falling... part three

while i was in the hospital, i had made a flurry of calls and texts to people - one of whom was my mom. we decided to have her fly out to help take care of me. after my boyfriend brought me home and made sure i was comfortable and cared for, he headed out to the airport to pick her up. it was great to have her around, especially because she cleaned up and restocked my shelves. and it meant my boyfriend could go back to work the next day while my mom stayed with me.

she came with me to my primary care physician for a quick check and referral to a few doctors who could fix my broken nose. and she came with me to the ENT a few days later, too. i was pretty nervous to see him because i didn't like my options - i am not a huge fan of being knocked out with anesthesia (even if its only minor surgery!), but i'm also not a fan of having a crooked nose! the doctor finally came in, gave me a quick look over, and said that the good news was that my fracture was not severe. my nose would probably heal slightly crooked, but he said it would be subtle and it wouldn't affect my breathing or sinuses at all. BUT it would be crooked. he suggested that i have the surgery to fix the break, but said that ultimately it was my choice. i was happy for a moment - i could choose! and then he said that i had to choose right then. "right this second?" i asked, i couldn't believe it. "yes," he said, "we have to schedule the surgery right away, so you have to decide right now." in that moment i was overwhelmed. and burst into tears. yep, full on water works in 1.2 seconds.

my tears seemed to soften the doctor a bit, because he said that he would give me 5 minutes to think it over while he saw another patient. i was thankful, but it was hard to think out all of the pros and cons in such a short time - especially because i kept being distracted by how little time i had! in retrospect it doesn't seem like such a difficult decision, but i just was so resistant to the surgery because of the anesthesia. eventually, the doctor returned and i told him i would undergo the surgery (although i was thinking i could back out if i felt like i needed to!). i think he could tell by my face that i wasn't 100% committed, but he gave me the information i needed and i went to the front desk to make my appointment.

i had to wait a few days for the surgery, and i actually healed quite quickly in the meantime. i can understand why i needed to schedule the surgery right away. i still was pretty rough to look at, my boyfriend affectionately referring to me as "stacy-stein". but i continued to heal and got my strength back a little more each day. about a week after falling down the stairs, i returned to my primary care physician to get my stitches taken out, and after that i looked even more like myself!

the fallout (part 2)

thankfully, the neighbor's husband stayed with me until the ambulance arrived, and even said, oh, you're in luck, the EMTs are cute! when help arrived. and he wasn't wrong! the young and attractive paramedics came over to me and assessed my condition before helping me stand up and walk down a few remaining stairs to the stretcher. i was a little embarrased when i stood up and immediately realized my pants were going to fall off if i did not take a moment to adjust them. i think having my pants fall off would be the only thing that could have topped that scenario!

it's a pretty short ambulance ride to the hospital from my apartment, and the EMTs used that time to clean me up a bit, take my vitals, and stab my fingers a few times. he tried to take my blood sugar levels using some of the blood on my forehead, but for some reason that didn't work. so he drew some blood from my finger instead. but apparently all of my blood was busy rushing out my head and face, because he couldn't get enough blood out of my finger to test! i had to wiggle my arm a bit, but eventually he was able to run the test... which came up 0. i'm not hypoglycemic or diabetic, but we were both pretty sure my glucose level was not actually 0. so we had to go through the whole thing again using a different finger (yes, arm wiggling and all). eventually he got a number that was a bit more realistic - thank goodness!

we made it to the hospital (and the EMT even helped pull back my tangled, bloody hair), and i was wheeled into what would be my home for a few hours. the nurse told me that i could not use my cell phone until i saw the doctor, so i just sat there alone until he arrived. he stitched me up (and did an incredible job, i should add!) and told me that i would need and MRI to check my face for any fractures. When he was putting in the stitches (about a dozen!) and glue on my forehead, the doctor moved my call button - so when he left, i was stranded in the bed, hooked to a bunch of equipment, a bit dizzy, and out of the reach of my cell phone. the low point of this entire episode was definitely laying there alone for 45 minutes without being able to call anyone i care about, or even get ahold of the nurses for help. :(

eventually the nurse returned and she was able to rummage through my purse and give me my cell phone. (extra thanks to my neighbor for gathering all of my belongings which had been flung all helter skelter around the stairs outside my apartment) i was able to get ahold of the important people: the boyfriend, mom, my work (by this time i was over an hour late!) the next few hours involved a few MRI scans, the arrival of my boyfriend, and good news/bad news from the doctor - no brain damage, no facial fracture, but a slight nasal fracture. overall, i was SO LUCKY that the damage was not worse!

i asked my boyfriend if i would scare the small children in the waiting room as we left the hospital. his response? "there aren't any small children in the waiting room" not exactly the boost of confidence i was hoping for...