Sunday, January 24, 2010

I am thankful for....

So last night, Becca dumped me to go to a party, which left me all alone on a Saturday night. Truth be told, I don't mind, but last night I felt that I should be social and adventurous. Really, all I wanted to do was watch a movie and eat cake, but no, I decided that I should be more fun, more spontaneous, more exciting. So I conned a friend into going to the House of Bounce with me. Picture a huge room full of bouncy toys, those huge blowup bouncy things from the county fairs and the rich kids birthday parties. A whole room full of them. Every kid's dream come true. This is where it is probably important to mention that I am no longer 10. I am 30. And it is high time for me to start acting like a 30-year-old. Because as I heard my ankle snap as I fell off a bouncy maze, I was instantly reminded that my body is no longer 10, no longer as flexible and as bendy and as light and as close to the ground as it used to be. As I fell and my friend and I heard the snap, immediately my thoughts turned to nursing school. They make you quit the semester and hold you back an entire semester if you break anything. And as I fell and as I heard the snap in my ankle, this is about the time when I started going into hysterics over nursing school. Which brings us to the title of this post...things I am thankful for....

I am thankful that Melanie was with me. She is pretty much amazing in every way. Since I could not put any weight on my leg, she figured out how to get us out of the bouncy maze from hell and actually had to pull me out over a large hill. She pulled me out! If she had not been there, I would still be stuck in the depths of bouncy hell. She let me wear her shoes and she wore my horrible uncomfortable heels. She helped me hop out and stood by my side as I eventually decided to crawl out of the place, scaring all the small children. She took me to the ER and waited with me and got me home and into the house and so much more. She is super woman. I am going to make her a cake. And a cape. And Becca thinks I should make her the whole outfit with the underwear on the outside. Though I don't think Melanie would go for that. But she would go for the cake...and the cape.

I am thankful that Lauren answered the phone. Here I am, freaking out. I could move my foot but I could not put any weight on it. I didn't know what to do. Lauren, one of my med school friends, did know what to do and told us to go straight to the ER to get x-rays. She also told me to stop freaking out about nursing school!

I am thankful for the nurses and x-ray techs that got me straight back to the x-ray area so that we would know right away if I had broken myself. No waiting. A pretty impressive feat for a Saturday night in an emergency room.

I am thankful for the x-ray tech who leaned over and whispered in my ear after the x-ray that there was nothing noticeably broken. Which is a huge no-no, but something I needed desperately. I was so freaked out that my blood pressure was through the roof. The bottom number was 123...it should not be above 90.

I am thankful that somehow, even though I don't drink milk or eat dark leafy veggies or take calcium pills, that my bones are super strong and did not break. Let me tell you, I was praying really hard and obviously it worked. My prayers were answered. My bones are amazing. I don't know what we heard crack but it was not my bones.

I am thankful that my sister's friend lives in the basement of our house. My parents are out of town this week and she is able to help me and drive me to school and take care of the dogs and go to the store and buy me cake and make me a cake so that I could still watch a movie and eat cake. Now perhaps it will be an entire cake, but who's keeping track?

I am thankful for Becca for being my personal slave. Bringing me things, plugging my phone in, turning my noise maker on, bringing me breakfast, water, cake, my backpack, my icepack, my drink, and it has only been half of a day!

I am thankful for Adam who just got back into town and is free all next week and has volunteered to shuttle me to and from school all week cuz I can't drive and I HAVE to go to school.

I am thankful for educational leave. And health insurance. And for FMLA. I don't have to work anymore cuz I am on educational leave but the days I did pick up for work, I will be covered by FMLA. And even though I am on educational leave, I work for such an amazing company, I still have full health benefits including ER visits, x-rays and crutches.

I am thankful for Alex for hanging out with me in the basement and bringing me lunch and dinner and ice-cream and more than likely much more ice-cream as the week progresses!

I am thankful for BOTH my ankles. This crutches thing SUCKS. I have a severe sprain and I am not supposed to put any weight on it for at least a week. Not that I can right now cuz it hurts like a mother. I can't believe how hard it is to do things without both legs. I keep looking at my other ankle in awe over how amazing it is. I am sooo glad that this is just a temporary problem and very soon I will be able to have the full use of both my legs again.

Oh, and I am very thankful for drugs. Shout out to ibuprofen and Tylenol both of which do not have any nasty side effects and can help make it all better.

Moral of this story...number 1. House of Bounce=bad. The nurses said it should be burned down due to the huge amount of people who come to the ER injured from there. Number 2: I am 30-years-old. It is high time I start acting like it. From now on, it is movies and cake. No more of this adventurous crap. Number 3: I realized how much I don't want to move somewhere new. I still will but when I do, what am I going to do without my sister and my friends who are all bending over backwards to help me? I am so freaking lucky. Lucky that I have strong bones and even luckier that I have such amazing friends and an amazing little sister. Thank you for taking care of me.






4 comments:

Kristine said...

Oh Autumn you crack me up! I can totally see you crawling out of the house of bounce on your hands and knees, half laughing - half swearing freaking out if the whole dang place is staring at you, but not caring in the least.

I'm so glad your ankle didn't break! I'm sorry you have to use crutches :( Love you hun. If I were near, I'd come watch a movie and eat said cake with you, well, no - I'd bring my own cake. xoxo

Unknown said...

Holy cow! That sucks! But I'm also thankful that it's not broken, and that you have people there to help you. Now you have every good reason and opportunity to eat your cake. Hope you feel better soon!

Amber said...

Wow! I'm so glad that you didn't break anything. Postponing nursing school would stink!! Wish I was there to help you out! And wish I was there to eat cake and watch movies with you!

Heather said...

I think you should quite nursing school and start writing for magazines. You are hugely entertaining!
Off to bed now that I've read my good night blog!