[Magdalen] Prayers for my knee

[Charles Wohlers]

Thanks to all. Ice was applied at the hospital, and recommended, but I 
haven't been using it. Swelling is way down, and (surprisingly?) no pain at 
all. At this point, more inconvenience (and lots of that) than anything 
else. Now I just gotta figure out how to take a shower.

Little Morrisville manages to support an orthopedics group with 6 orthopedic 
surgeons, so I should (hopefully) be in good hands.

Chad Wohlers
grateful for the presence of ski resorts,
Woodbury, VT USA
chadwohl at satucket.com



-----Original Message----- 
From: Jay Weigel
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2014 12:21 PM
To: magdalen at herberthouse.org
Subject: Re: [Magdalen] Prayers for my knee

After 48 hours ice packs are pretty much useless. The general rule of thumb
is ice for the first 24, alternating ice and heat for the second, and heat
thereafter. HOWEVER.....that's even beginning to be questioned. While ice
does take down the swelling, heat increases circulation, which in turn
removes damaged cells and toxins from the area. So some PTs and trainers
are now using the alternating ice/heat from the beginning and for the first
48 hours.

On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 12:14 PM, Susan Hagen <susanvhagen at gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh no!  that sounds awful.  Prayers that you can bear the wait and the
> frustration, that the surgeon can fix this completely and quickly.  In
> the meantime remember that ice packs are your friend.
>
> Susan
>
> On Sun, Oct 12, 2014 at 3:33 PM, Charles Wohlers
> <charles.wohlers at verizon.net> wrote:
> > Went hiking Friday, 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, and 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
>
>
>
> --
> Before enlightenment pay bills, do laundry.  After enlightenment pay
> bills, do laundry.
>