[Magdalen] Prayers for my knee

[Ginga Wilder]

Prayers for good clear treatment plan for your knee and thanksgivings that
you were not hurt worse.  Take care, Chad.

Ginga

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
>