…the harder they fall…

 

A tale of much pain and many blessings.

 

I took an epic tumble a couple of weeks ago. EPIC. Dislocated my right should.

Lia was coming up for a week’s visit before Easter and I was scurrying around tidying up and getting things ready. I was in my craft room, which is so cluttered I’m surprised I’ve haven fallen before this. I was picking my way around the piles of craft stuff and fell against a set of plastic drawers on wheels against the wall by the door. I slammed into the drawers and heard a loud snap. Then I continued on down to the floor. From that point on came the pain and blessings. Throughout the entire episode I was alternating between sobs, hysterical crying and calling on the Lord for deliverance. I prayed out loud. Shouting, most of it.

 

I couldn’t move my right shoulder without extreme anguish.

Blessings: I landed on the floor on my left side. I didn’t go into shock. I landed just inside the doorway. I was able to inch my way across the carpeting from the craft room to the dining room where the closest phone was using my left elbow, knee and toes.

 

It took me an hour. Once I got to the dining room, the only way to reach the phone was by the cord dangling down from the base on the kitchen counter. I could not lift my right arm to reach the cord and I couldn’t reach across my body to use my left arm as I was pretty much on my stomach by the time. I couldn’t flip over either because of the extreme pain.

Blessings: The cord was dangling low enough to reach. God gave me the strength to manually lift my right arm so my fingers could touch the cord.

 

I caught the cord and let my arm fall back down, pulling the whole phone base and phone. I lay there thanking and praising God that I had gotten that far. I called Marvin at the lab. I was a bit incoherent, but he knew I had fallen and that he needed to come home. Everyone asked me later why on earth I didn’t call 911. Because I WANTED MY HUSBAND. I figured I had been in so much pain for over an hour that I could handle another 30 minutes. I also knew that I was in the best hands possible with my Savior and Holy Spirit there on the floor with me.

 

Marvin drove VERY fast.

Blessings: Traffic was cooperative. He didn’t get a ticket. He didn’t get into an accident.

 

He got home and called 911. The EMTs were fabulous. They had to move me and it was SO painful and they were reassuring me and trying to comfort me. Since they didn’t know if my shoulder was dislocated or broken, there wasn’t a lot they could do except give me pain shots and try to stabilize my position.

 

The ER staff was wonderful. I was still crying a lot and wasn’t aware how many were in the room with me. I said “If anyone there is a Christian, would you pray for me?” A wonderful nurse named Lonnie said “I’ll pray for you.” He immediately came to the other side and held my left hand and prayed for me. Huge blessing there. The biggest blessing of all was not too long after that, Marv walked into the room! They let Marv be there!!

 

They ended up having to cut off my clothes in order to put in a catheter and then attach all the little electrode thingies for an EKG and whatever. I lost a nice pair of slacks and a blouse I liked, but I told them to do whatever they had to.

 

The rest of that day was a series of xrays, CTs, etc. They had to put me completely out for that. I woke up with a sling and a neck brace. They didn’t know the extent of damage and were concerned that at some point I had injured my neck or spine.

Blessings: No breaks or tears to the shoulder area. No damage to neck or spine.

 

They set the shoulder and kept me overnight.

Blessings: They kept right on top of the pain. There were no questions when I asked for pain medication. I discovered that dilaudid is the best pain med I’ve ever had in the hospital. Very fast acting.

 

I got home and was able to keep on top of the pain during the day with ibuprofen. And the next day Lia arrived. She was a tremendous help, and even though we weren’t able to do much because of my injury, we had a good time together.

 

A friend pointed out to me that with the mercy and grace of God I was a lot stronger than I thought. And she’s right. I am.

 

I’m still having a lot of pain and eating with my left hand is awkward. My legs (especially the left) and knees are a mass of bruises. But I got through it! I’m still here! God is good!!