I'm more broken than you

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Getting both knees xrayed on Monday along with Shingles Shot #2 and a blood draw. YAHTZEE!

[Greg]

Sounds like fun with Big Kaiser!

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

You know it! Only 5 blocks from my cave.

[Greg]

What was the verdict on the knee x-rays?

My knee must be getting otherwise how else could I climb into the attic off the top of the ladder? (My A/C is making some horrific noises) My knee came through, don't know about the A/C unit.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

The xray is a formality before they do the MRI. I should bug my Dr about that. I have danced this dance many times.

[cranefly]

It seemed a good idea at the time.

LCF and I have been debating doing a more challenging hike of late.  The hills out behind Shoreline Theater are nice, but they seldom give us cardio.  At least according to our fitbits.

So we decided to do Rancho San Antonio, something we used to do on occasion before my hip operations and balance issues.  LCF gave me a choice.  The standard hike or the ninja back entrance.  The ninja back entrance isn't well-known, so it's kinda nice that way.  But it's a steep trail from the get-go.  For whatever reason I chose the ninja back entrance.

It's a hot day, so we're careful to take water bottles.  LCF suggests I walk on the side of her away from the steep drop-off.  But it's a wide trail, and I do okay.  We're soon drenched, and my fitbit better give me cardio for this.  Because I push myself.  In fact, I suppose I kinda overdo it.

We get near the top where things level out and I'm beat.  I think I'm very close to heat exhaustion.  LCF suggests we push on a spell.  I tell her I've had it, but will wait while she pushes on alone.  She does, and I find a cool place in the shade and try to recover.  I drink a little water, but have no thirst, which is a dangerous sign.  I just need to rest, and cool down.  By the time LCF returns maybe 20 minutes later, I feel better, and I'm even drinking water.  It's a little hard standing up, but then I'm ready to venture down.  That should be easier, except for one thing.  It's easy to slip and fall on the loose dirt and pebbles.  It's happened in the past, and there's no warning.  The steeper parts are the most treacherous.  LCF walks beside me, and on bad slopes she has her arm out, so I can grab hold of it if I slip.  She also wants me to hold my water bottle in the hand hand opposite her, so I'll have a free hand to grab her with.

I'm descending with all due caution, and I only slip now and then.

Then it happens.  We're on a medium slope, certainly not the worst, and there's a slip.  But it's not me.  LCF goes down suddenly into a sitting position, feet shooting out front.  As she hits the ground, we both hear a snap.  As near as I can recall, this happens about 4:30 pm.  I help pull LCF gingerly to her feet.  It's painful, and she puts as little weight on the foot as possible.  I look around for branches to be used as crutches.  There are none.  I try to help support her, but she shoos me off.  With my balance issues, I'm not a reliable crutch.  We proceed down the trail very slowly, with me looking for branches.  Sometimes I see one, but it's out of reach on the steep down-slope to the left or on the steep up-slope to the right.  Finally we come to a relatively flat section where I can venture off the trail and get branches that sort of work as crutches.  We continue downward.  I go ahead and knock at the trailer at the bottom of the trail, but no one answers.  We were hoping the gate could be unchained and I could drive a ways up the trail to pick her up sooner.  No dice.

I figure she walked at least an hour on that foot, trying to do so as gingerly as possible.  Then I drove her home, where we did the Big Kaiser dance on the phone, and finally I just drove her to the Emergency Room on Homestead.  Eventually it got diagnosed as a broken fibula.

We got home about 9:30 pm.  It was an eventful outing.

[Greg]

Oy vey. We are all very delicate. I hope she's not in too much pain and there is a speedy recovery.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Man, I am so sorry. I hope LCF gets good drugs and heals fast

[King Bob]

Youch. Sorry to hear that.

I haven't been up to Rancho San Antonio in 25 years at least. I used to walk those trails a lot. It was nice to see the occasional deer or fox. Now I'm thinking maybe I should stay away.

[cranefly]

FYI, my fitbit reported 103 floors on that hike.  And I got 18 minutes of cardio (pulse topping out at 134).

LCF's foot/leg has so far just been carefully wrapped.  She's not to put any weight on it.  Today I take her in to Kaiser for a sports medicine doc to unwrap and evaluate and hopefully put something (a walking cast?) more protective on.

[Greg]

As long as you got your floors in, that's what really counts.

[Drunk Monk]

Yikes. Sorry to hear. How bad is the break?

[cranefly]

LCF was a bit concerned about what walking an hour on it might have done. This concern was exacerbated when the doc came in with the x-ray and said, "I've got some bad news for you." But then he said, you've got a broken bone. Well, hell, we knew that already. We both heard it snap. I'll ask LCF if it's okay to post the x-ray.

The break is near the bottom of the fibula where it curves. It's a near vertical break, and it stayed in place for the walk down. LCF sees the doc again tomorrow to make sure it's healing properly.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

No plate/pins = Great News

[Greg]

My right eye hurts a lot after sitting in front of the computer screen for a few minutes. I think I need a new prescription. Good thing Big Kaiser will give me their first available appointment in December.