So... last week was spring break and our family met my brother's family in the mountains of Cloudcroft, New Mexico. We had a great time playing checkers, eating, visiting, laughing and hiking. We hiked quite a bit during the week and felt quite accomplished for the miles we put in. Wednesday afternoon I decided to take a little hike down the hill behind the cabin but slipped on some pine needles. The fall was not far but the stop was abrupt! A sharp rock sticking out of the ground dug itself into my leg and brought me to a halt. At first, I wasn't sure if my injury was severe, but then I saw my calf muscle hanging out and decided that this 4 inch tear may require a visit to the emergency room. The closest emergency room is only 20 miles away but in the mountains, that is about a 45 minute drive. We made it and three hours later I was stitched back together again. Today was the day the er doctor told me to take the stitches out. I had made an appointment with the doctor here at home to remove them and to look at the infection that has set in but our youth pastor volunteered to remove them for free so I thought, "What the heck!" As the staff gathered around in the church office, we looked for something sharp enough to cut the stitches. The membership pastor had some toenail clippers. "That'll work!" We sanitized with hand sanitizer and the maintenance guy grabbed the video camera. Isn't this sounding redneck already? The stitches all came out without a hitch but about 15 minutes later, the wound busted back open. Well, now we got troubles. Along came the maintenance guy with a bottle of superglue. "This will hold it!" The wound did manage to glue together but I'm not sure I would recommend this medical proceedure. The wound is questionably straight and I'm sure to wear a scar for the rest of my life. The scar will always be a reminder of my spring break adventure and the resourceful ingenuity of my friends on the Lifepoint staff. :0)
Today is day 14 since the accident in the mountains and the leg is looking pretty disgusting at this point. I must point out that the problem with my injury is NOT the result of the redneck doctorin' that took place in the church office. The infection had set in by day 2 so please don't blame the poor youth pastor. He is a fine physician and you can trust your stitch removal in his hands. Yesterday I was finally referred to wound care at the hospital but the doctor didn't really take much of an interest in my situation. He said to wash it with soap and water then put some antibiotic ointment on it and cover it up. Wow! I look forward to paying the hospital AND physician bill for that kind of medical treatment. He didn't take any interest in the fact that there are 2 holes in the wound leading straight into my leg either. In fact, his response when I asked about the underlying infection was "The body naturally fights off infection." After questioning him, he finally agreed to at least do a culture to find out what kind of bacteria was causing the infection. I'm quite sure at this point that my son could discover the bacteria in his science class lab with more expertise and that the medical care I received in the church office during staff meeting last week is far and above the medical care I have received at now TWO different hospitals! If I sound frustrated then I have successfully communicated my feelings about this series of unfortunate events. On the bright side, I'll have a lovely scar.
