Abe and Lindsey: January 2015

On Thursday Abe got out of his truck and told me he was calling it a day. I was a little surprised since it was early afternoon. I then noticed the limp! I asked him what happened and he told me that the fork lift free fell while he was standing on it. He had one foot over the fork and the other on the pallet. When the fork lift stopped after 6 feet, his right foot broke through the pallet (scraping his leg to his upper thigh) and his left ankle took the impact. Abe told me it rolled.

We immediately elevated, iced, and wrapped his ankle. The more I thought about how he fell, the more I felt it had to be broken. Abe dismissed me every time I mentioned it and tried to convince me it was only a bad sprain. Even when friends came over during the weekend he said the same thing. Abe shuffled around the house and church claiming his ankle didn't hurt all that bad.

Finally, after his ankle was the size of a personal watermelon, I couldn't take it anymore. I told him it wasn't worth the risk to not go in for an x-ray. I gave him a good argument and he agreed to go in for an x-ray, but would not go to the clinic I wanted him to go to in Reno. Because it would be very costly for an x-ray here, he agreed to go to the urgent care in Fernely that has an x-ray machine.

On Monday we filled the hour wait with a few games of ticket to ride. Then it was time for his x-ray. Abe even had the doctor convinced his ankle couldn't be broken, but when the proof came, I won. But really I didn't win, because the verdict put a cramp in our style!

The doctor could see fracture lines in his talus bone, but couldn't tell us how bad it was. Abe was then referred to two doctors. One of which was the clinic I wanted him to go to in the first place!! A very kind nurse, that laughed at all of Abe's jokes, put a splint on Abe and they sent us on our way. Abe was told to put absolutely no weight on his foot. None!

Tuesday, the doctor closest to us called and left a message. Unfortunately, when I called back I was told the doctor would be out until the next week, but it was very urgent that Abe was seen as soon as possible. That meant going to Reno... to the clinic I had first suggested.

On Thursday we went up to Reno. Abe was given more x-rays and was told that chances of surgery were high, and that the Talus bone has the tendency to die if not dealt with correctly. Great! A fabulous lady then put Abe in a hard cast to his knee. Unfortunately his previous splint had a allowed his Achilles to already shorten and she had to push on Abe's ticklish foot, a lot, to get it in the right position.

After a quick bite at BJ's, I drove Abe over to get his CT scan. It was a short wait and then back to the clinic. We waited at the clinic as they waited for the CT scans to arrive. Everyone that was helping Abe stayed long to make sure everything was taken care of. Finally they called us back to show us the results. There were four obvious fractures through his talus and a piece of bone broken off but still close.

The verdict: No weight, and in a hard cast for 8 weeks. Followed by four weeks in a boot with weight. Then another four weeks in and out of the boot. That means an injury that happened in January will barely be healed at the beginning of June. Craziness! And that is contingent upon him following strict instructions! Which I am pretty sure everyone has their doubts about, because they would be giving him specific instructions and he fought them every step! We will see what happens.

Monday: Abe making sure his foot didn't stink, and then into the splint.

Thursday: The bruising has traveled up his let and has really pooled in his ankle/foot. Still swollen, but less so.

On Monday when we got home and told the boys Daddy's foot was broken, Sawyer laughed. Thursday we purchased Abe a peg leg so he can work a little better and have his hands free. Pretty neat invention! Although it gave a few of his customers a scare!