That was exciting.
Jan. 23rd, 2009 09:10![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillYesterday was Virology lab. We have some plants in a little greenhouse out at the edge of campus, and we needed to check them before lab. So my lab group (three of us), one person from the other group, and Prof. Bryce Falk went out around 2:00. Bryce and Candice, the other group member, were walking, but the three from my group took bikes.
We checked the plants (dramatic symptoms from our unknown virus; that should help with ID) and then took off to get to the lab session itself. I rode out to the bike path outside the greenhouse complex, and just after completing the turn, my front wheel skidded abruptly to the left on the wet pavement. I felt my right knee pop out of joint, and had just enough time to think, "God, I hope I didn't tear a ligament" before I hit the ground.
I spent some time swearing and rolling around, while Bryce came running over and took charge. I think about three people called 911 independently, including one lady who worked in the building next to us. I recovered enough to joke a little with Bryce while I lay on the ground (he said "It looks like you're just relaxing down there"), including a crack that I had kind of wanted to get out of lab today, but this was ridiculous. He seemed relieved that I was coping that well. The truth was, the knee was spasming enough to make me breathless, but the pain wasn't particularly bad.
I got a fire truck, and an ambulance, and they loaded me into it while Bryce took charge of my bike. I've never ridden in an ambulance before... It was fairly brief, as they just took me to Sutter West a mile or two away.
The ER took immediate charge, with about three people swarming me and more coming in a steady stream after that. It was maybe 15 minutes tops before I got sent for X-rays (the staff nurse said that sometimes twisted ligaments can pull loose bone chips; I find it more likely that the X-ray was ordered because the triage nurse assumed I had actually fallen directly on the knee when, in truth, I fell on my hip and my hands). I got to wait around for the results (negative), while several people pressed on my leg, bent it, twisted it, and so on. At no point were there any sharp pains, just a dull ache and the spasms, which I thought was encouraging. Bless the intern who brought me a hot rolled blanket to place under the knee, and another to cover me, because the warmth eased the cramps... she had noticed my clothes were wet, and thought I might be cold.
It took roughly two and a half hours before I got out of there, mostly because they got a little distracted by the fellow who came in after me. They told me to rest my leg, gave me crutches, and called a cab for me. The cab (Village Taxi is very pleasant, btw) took me to the Amtrak station, where I hobbled onto the train and went home. The knee didn't hurt too much, but it felt dislocated and wouldn't bear my weight.
I was very glad that I have the insurance I do -- based on what I've read this morning, I'm on the hook for a $50 ER copay, 10% of the remaining cost (I think I've already done the $200 deductible this term), and 10% of the ambulance fee. The cab ride was $15 including tip. Not having to worry about the cost of such a thing really takes some of the terror out of it.
There was only enough cell reception in the hospital to jot off a quick text message to Greg... it worried me that it was 5:00 by the time I was able to actually place a call to Dr. J. Thursdays are his last day for the week, and while he does work evenings, the more notice the better. I left a couple of messages, and by the time I was getting off the freeway on my way home, he called back to tell me he could see me at 8:30. Thank goodness. I knew he was going on a trip soon, and sure enough, he mentioned that he was heading out Friday morning at 4am for a week in Florida... talk about getting in under the wire.
So I had time for dinner before Greg came to drive me to Berkeley. He was able to assist in the manipulations of the next half-hour, during which we discovered that 1) my right leg was an inch shorter than my left suddenly, 2) I had "pretzel-ified" my hips (see item 1), and 3) once that was all cleared up, it became evident that my knee had been subjected to a medial shear. I said that sounded about right, based on what I felt at the time of the accident. He then tugged on it, popped it in a few different directions, and put it back on straight. It was sore -- he said I had strained several tendons, with little bitty tears in the ligament running to the left of the knee, on the medial side -- but with the assistance of a soft knee brace it was willing to hold my weight. It was wobbly because of the strained tendons, but that should heal fairly quickly given a chance.
Dr. J lent me the brace, and a cane to get me off the crutches. I can hobble around pretty well, though it may take more than a couple of days before I become convinced that everybody lies and Vicodin is candy.
So, the upshot: I'm going to be staying in bed today and tomorrow, with the hope that I can walk well enough to limp around at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eastbaygreg's company party tomorrow evening. The knee is stiff and swollen this morning, but no worse functionally; I'll see about massaging it and applying heat and Ibuprofen soon. I've been pretty cheerful during most of this ordeal, particularly once I had good cause to assume no serious damage had been done... I think it has something to do with the fact that now I get yet another day off school. Sure, I can't spend it digging in the garden, but I can relax a bit. :)
Done with excitement. Ready for boredom now.
We checked the plants (dramatic symptoms from our unknown virus; that should help with ID) and then took off to get to the lab session itself. I rode out to the bike path outside the greenhouse complex, and just after completing the turn, my front wheel skidded abruptly to the left on the wet pavement. I felt my right knee pop out of joint, and had just enough time to think, "God, I hope I didn't tear a ligament" before I hit the ground.
I spent some time swearing and rolling around, while Bryce came running over and took charge. I think about three people called 911 independently, including one lady who worked in the building next to us. I recovered enough to joke a little with Bryce while I lay on the ground (he said "It looks like you're just relaxing down there"), including a crack that I had kind of wanted to get out of lab today, but this was ridiculous. He seemed relieved that I was coping that well. The truth was, the knee was spasming enough to make me breathless, but the pain wasn't particularly bad.
I got a fire truck, and an ambulance, and they loaded me into it while Bryce took charge of my bike. I've never ridden in an ambulance before... It was fairly brief, as they just took me to Sutter West a mile or two away.
The ER took immediate charge, with about three people swarming me and more coming in a steady stream after that. It was maybe 15 minutes tops before I got sent for X-rays (the staff nurse said that sometimes twisted ligaments can pull loose bone chips; I find it more likely that the X-ray was ordered because the triage nurse assumed I had actually fallen directly on the knee when, in truth, I fell on my hip and my hands). I got to wait around for the results (negative), while several people pressed on my leg, bent it, twisted it, and so on. At no point were there any sharp pains, just a dull ache and the spasms, which I thought was encouraging. Bless the intern who brought me a hot rolled blanket to place under the knee, and another to cover me, because the warmth eased the cramps... she had noticed my clothes were wet, and thought I might be cold.
It took roughly two and a half hours before I got out of there, mostly because they got a little distracted by the fellow who came in after me. They told me to rest my leg, gave me crutches, and called a cab for me. The cab (Village Taxi is very pleasant, btw) took me to the Amtrak station, where I hobbled onto the train and went home. The knee didn't hurt too much, but it felt dislocated and wouldn't bear my weight.
I was very glad that I have the insurance I do -- based on what I've read this morning, I'm on the hook for a $50 ER copay, 10% of the remaining cost (I think I've already done the $200 deductible this term), and 10% of the ambulance fee. The cab ride was $15 including tip. Not having to worry about the cost of such a thing really takes some of the terror out of it.
There was only enough cell reception in the hospital to jot off a quick text message to Greg... it worried me that it was 5:00 by the time I was able to actually place a call to Dr. J. Thursdays are his last day for the week, and while he does work evenings, the more notice the better. I left a couple of messages, and by the time I was getting off the freeway on my way home, he called back to tell me he could see me at 8:30. Thank goodness. I knew he was going on a trip soon, and sure enough, he mentioned that he was heading out Friday morning at 4am for a week in Florida... talk about getting in under the wire.
So I had time for dinner before Greg came to drive me to Berkeley. He was able to assist in the manipulations of the next half-hour, during which we discovered that 1) my right leg was an inch shorter than my left suddenly, 2) I had "pretzel-ified" my hips (see item 1), and 3) once that was all cleared up, it became evident that my knee had been subjected to a medial shear. I said that sounded about right, based on what I felt at the time of the accident. He then tugged on it, popped it in a few different directions, and put it back on straight. It was sore -- he said I had strained several tendons, with little bitty tears in the ligament running to the left of the knee, on the medial side -- but with the assistance of a soft knee brace it was willing to hold my weight. It was wobbly because of the strained tendons, but that should heal fairly quickly given a chance.
Dr. J lent me the brace, and a cane to get me off the crutches. I can hobble around pretty well, though it may take more than a couple of days before I become convinced that everybody lies and Vicodin is candy.
So, the upshot: I'm going to be staying in bed today and tomorrow, with the hope that I can walk well enough to limp around at
eastbaygreg's company party tomorrow evening. The knee is stiff and swollen this morning, but no worse functionally; I'll see about massaging it and applying heat and Ibuprofen soon. I've been pretty cheerful during most of this ordeal, particularly once I had good cause to assume no serious damage had been done... I think it has something to do with the fact that now I get yet another day off school. Sure, I can't spend it digging in the garden, but I can relax a bit. :)Done with excitement. Ready for boredom now.
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 23:40 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-24 20:37 (UTC)Ow
Date: 2009-01-30 03:57 (UTC)I'm glad it's not worse. I'm glad that you should recover well and relatively quickly. Yay for good insurance, and here's hoping for small bills. Dr J does miracles.