Knee-dless To Say, I'm Accident Prone

Well I have done it again.  I have injured myself to the point of immobility and crippledom and this time it was a doozy!

It all began on a cold and busy morning at Maquatua Eeyou School.  The bell had just rung, the children had changed out of their winter wear and were quietly eating breakfast at their desks and I was busy trying to find out who the 45 sweaters I had amassed from the hallway belonged to.  While these sweaters all came from cubbies in my jurisdiction, of course NONE of them belonged to my students, but that is a minor detail of my story.

Moving on.  I decided to take the remaining unclaimed sweaters and ask a parent who was working down the hall if any belonged to her son before I sent them off to charity.  Off I went down the hall with my arms full of garments when suddenly I tripped on my own foot, twisted my leg awkwardly and went DOWN.  Before hitting the ground however, I managed to dislocate my knee!! SPELNDID! I landed with a loud "OH S***!!!" in front of a hallway of very young children who proceeded to look at me with a mix of shock and delight as they had just heard a teacher swear!! I lay there on the floor for a moment before looking down behind me at my leg which was clearly dislocated and pointing ever so slightly inwards.  The first thought that entered my mind was "OH my God I have broken my knee and I am in the NORTH!" No lie.  Then natural instinct took over and I moved my leg and popped it back into place.  THIS is when the agony began.  Falling down was a piece of cake.  I do it all the time, actually.  Once my knee was back in place I began to feel all the feels.  Suddenly I realized I had landed on my lip and chin and my lip began to immediately swell.  The bundle of clothing softened my fall thankfully and I didn't end up landing on my hands.

I managed to get into a crawling position but quickly realized I could put no weight on my right knee.  I stayed in an all-threes position for another moment until a fellow colleague came by and asked me what I was doing.  I explained that I had fallen and couldn't get up by myself.  I tried to take her arm to stand up but I couldn't maneuver myself in a way that wouldn't put any weight on my knee so I just said never mind thank you and crawled to the cubby, pulled myself up and sat down.  I was shaking and sweating and trying to breathe through the pain and also not let the children see that I was in extreme discomfort.  My principal came rushing down the hall to see what was the matter, asked if I needed an ambulance to the clinic which I declined and then promptly went to get her truck and pulled it up to the door of the school so I could get in without walking far.  She gathered my things and lent me her arm and walked me slowly to the car.

Upon getting in the vehicle I dislocated my knee again, prompting me to scream once more, "OH S***!!!" and I swiftly popped it again back into place.  At this point I was terrified to even move an inch and the pain was getting worse.  I did manage to crack a few jokes and apologize for the language and asked to see the security footage for a good laugh once all this was said and done.  We drove the 1 minute trip to the clinic where a wheelchair was brought out for me.  I registered and then sat in the waiting room.  My principal had to leave but not 20 minutes later Monika arrived to keep me company. Up to this point I was texting anyone who would listen and was freaking out a little, worried I had torn my ACL or something very serious.  The nurse finally called my name and wheeled me like a pro NASCAR driver to the exam room, leaving Monika literally in his dust.

In the exam room, the nurse performed a thorough exam and checked me as best he could for tears in all the vulnerable places. At one point he maneuvered my leg which made my knee crack and he SHRIEKED, I assured him it was okay, I felt no pain for that.  His exam led him to believe that I did not tear anything vital and I agree.  However, none of this can be confirmed without x-ray and MRI - neither of which Wemindji has so we are going on pure skilled guess here.  I was provided with a doctor's note, a paper for workplace compensation should I need it, some painkillers, instructions to ice and rest and crutches.

I was picked up by my teaching partner Rose and driven home where I spent the rest of the day in pure agony with my leg elevated and an ice pack on my knee.  A few friends came over that night to cook me dinner and give me a boost which was really appreciated but at this point I was almost delirious with pain.  The painkillers were not working and the reserve heavier meds I had left over from my previous lower body injury (see: Broken Butt http://wheninwemindji.blogspot.ca/2014/02/because-i-know-you-care.html) weren't even touching the pain and I was getting really worried.  Luckily I also had some OTC muscle relaxants in my personal pharmacy which I remembered right before bed.  I took a couple of those and was actually able to pull myself into bed and have a halfway decent sleep.  I took Friday off as well and thankfully I have an incredibly capable student teacher who has already taken over the classroom so I really didn't have to worry about a thing.  Meghan and my student teacher handled breakfast program and my friend Jill was the substitute in my classroom for the two days I missed.  It was a great feeling knowing I could rest without worrying about what was going on in the classroom or having the students fall behind.  Since this is my driving leg, I gave my van to Meghan to use since I was so clearly going nowhere over the next few days and she, Monika, Raquel and Meredith have been really amazing at getting me all the things I needed.

Friday I woke up to a gorgeous "warm" Wemindji day and I was in considerably less pain.  I couldn't raise my bent knee very high so getting dressed was a process but I took my time, shuffled around the house when necessary and otherwise stayed off my feet.  Saturday the girls and I had plans to make our own Big Macs (its the little things in life) which I really didn't want to cancel so the show went on!  In much less pain but still very slow moving and immobile, I took it easy and still managed to enjoy my night.  I should mention that my amazing neighbours Angela and Kim came and shoveled my porch and driveway which was SO kind and wonderful and I am forever in their debts.

Bobo has been pretty neglected in the walkies department but I supervised a few extended frolicks from my porch.  He loved the warm Friday weather and dug many holes in the snow, even finding a banana peel!! What joy! I am definitely on the mend but very badly bruised and very shaken and cautious.  I am sad that I can't manage the pool for the next little while until I feel more comfortable putting weight on my leg and I am terrified of slipping so I am just going to take it easy!!

Anyways, if you have a strong stomach, regard my photodiary of bruising I have used to document my journey through Bruisegate 2016 (#prayforaidan2016).  Seriously, pray for me.

Clinic fat-lip selfie

I have a nice little purple bruise there now.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4