Fun at Harborview Medical Center (and Adventures in the ER!)

If you have to break your ankle in a bunch of places, have "hardware store" surgery, a heeby-jeeby-inducing hospitalization, and a long recuperation, it helps to have this man as your doctor!

This is Dr. Benirschke -- and I mean THIS is Dr. B! He's one of the top foot and ankle surgeons in the world, but he interacts with his patients more like a long-time buddy than some high and mighty, egotistical doctor. He was on time to our appointment this morning but we were warned about "Dr. B Time" before we met him a few weeks ago It turns out that Dr. B. just loves connecting with his patients -- talking with them, laughing with them (how does he get so many people in pain to laugh?!), but more than anything teaching and educating them. He is filled to the brim with knowledge and he likes nothing better than sharing what he knows.

(Yes, I know I need to shave my leg, but my foot was covered in a splint for the past few weeks... and is again.)

So today the soft splint came off...

and the hard cast went on.

(Yes, I'll shave! Sheesh!)

Oddly enough, Dr. B asked me to turn onto my stomach when he put the cast on. You know why? Control issues!! No kidding! He might not have known me for long, but he does know me well! I'm a project manager; of course I have control issues! I was relieved to hear, actually, that he asks all his patients to turn on their bellies when he wraps the cast. Turns out people tend to want to "help" him (albeit subconsciously) by moving their foot this way or that, so not allowing patients to watch allows him to move the foot into the exact position he wants. And he definitely moved mine into a whole different position.

This is the most it's hurt since I was in the hospital! Tonight I'll break into the prescription pain meds for the first time since the day I got home from the hospital because this really HURTS!

Actually, the most painful part of the day was when Dr. B. removed the under-skin sutures where he clipped my tight calf muscle. Fortunately, I didn't expect such pain and it was over quickly... but oh. my. god!

Yes, I forgave him for causing me agony and I still adore him.

Selecting a cast color was quite the conundrum! These were my color choices:

Pink (which you can't see) was out because it looked too juvenile, I liked the green and the blue dots on the packages but the tech warned me that they were actually "pretty gross," and black couldn't be signed. It was purple or red. Or in our family, WSU Cougars' crimson, or UW Husky's purple. With apologies to Peter -- and a promise that should I ever break a bone again (oh god... the thought!), I'll get a red crimson cast -- I decided to go with purple, more because I like the color than as an "I love the UW Huskies" statement... although as a mother of a Husky, of course I love them. Exactly as much as I love the Cougars.

(This rivalry will probably be around for the rest of our lives!)

Amazingly enough, "Dr. B time" was working in our favor this morning, and by 11:00 we were cleared to go home!

Until I said those fateful words as I got off the bed: "I've had this annoying pain around my lung. It hurts when I cough or sniff. I'm sure it's probably just a muscle ache..."

Before I knew it, I was downstairs at the famous/infamous Harborview ER (right next to a shackled convict!), being checked out for a possible post-surgery embolism! I had it all -- EKG, x-rays, and of course a blood test (called a d-dimer). Amazingly enough, this time a nurse was able to find a vein on the first try! First I told her I loved her. Then I asked if we could take a picture of the first nurse that's been able to find my vein on the first try in a very, very long time! She thought we were crazy, but complied.

By 3:00 the test results were in and we were given assurance that my pain is skeleto-muscular, just as I suspected. I'm definitely moving in odd ways these days, reaching over my knee walker, twisting and picking up my laptop from the bedside table, and just being in bed too much. I am glad that we played it safe because really, an embolism would not be good at all. Not at all.

And now I think I'll take prescription narcotics for the first time in weeks and try to get some rest. (Those muscle spasms in my ankle as I fall asleep are torture!)