[Magdalen] Prayers for my knee

[Charles Wohlers]

Went hiking yesterday, up nearby Elmore Mt. It’s getting towards the end of foliage season, and Elmore has an old fire tower at the top from which one can get great views. It’s a fairly short (1.2 mi) and popular hike.

Got up to the top with no particular difficulty, climbed the fire tower, and took pictures. Was on my way down, maybe 0.2 miles travelled, when I slipped in some mud and heard a little “crack” in my knee. There was pain, but it went away fairly quickly, but I couldn’t straighten my right leg out. I did finally get up to my feet but quickly discovered that if I bent my right leg at all, I couldn’t put any weight on it, or down I went. It was fine as long as it was perfectly straight, but any bending – forget it. I had a hiking pole, so figured I could go down OK as long as I kept my leg perfectly straight. Easier said than done, and I fell a number of times. Finally a member of a Barre school group which was going down at the same time offered to call the Rangers (this is a state park), and I said fine. I continued to go down slowly, falling often, for about 1/2 mile, until I saw the two rangers coming up. They started to accompany me down, but after I fell two more times, one of the rangers said she thought she should call the fire dept. to get a litter for me, which she did. We sat & talked for 20-30 minutes until they came, along with an EMT, who put a simple splint on my leg. They eventually got me in the litter (which had a single huge tire for support, and down the mountain we went. Lying in the litter, I had a wonderful view of the colorful leaves above me. At this point there were 10 people helping little ol’ me, all of them volunteers except the rangers. It was only ~1/4 mile to a point where the ambulances (there were 2) could be brought. They put me in to the Morrisville ambulance, which was better equipped, and away we went to Copley Hospital in Morrisville, which was only ~5 miles away. 

Once at Copley I was seen almost immediately – in fact, I don’t think I was ever left alone for more than 5 minutes before somebody came in to do something, ask questions, whatever. I quickly got x-rays, and very soon after that the doctor told me I had a torn quadriceps tendon. This is what connects the top muscle in your thigh to the knee. Which is why I couldn’t lift my leg or walk on it unless it was perfectly straight - the muscle wasn’t connected any more. If the tear was at the muscle end of the tendon, I’d just have rehab and it would be better in ~10 weeks. OTOH, if the tear was at the bone end, that means surgery, and a faster recovery. They got me a fancy splint and crutches, and I was discharged after only an hour or two there. I have an appt. on Thursday with an orthopedic practice to see what happens next. 

Now Copley Hospital is just a wee little community hospital, but the one thing they do often and well is orthopedics. This is because they are the local hospital for Stowe and its ski resorts.

So now I’m at home with the splint, which has been great to have – I haven’t fallen once since I had it and can walk around (although slowly), go up & down stairs (also slowly), etc. There’s no pain and I find I don’t really need the crutches, altho they can be helpful. However, since it keeps my leg perfectly straight, I can’t put a sock or shoe on my right foot – Lee gets to do that. And I can’t drive or even sit in the front passenger seat, and it’s “interesting when I sit down or get up. Also, obviously no more hiking this year (not good), can’t do much in the garden (also not good), and I don’t get to stack the firewood we got delivered Thursday (good). So I sit around a lot, work on the computer, read, etc. 

So (after all that – has anyone read this far?) prayers requested that my knee hears quickly, I don’t injure it more, and I survive being cooped up for the next several weeks.

Chad Wohlers
Woodbury, VT USA
chadwohl at satucket.com