[Magdalen] Prayers for my knee

[Judy Fleener]

Praying, Chad for you and your knee.
Judy

On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 2:48 PM, Lynn Ronkainen <ichthys89 at comcast.net>
wrote:

> prayers for a quick and complete recovery Chad!
> Lynn
>
> website: www.ichthysdesigns.com
>
> When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have not
> a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave me."
> attributed to Erma Bombeck
>
> Thomas Merton writes, “People may spend their whole lives climbing the
> ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is
> leaning against the wrong wall.”
>
> "What you seek is seeking you." - Rumi
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Charles Wohlers" <charles.wohlers at verizon.net>
> Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2014 6:36 PM
> To: <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
> Subject: [Magdalen] Prayers for my knee
>
>
>  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
>>
>
>


-- 
Judy Fleener, ObJN
Western Michigan