Seeing as today is my knee injury anniversary, I thought it would be appropriate to share another amazing injury story on this day.
It all started a week ago last Thursday. I had just gotten my bike seat adjusted and was looking forward to a great ride into work. I headed down a main street sidewalk and after about 3/4 of a mile, tragedy struck. I was crossing the sidewalk at the freeway off ramp. Unfortunately, there was also a car trying to turn at that corner at the same time. I tried to stop and he didn’t see me, so we collided at the corner. He stopped immediately and was apologizing profusely. He helped me and my bike get up and promised to pay for any damages. An off-duty nurse who witnessed the accident also stopped to check on me as did an off-duty firefighter. The firefighter called in the accident and within minutes EMTs and a police officer were on the scene. The driver gave me his mailing information to cover any cost to me and I called into to work to let them know what happened.
I talked to the police officer to tell her what happened and then she went to talk to the driver while I went inside the ambulance. Aside from the pain in my leg that was identified as a road rash, some bruises, a headache (I was wearing a helmet) and a toe pain, I did feel okay. I decided against going to the hospital because I really thought I was fine. One of the EMTs took my information and I signed a waiver about not being taken in. They also took my vitals twice and continually asked how I was feeling and if I was sure I didn’t want to go to to get checked out. It’s amazing to me that I walked away with so little damage. After the EMTs finished checking me out, the police officer came to get my information and gave me the police report number.
I was then led to the other ambulance vehicle where they had loaded up my bike. The police officer wrote down the serial number of the bike and handed me my bag that was on it. The ambulance workers again asked if I was okay, which I really thought I was, and drove me to work down the street.
I arrived at work and the EMTs carried my bike over to a tree where I locked it up. I went in the building and ended up arriving only 25 minutes later than I supposed to. It was the first day of the grand reopening celebration of the store after a month-long remodel and I was one of three cashiers that morning. Throughout the morning other team members and managers came to check on me and learned what happened. One of my managers asked if it would be alright if her husband picked me up after my shift in his truck to take me and the bike home. The bike was in really bad shape and there was no way I could walk it home. I said yes and she called him. He would be there at 2. That manager kept checking up on me and made sure I knew I could sit down to rest if I needed to but I didn’t feel the need.
Before long it was time to head out and my manager’s husband took me and my bike home. I put ointment on my road rash and really did feel fine. I got out what debris I could, but there was still a lot in the wound. A friend took my bike into the shop to get fixed. I had no where else to go that day so I just took it easy.
I went to another job the next day and again was feeling just fine. That afternoon I did go to a walk-in clinic to make sure I really was okay. I had to wait an hour because I didn’t have an appointment, but I eventually got in to see a physician assistant (just like Diyya on Royal Pains). She checked me out all over. I still had a headache and also had arm and shoulder pain in addition to the leg and toe pains. She had an X-ray taken of my toe and it ended up being fractured. It’s amazing that only one baby toe was injured in the process. It was buddy tapped to the toe next to it.
Next came the painful part. She could see that there was quite a bit of debris in my road rash and it was prone to infection so it would have to be cleaned out. I remember this process well when I cut my knee! Since that was a smaller area, they numbed it first but that would not happen today. It actually didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would and the sponging after the scrubbing felt great. In not too much time my wound was cleaned and new ointment and a wrap and bandage were applied. She advised me to ice my shoulders and arms if I needed to, continue to wrap my leg twice a day and follow up with my doctor within a week. The nurse gave me some bandages, a wrap and some ointment to carry me over a few days.
I continued wrapping my leg until Sunday, but by then the wrap wasn’t staying on and the wound wasn’t draining any more. I asked a friend who is a nurse and another person who had had this injury before, and they both said that if it’s not draining any more I wouldn’t need to wrap it anymore. This was great news because it was annoying. It did get me a lot of attention at church, though. Lots of people were asking about my newest accessory.
On Monday I called my doctor’s office and got an appointment for the afternoon. She advised me to keep my toe wrapped for three weeks since it was first wrapped, which will be the end of the month. She told me to keep wearing a hard toed shoe and if it still bothers me after three weeks to come and see her again. She said it was fine to be wrap-free, but to keep putting ointment on the road rash. With that brief visit, I was all set.
Now it has been a full week since I saw the doctor and 11 days since my accident. I am amazed at how much better the road rash looks. I continue to put ointment on it. I still have bruises on my leg which are very annoying and my toe still has pain on the top but is still tapped to the other one.
Overall, I feel extremely grateful that I wasn’t more badly hurt than I was. My angels must have been there protecting me. One bad thing to come out of this is that the police officer called me the day after the accident to let me know that I would be getting a ticket. Apparently it’s illegal to bike on a sidewalk in Milwaukee County. I paid the ticket because I didn’t know that and I have no energy to contest it.
I was back on my bike within a week of recovery. I got it back from the shop the day after the accident. This whole incident proves that you never can be too careful. Always wear a helmet and since I have to ride in traffic I am extra cautious.
It really makes you think. Life can be going okay and then you get hit by a car. It really puts things in perspective.
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