…it’s all fun and games until your kneecaps end up in your thighs…

 

Gulf Shores Indoor Trampoline Park Injury

Daddy’s Knees will never be the same again. {Our new normal begins}

 

Everyone wants to have fun.  Everyone wants to have fun with their children.  You think you are being a good parent, spending time with your child, having fun- and the next thing you know your whole life changes.  Or maybe you let your child attend a birthday party or church event, or just hang out with their friends at your local indoor trampoline park- you get that dreaded call, and suddenly you aren’t sure if your child is able to go back to school again this year! Exaggerations? Nope, real local and recent stories.

My family’s life has been turned upside down since August 28th, 2016.  I will start this blog from the beginning of our personal story and continue to post progress and updates.  But in the meantime, please email me: [email protected] Please send me your stories and pictures and I will also share how your life was affected by what you thought was just going to be a little fun.

It is my hope that my sharing the dangers, people will think twice and not have to go through what we have.

~Alisha

Below is a picture of the first time my son saw his Daddy after the trampoline injury occurred. He had talked Daddy into going that day and still feels a lot of guilt for what happened.  Not his fault at all, but in his little mind all he can think of is how he begged Daddy to take him somewhere that Mommy said “No.” to.

Is Mommy mean? Nope. (Well sometimes…) But we had already had a Gulf Shores Trampoline Park injury in our family only a few months prior to this one- and that is where my WHOLE story will begin.  With my sister Tiffany.

Injured at Trampoline facility in Gulf Shores

 

 

Bounce, Bounce, Snap, Crack…She’s down!

…Torn ACL, MCL, and Meniscus! Oh My!…

It was a Wednesday afternoon.  None of us had been to the new trampoline park in our little beach town of Gulf Shores, Alabama- but it was the talk of the town!  All of the kiddos were SO excited and lots and lots of people were going!  I cannot recall the reasoning, but one Wednesday afternoon in May (May 25th to be exact) My husband and I decided we were going to try out the new Gulf Shores attraction.

I called my sister Tiffany and invited her and my nephew. The more the merrier right?

We arrived at the Indoor Trampoline Park, were directed to some computer screens where we signed our lives away (LITERALLY), and with a few clicks we were well on our way.  To our surprise when we made our way to the counter we were extra delighted to find out WEDNESDAY IS HALF PRICE DAY! YAY!!  How could we get so lucky?  We were given a color coded armband and were set to jump during the next 30 minute wave.

As we made our way to the dome filled with Trampolines and eagerly awaited our jump time to start, we watched as the place became packed.  Apparently everyone else was fully aware of half price night!   I couldn’t believe the amount of people.

Finally it was our jump time.  I jumped on the large yellow trampoline in front of the foam pit watching my kiddos swing from the rope into the foam pit.  Within 5 minutes, I jumped from the large yellow to the side wall trampoline and jarred my back. This slowed my fun down from then on.

From there we went over the ninja warrior style obstacles and tried our skill on those. And then we followed the kids to the main jumping area. I jumped lightly (afraid to hurt my back anymore than I already had), and watched in amazement as teenage children did running Olympic style flips from one trampoline to another.  I also watched with a tad bit of fear that one of these big kids who were flying from one end of the park to the other were going to collide with another child.  This place was no good for my anxiety and worry wart Mom syndrome from the beginning!

Lightly bouncing and just watching all of the action going on around me, I saw my sister go down from the corner of my eye.  She yelled out in pain and began to cry. Both my husband and I ran to her, and she said she couldn’t move and was in excruciating pain. I looked up at the large digital clock looming above us.  11 minutes in.  We had jumped 11 minutes- and then this.

She said she heard a pop and a sort of crack or snap and her leg gave out.  She was simply going from the landing pad to one of the small square trampolines and instantly went down.

My husband and one of the young men working there helped to get my sister off of the Trampoline and to the side, out of the way.  She sat there moaning in pain, yet assuring her son (who was very upset and worried about his Mommy) that everything was ok.  She didn’t want to worry him, she was being strong for him but knew something not good had happened.

A worker brought her a bag of ice. Instantly her knee was the size of a kickball.  It looked absolutely awful.  The little ziplock baggy of ice sat on her bulging knee for about 30 minutes.  We tried to get her up. The slightest touch of her toe to the ground sent her into a scream. She tried to put weight on it, but it instantly hyper-extended.  It wasn’t good, we knew this.  We got her up into a chair from the floor where she continued to sit.

She had contacted her husband and he was on his way.  She didn’t want to go the the emergency room and was hopeful all would be ok.  They decided she would go to the urgent care facility in Gulf Shores.  Her husband got there and an employee and my husband helped to get her into a wheelchair and we began to wheel her out the front door, but not before another employee came rushing up “Wait! You can’t leave until you fill out this incident report.” Once that was completed, she was wheeled out and helped into the car.  Off to urgent care she went.

I took her car and her son, and waited back at my house for news of what had happened.  Why did I invite her to go? Gah. The guilt.

img_0033The Factory Gulf Shores ACL MCL Meniscus Tears  img_0027 The Factory Gulf Shores Injury

At the Urgent Care, they did an X-ray.  They determined there was no broken bones.  The Dr. there put her in an immobilizer and told her if it was not feeling better in a day or 2 to make an appointment with an orthopedic doc.  They didn’t have any crutches to fit her so she was sent home hopping on one foot to get around with the assistance of her husband.

Of course it didn’t get better.  She was stuck in her bed with her leg elevated for days.

She got in to see Dr. Eslava on May 31st, 6 days after her injury.  The Dr. then told her that a MRI appointment was needed in order to find out what the actual damage was.

On June 2nd her insurance approved the MRI and it was scheduled for the next day June 3rd at the Imaging Center in Gulf Shores.  During the time preceding this, she was stuck in bed all day alone, with only friends and myself able to stop by to help her with things.  Everytime I went there, there she was sitting in her bed in the dark with the tv on.

On June 7th, Tiff had a follow up with Dr. Eslava to go over the MRI.  The finding was that she had torn her ACL, her MCL, her Meniscus and also had bone contusions (bone bruising).  Surgery was scheduled for June 24th.  She could not get into surgery any sooner because they needed to make sure the swelling had gone down before it was performed.

The Factory in Gulf Shores Injury Stories (This is a screen grab of what a ACL/MCL tear looks like- as it is happening…) WWE injury- yes! Fun Family Trampoline jumping?- NO!!!!

Since this particular injury was able to be done via scope and her whole leg didn’t need to be opened up, she was able to be scheduled for outpatient surgery.  The surgery was supposed to be about an hour.  Actual completion time: almost 3 hours.  Her ACL was completely gone by this time (per the surgeon), the body had absorbed it.  He had to take part of her hamstring and make a new ACL for her.

img_0035

For about 2 weeks after the surgery, Tiff was having an enormous amount of pain.  She was unable to get the pain under control and was continuously having to have her meds bumped up.  Finally at the two week mark she was starting to get a handle on the pain.

From there- to now- this was Tiffany’s timeline:

  • After surgery she was moved from the immobilizer to the hinged brace- but the hinges remained locked.
  • started physical therapy 3 times a week 5 days after surgery (friends or myself would have to take her, as she could not drive and her husband was working)
  • followed up with Dr. Eslava every two weeks for progress
  • After a follow up with the Doc on July 19th an ice machine and cpm (continuous passive motion device) was ordered due to the fact that despite ongoing PT, her progress with bending her knee was not progressing well.
  • At this time her pain meds were again bumped up to something stronger because the percocets were not touching the pain.
  • Tiffany resumed work on August 22, almost exactly 3 months after her injury (and one week before my husband’s injury).
  • Although she still was not confident or comfortable in her ability to walk she returned back to work because her FERPA had run out and her job would not be protected any longer.

Tiffany is now 5 month post trampoline injury.  She is unable to walk at a normal speed.  She still has to physically THINK about how she is placing her foot on the ground with each step that she takes.  Due to her work schedule she has to do her own PT at home and is doing what she can to try to progress her healing- but still wears a stablizing knee brace when she is going to be on her feet for extended period of time, still has swelling, still has intermittent knee pain, still cannot feel the skin or area around her knee.

It is unknown at this time if her knee will ever be the same again, and if it is- when that day will be.

img_0034Trampoline Park Injuries img_0038img_0003   The Factory Gulf Shores  img_0028img_0007 img_0008 img_0039 img_0045 img_0047 img_0050 img_0052

 

 

You’re Joking Right? You BETTER be Joking!!!!

…Mama Knows best…(and swears a little too- that’s your warning)

As I was sitting with my youngest daughter at her first Girl Scout Daisy event of the year, my phone kept going off.  You know when you don’t know the number so you just decline it and think, “if it’s important they will leave a message…” DECLINE. I also put my phone on silence at that point so I wouldn’t be bothered during my Mommy and Peanut time.  My purse lay below me on the ground just vibrating.  And vibrating.  And vibrating.  I finally took the phone back out of my purse to find a text message, “It’s Jamie, answer the phone!”

I stepped outside and dialed the number back.  Jamie answered and I asked what was going on.  “I broke both of my knees at The Trampoline Place, I need you to come here.”  I am pretty sure I went into instant shock.  “You what!?  You what!?  You are joking right!?” (My husband is always making jokes)  To which he replied, “This is no joke, just come here.”   I again said, “You better be joking!”  Again he assured me it was not a joke.  And although what happened next is somewhat of a blur, I’m fairly certain I said something like, “What in the {INSERT F WORD HERE} are you doing THERE!!?”  He said something like, “Fine, never mind, I don’t need you.” And hung up on me.

The trampoline place was off limits to our family at this point (so Mama says), because of what had happened to my sister.  So of course, the only things that were going through my mind as I drove (very very very fast) to the Trampoline place in Gulf Shores were lots and lots and lots of swear words. LOTS of swear words. (WAY more than normal).

I pulled in to the parking lot to find TWO fire trucks a police car, and an ambulance.  It was NOT a joke.  I jump out and march (because that what you do when you are really really pissed) over to the ambulance where they are lifting my husband into the back. There was Noah, my son in the back with Daddy.  A tall man from The Trampoline place came over to me and said something like, “Ma’am are you ok?”  To which I replied something like, “No I am not ok. And I don’t know why my husband was even at this stupid Fu@king place!”   He kind of laughed me off and then told me that they were getting ready to take my husband to the hospital and I should just follow them there.

I arrived at the South Baldwin Hospital ER before the ambulance and went ahead and filled out paperwork as I waited. They called me back as soon as he arrived.

Jamie seemed to be in very little pain at this point, which produced a false sense of short lived relief in us both.  X-rays came back normal.  Again we were relieved but shocked because Jamie kept pointing out that something didn’t seem quite right about his kneecaps.  (It was soft where they USED to be).  But still not much pain.

CAN YOU SAY SHOCK?!

After several hours and several people viewing the X-Rays and assuring us we were only dealing with a pulled muscle (ha). It was time to get Jamie up and onto some crutches.  Again we were THANKING JESUS. (Jesus still loves me even though I swear sometimes…just sayin.)

So, the nurses sit Jamie up and gently bring his legs to a hanging position from the table.  Oh God Almighty I have never seen someone in so much pain in my life!  As soon as his legs were brought to that position Jamie suddenly began absolutely screaming in agony, his face turned completely white and his head bobbed backwards with his eyes rolling up in his head.  When this happened the nurses hurried to get him back into a resting position. I sat watching in horror.  Jamie was covered in sweat at this point- and the nurses decided maybe there WAS something they were missing.

POOF.

There went our relief. (I told you it was short lived).

Morphine was then administered, and the on-call Orthopedic surgeon was called in.

Trampoline Injury

After about 30 Min. Dr. Frerichs came in, introduced himself, felt Jamie’s knee areas and said, “Wow you are really unlucky.”

Patella Tendon Ruptures on a Trampoline in Gulf Shores

Bi-lateral Patella Tendon Rupture and Repair

…..HUH?….

Not just one knee, but two.  Both tendons that hold the knee cap in place had come detached (the reason for the floating knee caps).  The X-Rays were not picking the injury up because it looks at bones and none of the bones were broken or fractured. Dr. Frerichs though, was able to tell just by feeling his knee area.  He had never done a Bi-lateral patellar tendon repair himself, but his associate Dr. Eslava had.

We would be checked in to the hospital and surgery was scheduled for the following day. (August 29th, 2016).

Jamie’s whole family came to be with him at the hospital during his surgery.  We filled up the waiting room.  Jamie’s surgery was scheduled for 1:00 and I went back with him while he was prepped.  My big brave husband was so nervous.  He just kept telling me over and over “I’m so nervous.”  Jamie is the one who is always telling everyone else that it’s going to be ok, so reversing the role and being the brave one was heartbreaking- knowing how important it is for Jamie to be the protector.  Seeing him so vulnerable wasn’t (and still isn’t) easy.

While the fluids started to flow and he began to drift off, one of Jamie’s buddies who is an anesthesiologist came by, “Hey Man! I can’t believe you are here! The Fracture Factory! I can’t believe it!”  That was not the first time or the last we would hear that place called that.  Jamie raised his fist up at his friend to drowsily acknowledge him, and seconds later he was out.  Teary eyed I walked away saying my prayers for God to guide the surgeons hands, and to protect my sweet husband.

I joined the rest of the family in the waiting room. The surgeon had estimated 45 min per knee. Surgery didn’t complete until 5:30. 4 and a half hours later.  About 1/2 way through the surgeon came out to update us.  “I have never seen an injury this bad… it looks like two bombs went off on his knees.”  No one said anything we just listened, still in disbelief of this entire situation.  He continued, “It’s a lot worse than I thought.  One knee wasn’t as bad and I was able to suture the tendon back together.  The other did not have anything left to suture.” He went on to explain that with the second knee he had to use what he called “cord” to repair it.  He said that he had used the strongest available cord and wrapped it around and around and around his knee over and over until the ruptured tendon was held back into place.  He said that he hoped that enough scar tissue would form around the cord to be a permanent repair with no further issue.  IF it were to re-rupture he would have to do a graft because there is just simply not any more tendon to work with there.

The disbelief. HOW IN THE WORLD can something like this happen just jumping on a trampoline!?

Post op day 1 Trampoline Park Gulf Shores injury Patella Tendon Repair Surgery

After surgery we all went up to Jamie’s room.  He was still not awake. By this time it was 7pm.  The nurse said Jamie had woke up after surgery and was in excruciating pain so they had just given him another round of pain meds.  He said “Yall should just go on home, he probably won’t wake up til the morning, we have him on alot of pain medicine.”  I had the kids and knew I had to get home with them to get them up and off to school in the am.  Both Jamie’s aunt and sister offered to stay but the nurse assured us he would be fine and knocked out.

After I arrived home and was in bed with the kids the phone rang (9:30 pm)- It was Jamie.  I couldn’t understand anything he was saying.  He seemed upset, but it was just a bunch of garbled words. He hung up and I immediately called the hospital surgical floor.  His nurse got on the phone and I told him that Jamie just called and I was worried, and couldn’t understand what he wanted but he seemed upset.  The nurse kind of laughed and said “Yeah, I know- I am the one who dialed the phone for him.” He said that he had gotten him some water and assured me he was fine.

The next morning, I called Jamie to check on him and let him know I would be headed that way as soon as I dropped off the kids.  He was VERY VERY mad at me and upset that no one stayed with him last night.  He also didn’t remember anyone being there and thought he had been alone the whole time.

 He had dropped the nurse call button and was unable to get a nurse to help him when he had to go to the bathroom.  He had tried to use the bedside urinal and ended up spilling it all over himself- and had to lay in his own urine most of the night.  I felt absolutely horrible. From then on out, Jamie’s Mom or myself stayed with him- we did not let him go another night without someone there to help him.

Jamie Trampoline Injury Hospital substandardfullsizerender_2 substandardfullsizerender_3 substandardfullsizerender_4 substandardfullsizerender_6

Jamie was in the hospital a total of 5 days.  On day 4 Insurance had notified the hospital that they were not paying any longer.  The hospital eventually was able to get day 4 covered due to the unbelievable amount of pain drugs he was on.  On day 4 we still had not been able to get the pain under control.  I was fearful of overdosing him because nothing was helping and they kept adding on more.  The surgeon assured me that he would be fine and that people who are pain med addicts take ALOT more than what they are giving Jamie (which wasn’t very reassuring to me, because I know alot of people die that way too!)

Every day that we were in the hospital the physical therapists kept coming in and wanting to get Jamie up.  The surgeon had told us he did not want anyone touching him, and he was absolutely NOT to get up.  We had to literally keep fighting off the PT’s.

Every. Single. Person- whether nurse, doctor, surgeon, nurse assistant, custodian- YOU NAME IT- that we came in contact with would say something like “Oh The Fractury!” or “Hahah we call that place The Fracture Factory!” or “We are pretty sure the Surgeons here have investments in that place!” or, “We should have a South Baldwin Banner hanging in that place.”  As the days went on Jamie would get more sick of hearing these things.  Finally the last couple days when someone asked him what happened he would say “I fell off a roof.” Just so he didn’t have to hear any more Fractury talk.

Jamie did not eat (but a few bites of bread, or a few nibbles of banana) for 5 days.  He also did not potty (#2) for those 5 days-which eventually turned into 10 days…

On day 4 (I believe, since the insurance decided it was time for Jamie to go) we finally got the go ahead to get Jamie up and into the chair.  Two physical therapists came in to attempt this. I am not exaggerating when I tell you, this was the biggest sideshow circus act I have ever seen in my life.  These two people were akin to dumb and dumber trying to get Jamie up.  You would truly believe this was their very first attempt at something like this.  I watched with my hands over my mouth in shock and horror from the corner of the room.  Jamie was screaming, I was screaming, it was awful.  At one point one of his legs was trapped between the walker and the chair and he was yelling “My legs!”  So I am yelling “Get his F@cking Legs! Oh my God!!” (Yeah I”m sure they loved me).

They finally get him into the chair, and I am just balling.  All I can think about is, “How am I ever going to be able to help him at home if two trained Physical Therapists can barely do it?”

Both of Jamie’s legs were in immobilizers which prohibited him from bending his legs at all. He was able to bear weight albeit painful, but learning to use a walker stiff legged would not be easy.

Trampoline Injury Gulf Shores Physical Therapy img_6948 The Factory Gulf Shores Injury

After witnessing the difficulty of getting Jamie from the bed to the chair, I became increasingly fearful that I would not be able to care for him at home.  We were told that Jamie would need to leave the next day (due to insurance) on day 5, and we weren’t sure if day 5 was going to be covered at all.

There were a couple dilemmas at this point.  1). HOW were we going to get Jamie home? His legs HAD to remain straight out and rigid. There was zero bend or give.  I began to search for handicapped vans or services that we could transport him in his wheel chair in.  I came up with nothing.  The hospital had no resources either. At this point the only option that we could come up with was ambulance transport home. And SURPRISE SURPRISE, of course insurance wouldn’t be covering that.  Of course my frustration was fueling my smart mouth, as I told the hospital, “Well I guess we’ll just tie him to the back of the vehicle and drag him home!” I mean really, what were we supposed to do?

The 2nd dilemma was still that nagging fear of HOW? How can I get him from the bed, to the toilet and back to the bed? The hospital said that moving him to a rehab center was a possibility.  They started trying to get the ball rolling on that and said as soon as insurance gave us the ok, they would have him transported to a rehab facility in Foley. This was a relief because, it gave us more time for healing with some help, as well as solving that transport issue for now.

Well.

We waited.

And waited.

And waited.

By 3pm on day 5 the insurance still had not responded to our request for rehab (which is supposedly covered according to our insurance policy).  Very frustrated and just ready to do something, I told them to just forget it, and to call the ambulance- We are going home!

I was given the number to a home healthcare company and arranged to have a hospital bed, and medical toilet delivered to our home. I met the man there, got everything quickly set up (Thank God for the quick response and delivery! They were great, the regular delivery person was on vacation so the owner of the company Ken personally delivered and set the bed up for us. He also had an abundance of bedside tables and sold me one for $40 which I thought was a great price, and it has proven to be a great purchase in our situation…. highly recommend this company- Express Healthcare).

all set up after the hospital for Jamie after his trampoline injury 14211985_646696355496611_3510874353667414511_n 14224683_646696345496612_5286468146164203939_n

By 7, the ambulance arrived.  Two tiny women. Really?  The two tiny women had to call two larger male nurses to help move Jamie from the hospital bed to the gurney.  As they wheeled him out into the hall one of them says to me, “Where do ya’ll live?” I said “In an apartment on the 3rd floor.”  You should have seen their faces. Priceless.

I laughed and told them where we really lived. They were quite relieved that they wouldn’t have to take him up any stairs.  In addition to that our brother in law had built a mini wheel chair ramp at our front door while were at the hospital for the last week- which was wonderful.

I arrived at home before the medics and Jamie.

As I waited outside the ambulance pulled up. Then a firetruck. Um?

I met the fireman in the street and said, “Oh they called in reinforcements huh?!”  The laughed and said, “Yep!” I was happy there was additional help here.

Ambulance transport home from hospital Gulf Shores Arriving home after Trampoline Injury in Gulf Shores

It felt really good to be home. But we were both scared. Our little living room was inundated with hospital crap everywhere. But at least we were home.

Home Sweet Home {First weeks after the Injury}

….pain pills, pain pills, and poo poo….

Our first few weeks home were difficult. Very difficult.  On everyone.  I was used to having help, the kids were used to Daddy being their jungle gym, and Daddy was used to being everything to everyone.  Now, unable to do ANYTHING on his own.

Our first day back Jamie seemed to be feeling alot better. Just being home helped alot.  He was able to eat something for the first time since his injury.

Since we came home on a Friday night, we would have to wait until Monday to schedule to have someone from home health come out to “teach” us how to transition Jamie from the bed to the toilet, to the lift chair that Jamie’s uncle had brought for us.  Jamie was already starting to get bed sores on his bottom from laying in bed for a week now.  We knew we absolutely could not wait another 3 days for someone to come help us move him.

We decided to give it a shot and Jamie was in good spirits since Bama was playing. Although after the game he was bummed. He said that being stuck in his bed trying to watch a game felt like watching it at the library.  (So, because of that-I had to add this video because I recorded it of my husband on Sept. 5th, 2015- almost exactly 1 year prior to his injury. My husband is a mess and a lot of fun, and I’m so glad I have this- in case he doesn’t get to celebrate Bama this way again- ROLL TIDE)

 (Day 6) I was SO nervous. The fear of hurting him was awful.  We talked through how we were going to move him step by step before starting. 1) Jamie will pull himself up using the trapeze bar above the bed. Once in a sitting position, I will 2) Move his legs slowly – pivoting them towards the off the bed position. 3) Then slowing lower his rigid legs to the ground. 4) The walker would be positioned right next to the bed. 5) Once Jamie was secure and his feet planted good on the ground, Move the walker in front of him. 6) Jamie would use his upper body strength to lift himself to an upright position- keeping the weight in his upper body- while I held the walker firmly in place so it would not slide out from under him.  7) from there we slowly pivot, one small shuffle at a time until he was turned and I could then place the hospital toilet behind him. 8) From there Jamie would transition his weight from the walker to the arms of the toilet seat, while I moved the walker out of the way.  9) Once his weight was shifted he would lower his body onto the toilet seat while I would 10) slowly lift his straight legs at the same time onto something to rest his legs on while on the potty. (We found stacked pillows to work best because anything stiff would cause severe pain for Jamie).

This would take several minutes, each and every time we would have to do it.  For the first week home- Jamie could not go to the bathroom due to all of the pain meds. So the battle of the poo began.

This video was taken on Sunday Sept 4th, 2016. Day 7.  As you can tell we were both still really nervous and timid as we had only done this a handful of times so far. Little did we know we would be doing this ALOT in the next few days. (Apologies for camera placement-and my big arse)

When my sister was fresh out of surgery from her injury at the Trampoline place- she also could not go poo.  She eventually had to be rushed to the ER to get “unplugged.”  I knew I DID NOT want to have to do this- so it was my mission to get him to go.

We tried EVERYTHING. Stool softeners, Phillips, Miralax, Saline Laxatives, Benefiber…. His tummy would rumble and roll but nothing.  4 days of this. We had called the Dr. and they told us to keep doing what we were doing.  I finally remembered that when my daughter would constipated when she was little Raisin Bran would always do the trick and apples always helps my Grandma. So I forced Jamie to eat the Raisin Bran (he is very picky). He begrudgingly ate it.  He also ate probably 100 apple slices…  On day 10- we finally got him going!

But then. He couldn’t stop. 🙁  For a week it was the getting on the potty process literally every couple of minutes. Our new normal- Jamie just chillin’ on the potty in the living room.  One thing that Jamie and I have been good at is laughing at ourselves.  We have had to do that a lot to stay sane.

Gulf Shores Trampoline Injury Bedside Commode

Also during this week we were learning how important it was to stay on top of meds and keeping a journal of everything.  If we didn’t write it down it was impossible to remember.  We were doing 2 Oxycodone every 4 hours, a muscle relaxer every 8 hours, a blood thinner every morning (to help prevent risk of a blood clot due to lack of movement).

On Tuesday (Sept. 6, 2016) Day 9: Comfort Care (A home health therapy company) came to help teach us how to get Jamie up and moving. Pfsssh. By the time they got there, we already had it figured out!  She did change Jamie’s dressings for us.  We had not taken the bandages off at all since the surgery and had no idea what his wounds looked like. He had staples on the outside and sutures inside, that is all we knew.

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Also that day (Day 9) We got Jamie into his wheelchair and decided to take him for a walk outside for a little bit- just to get him out of the house.  Well. That lasted about 5 minutes. It was very hot and humid out, and Jamie quickly felt very nauseous and sick probably from all of the meds he was on.

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We made sure to give Jamie the muscle relaxer every night before bed because since the accident occurred he was having crazy dreams of himself doing things like: Jumping, Skateboarding, Karate etc and each time he would dream these things we would wake up drenched in a sweat and hollering terrified.  When this would happened he would jump and we were worried he was going to hurt himself, so the muscle relaxers helped keep him a little more “relaxed.”

I had been giving Jamie bird baths in the bed every day or so, and changing his sheets every other day. I can’t imagine how he felt not being able to bath for almost 2 weeks at this point. I also never imagined I would be bathing my husband at 40 years old- or helping him wipe his bottom. 80 maybe….40? Never crossed my mind.  Funny how life happens.

The first follow-up with the Surgeon was scheduled for Day 15 after the  accident.  We still were really unsure about transportation. We decided we would have to get Jamie into the back of the SUV, lift his legs up and sit him sideways back there since he was still in complete immobilizers and had no bend to his legs. (Bending wasn’t to start until SIX WEEKS OUT.)

Dr. Frerichs was very pleased with Jamie’s drive and progress but still very adamant there was to be no bending, no getting them wet etc.  He also approved Jamie to start PT that week.

Asleep when they go in, Awake when they come out- Staple Removal.

At the 6 week mark, it was time for Jamie’s second follow up with Dr. Frerichs. As we were getting ready to leave Jamie said, “Bring me my hat….”  Sometimes, you just have to make light out of things… plus with Jamie at my mercy… I just have to pick a little..

The Factory Gulf Shores injury

Well. He didn’t want that hat. Go figure.

So, I got him a baseball cap and we were on our way. Movement was still VERY limited.  Again, Jamie got to ride in the cargo area of the suv, still unable to bend his legs at all with his legs in complete immobilizers.

We knew there was a potential for the staples to come out this time, and for that reason Jamie was very nervous.  Large scabs had formed around each metal piece.  Where the two sides of the incision met up, the skin bulged and twisted- leaving what we thought would be a horrible scar.

Jamie was still having a large lack of confidence in his healing, letting his mind really mess with him. (He still does to this day and we are at the 12 week mark now).  With every step were his fears of all of the intricate work that the surgeon had done on his tendons coming undone.  He had solid fears of his knees easily re-rupturing, his patella tendons giving way again.  With these fears, he was also terrified that his incision wouldn’t be fully healed when the staples were removed.  He was afraid if he wasn’t careful the incision would just split wide open.

We arrived at The orthopedic group’s office in Foley. I pulled up to the front door drop off area, parked, opened the back hatch of the truck and like clock work Jamie slowly inched himself to the edge of the truck.  I held each leg straight out slowly lowering them til they met the ground- then placed the walker in front of him.  He inched to the door making his way in while I parked the vehicle.

We were ushered back to the room upon arrival.  A mere 50 feet away.  The walk, without exaggeration, took close to ten minutes.  Nurses passing giving that “bless his heart,” look.  Inch by inch with Jamie placing the majority of his body weight atop that walker we made our way.  Like getting out of the truck, we moved in reverse lifting his body and rigid legs onto the examination table.  We were doing this move a lot (getting in and out of the bed and lift chair) making our moves more and more like clockwork every time.  He lay there wringing his hands together. I could tell he was trying so hard to be brave, but so utterly nervous on the inside.  I only remember seeing this look on his face one other time….

……. Last Father’s day I rented a tandem kayak for us to spend the day together in.  We paddled from the boat launch in Orange Beach (near tacky jack’s), over to the island where we splashed around a bit, then launched off again tooling down Ole River where we eventually stopped at The Florabama Yacht club for lunch.  After lunch we headed back to the island for a bit.  Arriving where the mouth of Ole River meets Bayou St. John (Just East of Bird and Robinson Island and just before Terry Cove) the boat traffic had become quite heavy.  We paddled between large vessels, our kayak violently teetering between each swell that was cast our way.  I glanced back at Jamie for reassurance…. at that point I realized, “Holy crap, Jamie is more scared than I am!”

…….That was the look he had that day awaiting the Doc to come in to assess his knees.

Dr. Frerichs came in.  Yep, they looked good enough to come out. All 51 of them. One at a time. Slowly.

img_7041 I was pretty sure we would need to have a fracture treated while we were there also. Jamie was crushing my hand and squeezing more tightly as they tugged at each one.

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Hiding his fear under there…

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Before they started removal.

img_7042  Jamie said some came out easily, and some felt like she was trying to get a fish hook out of his skin.

staple removal the factory trampoline injury in gulf shores

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bilateral patella tendon injury at the trampoline park in gulf shores the factory

All Out and taped up.  As soon as the scabs all healed, he would be able to have a real bath/shower.  Instead of just the “bird baths” he had been having for the last 6 week…  Lots to look forward to!

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Surgical Staple removal The Factory Gulf Shores injury