Update on Mom!
Mar. 20th, 2008 10:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eohartmanAs I updated y'all on Sunday, my mom broke her ankle while trying to take Facebook photos of my dog It's still amusing that she made a Facebook profile for him- go add him! Stephanie and Courtney already have! Mom had surgery on Monday to get 11 screws and a plate inserted in her ankle and foot. She came home from the hospital on Tuesday. My dad had to go back to work today (he has a lot to catch up, since he was out for *his* knee surgery just three weeks ago, in addition to his boss leaving for another job), so I went over and babysat Mom.
She's doing well- she's in good spirits and has a sense of humor about all of this. She stayed upstairs in their bedroom all day today, sitting in the recliner and reading books and stuff for work. I was on the computer downstairs, VPNing into work. She'd call me on the walkie-talkie if she needed help getting up to go to the bathroom or needed coffee or tea or new ice packs. It was pretty nice to have some conversations with her, although it was generally pretty uneventful.
Except for the fact that this morning, Dad showed me this pictures he's taken of this adventure. These are freaking AWESOME pictures and I just had to share them with y'all. They're behind the cut. They don't show any blood or anything, but they do show her broken ankle, so I'm warning y'all that they're a little graphic in nature and will probably make you yelp and grab your own ankle in sympathy.
Note: These wouldn't be nearly as entertaining if she was in serious pain, but she's really doing okay- she hasn't taken any pain meds since 5 a.m. today and she says that her shoulders/arms hurt from lifting herself up and using a walker just about, or more than, her ankle hurts.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
halfawakemoon and jetaimemoncheri, you'll be impressed!
My mom stepped backwards into a hole about 12-18 inches deep (my dad measured it later). Dad helped her up and took her to the ER, where she was immediately rushed into the back (those who know Atlanta hospitals, this is a feat!). These pics were taken in the hospital:
Mom laying on the hospital bed.
Note: Her left knee is straight in this picture. In other words, her foot should be pointing UP to the ceiling.
You can see the bruising. And I believe that white spot is bone.
Comparison to her other leg and foot. Her left foot *should* look like her right one and be pointing up towards the ceiling.
Fun fact: Dad drove her to the hospital and Mom was in the backseat. She put her leg on the center console of the front seat in order to elevate it. Dad said that when he took a turn, her foot would flop onto his leg like a dead fish. lol
This is the picture that made me yelp when Dad showed it to me this morning. It still makes me cringe.
This is what it looks like on the inside:
This picture was taken of a monitor, so excuse the fingerprints.
Here's my poor Paint rendition of what her foot and ankle *should* look like:
Unfortunately, there aren't any good x-rays out on the internets of normal feet, but here are a couple of links that give you an idea: Plastic foot; Illustration.
This is a side view of her ankle and foot.
This is a side view of a normal foot.
After surgery, her foot looks like this:
Eleven screws and one plate. Only one of those screws will most likely be removed.
The orthopedic surgeon said she did a really good job at breaking her ankle (we excel at everything!), but as long as she does her physical therapy and stays off of the foot for 8 weeks, then she shouldn't have any long term damage. Unfortunately, she's broken it so well that it's going to take awhile to heal all those bones, so she's going to be off of it for a long time. Luckily, her office is accommodating and they're trying to get a laptop to her so she can do more work from home (she did some paperwork today, but the majority of her job revolves around a computer). And again, this wouldn't be nearly as cool if she was in a bunch of pain or it was life-threatening in any way.
She's doing well- she's in good spirits and has a sense of humor about all of this. She stayed upstairs in their bedroom all day today, sitting in the recliner and reading books and stuff for work. I was on the computer downstairs, VPNing into work. She'd call me on the walkie-talkie if she needed help getting up to go to the bathroom or needed coffee or tea or new ice packs. It was pretty nice to have some conversations with her, although it was generally pretty uneventful.
Except for the fact that this morning, Dad showed me this pictures he's taken of this adventure. These are freaking AWESOME pictures and I just had to share them with y'all. They're behind the cut. They don't show any blood or anything, but they do show her broken ankle, so I'm warning y'all that they're a little graphic in nature and will probably make you yelp and grab your own ankle in sympathy.
Note: These wouldn't be nearly as entertaining if she was in serious pain, but she's really doing okay- she hasn't taken any pain meds since 5 a.m. today and she says that her shoulders/arms hurt from lifting herself up and using a walker just about, or more than, her ankle hurts.
halfawakemoon and jetaimemoncheri, you'll be impressed!My mom stepped backwards into a hole about 12-18 inches deep (my dad measured it later). Dad helped her up and took her to the ER, where she was immediately rushed into the back (those who know Atlanta hospitals, this is a feat!). These pics were taken in the hospital:
Mom laying on the hospital bed.
Note: Her left knee is straight in this picture. In other words, her foot should be pointing UP to the ceiling.
You can see the bruising. And I believe that white spot is bone.
Comparison to her other leg and foot. Her left foot *should* look like her right one and be pointing up towards the ceiling.
Fun fact: Dad drove her to the hospital and Mom was in the backseat. She put her leg on the center console of the front seat in order to elevate it. Dad said that when he took a turn, her foot would flop onto his leg like a dead fish. lol
This is the picture that made me yelp when Dad showed it to me this morning. It still makes me cringe.
This is what it looks like on the inside:
This picture was taken of a monitor, so excuse the fingerprints.
Here's my poor Paint rendition of what her foot and ankle *should* look like:
Unfortunately, there aren't any good x-rays out on the internets of normal feet, but here are a couple of links that give you an idea: Plastic foot; Illustration.
This is a side view of her ankle and foot.
This is a side view of a normal foot.
After surgery, her foot looks like this:
Eleven screws and one plate. Only one of those screws will most likely be removed.
The orthopedic surgeon said she did a really good job at breaking her ankle (we excel at everything!), but as long as she does her physical therapy and stays off of the foot for 8 weeks, then she shouldn't have any long term damage. Unfortunately, she's broken it so well that it's going to take awhile to heal all those bones, so she's going to be off of it for a long time. Luckily, her office is accommodating and they're trying to get a laptop to her so she can do more work from home (she did some paperwork today, but the majority of her job revolves around a computer). And again, this wouldn't be nearly as cool if she was in a bunch of pain or it was life-threatening in any way.
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Date: 2008-03-21 03:35 pm (UTC)