Too many medical challenges

Oh my, I hope that things improve for you both quickly and smoothly.
 
My wife has a soft heart and loves our animals, primarily horses and cats. But last week it bit her, we had a horse that had been down for half a day so we wanted to get the horse up. Typically when horses lay down for too long they can get numb in whichever legs are underneath them, so rolling them onto the other side is frequently helpful. Unfortunately this mare got up and then fell back down, her head whiplashed out and smacked my wife on the side of the lower leg. My wife now has a fractured tibia and fibula just below the knee. Fortunately not displaced. Orthopedic surgeon hopes it will heal without surgery but he does say it is a marginal case. She's looking at multiple weeks of non-weight bearing and probably 3 months for full recover if surgery can be avoided. It's going to be tough on her as she normally does the majority of care for 8 horses, then splits firewood for "exercise".

It was a challenging weekend, as initially the ER sent her home with opiate pain meds but encouraged her to go light on the meds. She passed out getting up from the ER bed, and repeatedly whenever she tried to move. Within 24 hours she was dehydrated, and hadn't slept. I took her back in and got her admitted. She passed out on the porch trying to navigate out the front door on crutches, I grabbed her but ended up with my arms around her and the crutches, which made it nearly impossible to set her down in a chair. After an extensive couple of days of evaluation in the hospital for other possible causes, they conceded that the fainting was caused by pain and gave her a significantly stronger dosage, and some basic instruction on using a walker instead of trying to use crutches.

We have been kidding that she wanted her turn after all the challenges I have had during this year. It does make me glad we retired when we did, the only thing worse than getting old is the alternative. ;)
I am sorry for your wife's trials and tribulations. You two have had a rough go. I wish all the best and a quick recovery.
 
Wishing both of you all the best. I hope tough days are over and you both get back to your normal life soon.
 
Prayers, and best wishes towards a speedy recovery from Phuong and I.
 
Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery. Your wife keeps very active; gotta be maddening to just sit there! I hope she likes your cooking!

And good call on the in-home help. Life is a bathtub curve, many of us are on the upslope of the wear-out end; kudos for recognizing you and she can't do it all on your own.

Bruce
 
Randal,

I am so very sorry for this extra complication, pain and trouble.

Once pain and schedules stabilize a bit perhaps you can get her out to visit the animals; that's good therapy too.

Best of luck for the next months.

Brian
 
A lot of time has passed and I hope everything is OK.
Thanks for the concern, and well wishes from everyone!

My wife is recovering well. The bones have knit without needing surgery, at least enough to be stable and weight bearing. She was in a brace with the knee completely immobilized for about 8 weeks. So she's now working through trying to rebuild some muscle in that leg. She is currently using a cane but is able to get around well, and has started helping back at the barns, although she's not quite capable of handling the wheel barrow yet. Physical therapy is working on getting full range of motion back in that knee. My wife says the therapist is a sadist ;)
 
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