I hardly no where to begin this one.
After deciding not to return to AZ this winter, Paul decided Florida would be the place.
Given the fact that I do not like Florida , I begged off. So he left mid NOvember, and I planned to fly down for the month of January.
The New Years weekend found me in the hospital being treated for acute CHF. I was released New Years day, and was flying out to FL on Jan 7.
That went well and I spent the month in Florida. Able to visit with my sister and see some old friends we made many years ago in Florida.
I returned home around FEB 9. Things went well for about a month. Until Paul called telling me he was having chest pain. Finally convinced him he needed to go to the hospital, which he did, but did not call the squad or ask a neighbor to drive him. He got into his truck and drove himself the several miles to Waterman HOspital in Eustis FL. Unable to find the cause, they decided to admit him. So that meant another trip to FL for me. I few to FL the end of FEB and planned to drive back home with him in the RV as soon as he felt able to travel.
That happened the first weekend in March. WE left Florida heading north on a Sunday. Arrived at our usual first night stop in Perry GA around 330 pm. While setting up the RV I went in to use the bathroom. and had a bad fall coming down the two steps from the bathroom. As I was hurtling through the air, I remember thinking... WTF just happened. I had not experienced any dizziness, and did not feel like my legs gave out....After landing with a thud. and injuring both ankles I saw the culprit. A large can of soup had escaped from the box under the table while we were en route. It ended up at the bottom of the steps, and I did not see it. Stepped on the can and took flight.
A trip to ER. which was not an easy task , getting me into the truck. Since my left ankle was already swollen to twice its normal size, and I was pretty certain I had broken the right ankle.
LOng story short. I did, break that ankle and sprained the left. so the ER in Perry GA put on a temporary cast on the right and a boot on the left. Sent me home in the dark with a spouse who was not going to be able to do much to get me out of the truck and back into the RV. And with a prescription for pain meds that we could not fill at that time of night on a Sunday. After trying three Walgreens stores , which were not open 24 hours, we just said forget it and went back to the RV.
WEll as I said, I was unable to help get myself from the truck to the RV. It was dark, and no one was moving around in the RV park.... The office was closed... And here we were. I had resigned myself to sleeping in the truck all night,,, but remembered what the discharge nurse had told us. To call 911 and ask for"Lift Assist" .. So we did that and two EMS people showed up and carried me into the RV. I sat in the recliner all night, without pain meds, other than the Ibuprofen I had in the RV. The next morning, nothing changed I was still unable to move myself. and my husband not able to help get me to the truck for our trip north. About the time I was getting hysterical my daughter who lives in Knoxville called. I was so upset I couldn't talk to her.. But she and her husband got into the car immediately and headed south to help us. Five hours later Melanie and Dirk arrived. Loaded me into her car, and he and Paul drove the RV back to KNoxville. Melanie had already called an orthopedic doctor and made an appointment for me for the next day.
I was taken to surgery Tuesday night, now I have a plate on one side of the ankle and screws in the other. I did a real number on this. Broken in two places....So I spent the next two weeks until the post surgery follow up at my daughter's home in Knoxville. And I am so thankful that she and her daughters and husband took good care of me. Meanwhile our other son drove our car to Knoxville and picked up the RV and returned it to OH. Paul left for home a few days later and I was cleared on my two week follow up to travel home. My oldest daughter drove from LIma to KNoxville to drive me back home.
So here I sit. Unable to bear any weight on my right ankle. And looking at another couple of months of the same. But at least I am home. And Thankful for all the help our kids have given us during this time.
Two things I have to pass on. When you are living in an RV you do not buy in bulk because there is no way to store those items safely. All those canned goods were in a box under the dining room table, and during the travel time one got loose and caused all this. I have been trying to convince my husband that we do not need 24 cans of fruit... to have to store while in the RV. The second thing is that if my spouse had not taken ill, ( which is still undiagnosed) I would not have been in Florida at all.
So now we are seriously questioning how much longer we will be able to do this RV thing. I had hoped to take a long several month trip this summer to visit places we have not yet seen. That is pretty much off the table now. And whether we go anywhere at all next winter is unlikely.
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