Here we go!

Ok, lets see how long I can last here tonight...

So, I've been feeling pretty well the last few days, since starting physical therapy I have been feeling better, not just my leg but my state of mind as well. It's nice to hear that I really am improving and that the pain that I feel isn't because I'm crazy or never going to heal, it's been nice.

I had an appointment with my physical therapist this morning and it went really well, especially since she let me warm up on a no impact exercise bike, it felt so good, I do actually miss biking a lot. It went well and I grabbed some food on the way home - kinda funny because I realized I couldn't carry it into the house so I sat in my truck and ate my lunch while listening to my "All Shook Up" soundtrack while the puppy stared out the window at me like I was crazy.

Once I finally went inside I was making my way into my awesome makeshift bedroom (a nice blow-up mattress in the kitchen/dining room since I can't climb the ladder into my loft bed), I was pushing a package over to my bed so I could open it. This was comprised of pushing it ahead with my crutch, taking a step or two and then repeating until I reach my desired destination. While doing this I wasn't paying attention and my "pushing crutch" hit the top of the package and slipped out from under me. I stumbled, slamming my right leg down a couple of times before I toppled onto the ottoman; right leg hitting first, of course. I gathered my wits about me and got myself to my bed, where I decided to take a little (or a large) rest.

I have no idea if I have actually further injured my leg, though I highly doubt it, I think that I just aggravated my current injuries that had stopped hurting so much and now they are hurting again, nothing too bad but it's hurting pretty bad which is why I have actually taken a Vicodin tonight, in case you were wondering why this was even more random and packed with insignificant details than normal.

I'm doing ok, I just am pretty proud of my continued lack of coordination and feel really bad about worrying my family so much. But no one needs to worry about me, my pet Betta (named Alpha, btw) is watching me quite closely, keeping an eye on me to make sure I'm ok, my little Alphy will take care of me! :)

-Doped up Dr. Erin signing off!

Erin's Excellent LaPush Adventure!

Hello to all! I guess it's time to actually post something here! I do certainly have a story to share:

Most people that know me know that I am obsessed with the Twilight books, and just about anything to do with these people. My first trip to visit Forks and La Push (the places these books are set) was Sept 13th, 2007 with my mom for the first Stephenie Meyer day - this is also the main character Bella's birthday. I then went again on my own for a weekend in the spring of 2008. I then took 4 family members with me to the second Stephenie Meyer day. I decided to take my fourth trip there on my weekend off in December to bring 2 of my friends to visit my favorite place in the world.

Whenever I visit Forks and La Push I always stay at the Oceanside Resort in La Push, the cabins and other places to stay there are right on First Beach. Amazing views, and a short walk to the beach are just some of the selling points of the Oceanside Resort.

This trip was my birthday present to Windy and we were lucky enough to have our awesome friend, and fellow Twilighter, Erica join us. There was a storm coming in but we really didn't want this storm to upset our trip, there was snow that was gonna come later but when we got out there the biggest problem was the wind. That night we went out during low tide and enjoyed the blowing sand and the waves in the dark, it was beautiful and amazing!

The next morning (Saturday, December 13th) was spent on and off on the beach watching and marveling at the huge, amazing waves. Windy decided she wanted to go down and put her feet in the water. The waves seemed to not be coming all that high anymore (anywhere from 30-50 feet down the beach from us). I decided to go and join her, I took off my shoes and socks and rolled up my jeans...

Windy and I were about to head down to the water, Erica was getting ready to take a video of us when a huge wave came all the way up to where we were standing, about 10-15 feet higher up the beach than any of the others all morning. The wave knocked both Windy and me down, it then threw a full tree sized driftwood on top of me, injuring my right leg.


(The video Erica Shot while running away)

My friends had to help carry me at least 50 yards back to our cabin over rocks, bushes and driftwood. I then had my friend go to the store to call for an ambulance (no cell service there) but the local reservation policeman came and offered to drive me to the ER for free. It was kinda fun in a strange kinda way. I got to the ER and the x-rays were inconclusive but it looked like I'd cracked the top edge of my tibia so they put me in a knee stabilizer and gave me some crutches and told me good luck. Windy then had to drive my truck around town and back to our cabin in the snow that started as we left the ER. The next day she also had to drive the 4+ hours home.

When I got the results from my MRI back, it turned out that and I have torn my ACL and injured at least 2 other ligaments, I have a small fracture and depression on the top of my tibia, and all around the top of the tibia and fibula there are small cracks! I can't put any weight on my right leg for 12 weeks and I need to heal the bones up a little more before they drill into them to repair the ligaments! It looks like the bones will need to heal more before the surgery, my next follow-up with the doctor is in February and hopefully I'll be doing well enough to schedule the surgery soon after.

I am healing slowly but surely, it is frustrating to have to be the one being taken care of instead of the other way around. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends that were willing to give up their vacation to take care of their injured friend, especially one that is so unwilling to be taken care of.

Love to all, the plan is to post more later, and not just about my knee, there is more to me than this stupid injury.

-Dr. Erin