Trail Ride DISASTER!! (Part Two)

Click here to read Part One.

 So, I left off with "we unloaded Pippi and headed to the ER." Miranda stayed in Kevin's truck as she was already settled there, and after checking with a dear friend, whose husband is a doctor, we picked an ER and I followed them there.
 Kevin ran in and came back with a wheelchair, and Miranda gingerly climbed down from the truck, and was rolled in. There were three people waiting who were filling out the necessary (?) forms for one of them, and I tried to rush Miranda's paperwork so that we would beat them in line. No such luck, because Miranda did not know her Social Security number, and so we had to look it up. Dang!!! Competitive to the end? or just trying to get much needed relief for daughter? You be the judge.

 At this point it was about 7:15pm. The kick occurred around 5:30. Miranda still had not had any drugs, or been seen by a doctor. We were wheeled back to check in with the intake nurse around 7:30, blood pressure, height and weight, sign forms with second nurse, and then FINALLY moved back to Bay 3. (At this point Kevin and Donna left and promised to check on Pippi, and feed her if she was cooled down.)

 The patient that beat us to the punch was next to us, and did not even really need immediate care. (She had an issue with a toenail due to mismanaged  diabetes, no actual pain she told me). The doctor saw that patient first, and I was quite close to re-enacting the Viking version of this scene:

"Give my Daughter some drugs!!"

Anyway the nurses allowed her to stay in the wheelchair after seeing the, at this point, badly swollen ankle. Finally the Doctor came over and stated almost immediately that the leg was broken, "you have all the clinical signs of a broken leg." Miranda was moved over onto the bed, received an IV and drugs,  and the XRay Tech came and took shots at several angles. The Xray Tech was quite nice, and it was a blessing not to have to be moved for the Xrays.

And then we waited, and waited. I was starving, my neck was starting to hurt and a headache was coming on. I needed to eat something or a migraine was sure to follow. My cell vibrated and my dear friend, said she was coming in with Sweet Ice Tea for us. It was a minor miracle.

Miranda was not allowed to drink anything in case she needed surgery, so she was now suffering from pain and thirst. Marla had also brought me a Cinnamon Roll; I LOVE HER!!! So now Miranda also got to see me eat pure yummyness. Nope, I did not leave to eat it, I ate it right in front of her. Cause that's how I roll!!

We waited some more, and then.....................we waited some more still. Marla stuck around and kept us company, and offered to give Miranda a ride home when the time came since she has a Van which would be easier to load into (I drive the Liberal Flagship, the Prius. :)

Both the Tibia and the Fibula was broken, right above the ankle joint.

Not Miranda's foot. LOL

When the ER doc. came and told Both the Tibia and the Fibula was broken, right above the ankle joint. I am sure she thought our reaction was somewhat underwhelming. For at that point we had collected ourselves and were gathering courage. They gave Miranda some more drugs and then started the excruciating process of applying a fiberglass splint. (We had tall girl crutches at home, from when Miranda was dealing with her Auto Immune decease.) And then we went home where Hubby and Son were waiting up for us. It was now 11:30. Hubby helped place Miranda on the couch, we elevated the leg, and iced, took the ER drugs and tried to get some rest. Not much rest was had.

On Monday I called, and after using some intimidation, were given an appointment with a local Orthopedic Doc at one o'clock. The same OD that Miranda has babysat for a few times, and his son is Son's friend.   The Nurse took us to an exam room, found Miranda's Electronic records and made sure the Xray's were on the monitor. When she saw them she uttered "yikes." That is never a good sign.

 The OD could not have been any kinder or showed more concern. Sure, that may be because he knew us, but his warmth and caring was very welcome. He looked at the Xrays and said that this break was more than he was comfortable dealing with. We needed a specialist. Oh Goody! The bones were broken, and were set off the ankle. The ankle joint was not where it should be, and Doc was surprised the bones had not come through the skin. Doc was pretty sure the ankle would require surgery, and talked of pins, plates and rods.

 He was annoyed that he was not called the night before, so that he could have consulted then. Knowing Miranda's medical history, he recalled her battle with Henoch Schonlein Purpura (HSP), he recommended we call "Nationwide Childrens Hospital" in Columbus to see if they would take her on. She is generally too old now, but they will always treat her regarding any new episodes with HSP. It was worth a shot, but they were unwilling to take her.

 Our next bet was a local Orthopedic Surgeon, and he was contacted. He looked at the Xrays, and stated that he would do a "closed reduction." That means setting the bones.

An appointment was made for Wednesday when they would put Miranda in a Twilight sleep, and yank her leg until the bones lined up again. Considering Miranda's Immune history the idea of doing a procedure without leaving metal behind, and without cutting, was the best option.

Home we went; new drugs as the old one contained Codeine, which we told the hospital makes Miranda sick. We figured it out when she vomited. Seems they thought, why do they do that?, that a synthetic Codeine would be okay. Insert loud cursing here!

Doc warned us that Miranda's pain would be bad, to keep leg elevated and iced, and to not be shocked if she became ill again. Seems the constant pain, and throbbing, and the break could make her physically ill. It did, and Tuesday was rough.

More to come...................