for the rest of the day.
The other time that I took a serious fall was just a few weeks after my
amputation, transferring from my recliner to the wheelchair. I forgot to check
the brakes and only one was set. As I
tried to sit down, the chair rolled out from under me and I went down hard.
So I guess the lesson learned is to slow down and maintain situational
awareness. Rushing leads to pain.
I ride a motorcycle and they tell you that you have to accept a greater
degree of risk riding a motorcycle than you do when driving a car. Apparently the same is true about using a
wheelchair in my case!
I’m scheduled to see my surgeon and begin the process of building a new
socket next week. My socket isn’t
fitting well anymore and I’m having reoccurring sore spots develop, so it’s
time for an evaluation and a rebuild. After
dumping myself out onto the floor, I was worried that swelling, bruising, or
pain would delay that process for a week or maybe even a month or so. A simple fall can be extremely damaging to an
amputee. Waiting, delays, and rescheduling appointments can be so emotionally
draining. Thankfully, it appears that I’m still good to go. YES!!!
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