The last month or so seem to be really kicking the shit out of my family and I, what with expensive car repairs, friends at work being RIF’ed, extended family troubles, and now my wife has broken her ankle in three places.
So yesterday my wife, my daughter, and my son were at an indoor ‘bounce’ place that is geared towards children 4-10. I’m not entirely sure what you call it (the name was ‘pump it up’). It had those inflatable slides and little rooms where you jump through balls and what have you. Anyway, we are all having fun, my wife goes down a few slides and then it happens. She goes down one slide, which she said in retrospect felt under-inflated, and she hit her foot at just the wrong angle. We had to call the ambulance and she was taken away to the emergency room.
I had to stay behind with the kids (daughter 4, son 9 months) and I just felt so miserable and helpless. I wanted to ride along with my wife in the ambulance, but it didn’t seem feasible because of the situation. I gathered the kids up, made sure they ate something and then booked it to the hospital.
We here the news that her ankle was broken in three places. It may need pins. We go today to our regular doctor to get it checked out again.
I’m not sure why I’m writing this, I just felt like I had to get it out.
Yikes! What about the facility you were at? If it was underinflated, they may be partially to blame and should help with medical costs, shouldn’t they?
Perhaps, although my wife is not a large woman at all. Also I seem to recall seeing a sign on one of the ‘rides’ (whatever they are considered) 1/2 hour before the accident that said something like ‘maximum weigh allowed 700 lbs’. I am fairly certain it said that for an individual (child? Adult? I can’t remember) because I found it extremely odd at the time, envisioning a 700 pound 10 year old.
At the same time I think it’s more than likely that I simply read the warning label wrong (or it was written weirdly or whatever), it probably said something like ‘total weight’.
It’s going to take time to unwind all the details. First is the wife’s health of course. She needs that ankle for the family. Screws and pins in the ankle are very sound ways to make a repair. If it’s borderline and the hardware may not be needed, opt to go without because anything extra comes with risks of infection, pain and loss of function. The body can recover so much on its own, but it does take longer. The thing is that you can go back for hardware if it doesn’t mend on it’s own.
You should have and may still be able to go in the place and take pictures of every angle including the disclaimer signs. If the signs say “no adults” or place age and size limits, those do carry some weight to reduce the establishment’s responsibility for injury. They would not get them off the hook completely. They created an "attractive nuisance, in this case for adults. Adults tend to follow their kids. Adults sometimes need to retrieve their kids from these playscapes. So they have to be somewhat safe for all. Don’t sign anything coming from the play place or their representatives. Don’t make any statements to them. If they contact you about the incident, you should seek your own counsel before acting. The stature of limitations on these things allows you time to consider the options. Generally it’s three years from the incident or three years from when you knew you had an injury or three years after a minor reached majority. Check the rules in your state.
Yet and still, people need to take some responsibility for their own actions. True accidents do happen.
Really sorry this happened to your wife, Meatros. I know what it’s like when it feels like everything is piling up at once, and injuries like these never happen at a good time, do they?
I wanted to share my experiences because I broke my ankle in three places (a trimalleolar fracture, it’s often called) several years ago, and had orthopedic surgery the same day to have some hardware put in (2 pins on the inner side, a plate and 6 pins on the outer, nothing on the back because it was a tiny chip). Although it really sucked for a while and was a giant nuisance, things actually healed up pretty fast, and 7 years later it is almost as good as new (a little arthritis is all). In short: it sounds like a pretty horrible injury, and yes, it’s a big deal, but it’s also something that modern orthopedics can deal with readily. It’s an amazing field.
Your wife may feel pretty crappy for a week or so, especially if she has to have surgery. Any fracture is a shock to the system, and there’s a lot of swelling that will happen (and it can feel reeeeeally weird being up and about as the fluids will shift, one of the good reasons why just resting and keeping the leg elevated is the best approach at first). Just keep it slow, and encourage her to enjoy the good drugs-- and if there’s any time to draft the kids into being Mom’s little helpers, this is it as they can be kept out of trouble fetching pillows, ice, drinks, you name it.
She may not be allowed to put weight on it for at least 6 weeks (that happened in my case, and is about the average time that I’ve heard about) and that’s frustrating. Something that can really help her get around at home, although it works best in a one-story house, is getting a rolling chair that she can kneel on with the bad leg, and use the good leg to scootch around. I can attest that anything that gives that extra bit of mobility is a mood-booster. (I even saw someone in a lower-leg cast going around outside with a special knee-height scooter-- I wish I had had one of those!)
As for insurance, nothing to advise there, as my accident occurred at home (my bathrobe tried to kill me while I was going downstairs). The medical insurance company was very adamant about asking if there were going to be any other insurance claims related to the accident, and I had to tell them that no, it was my own stupid fault-- but you will probably be asked about it in a similar fashion, so be prepared for that to happen, even if you’re not quite sure what you’re going to do about it yet. Getting your wife back in good health is by far the first priority.
I forgot to add the most important part, because you seem to be feeling really down right now and taking this really hard, with everything else that’s happened to you: Remember that taking care of YOURSELF is important too. First, you deserve it, and second, you’ll be better able to help your family out that way.
It’s normal to feel overwhelmed in a situation like this, but don’t be afraid to take some time to breathe, as well as accept any offers of help that might come your way. If the normal pace of life in your household has to slow down for a while while your wife is healing, don’t worry about it. It’ll pass.
True and I think this is the route we are going. My wife had Xrays, met with a doctor, and her bones are set perfectly. So, if they don’t shift or anything, they should heal fine. She has another appointment on Monday and if they haven’t moved or anything, then they might put a cast on her. If they have moved (or the doctors change their minds) they might put the screws/pins in.
She’s in a lot of pain and I’m trying to help out best I can. She’s very sweet and she feels like she is being a burden - a feeling I’m trying my best to get her to drop. She’s very independent though, so the fact that she needs help is going counter to her character.
I think I might swing by there this weekend to get some pictures. I don’t want to litigate for the sake of litigation, I’m not one of those people who is looking for lawsuits. I mention this because my grandfather was and I always disliked that about him. At the same time, we are paying some stuff out of pocket and my wife is pretty clear about the slide being under inflated.
It’s not so much that I feel down, it’s that I feel helpless. Maybe that’s the same thing, I don’t know.
It just really sucked that I couldn’t be there in the ambulance with her. I know that it was the right call because of our kids, but ever since then it’s like I feel that I can’t do enough. She’s had this huge impediment to her mobility and while I can help with the kids, fix her food, get her things, the fact is that I cannot help her heal or help with the pain. Rationally I know that I cannot control these things and it’s silly to even be upset about it. It’s just, this seems so major and I’m physically fine. Like, why didn’t this happen to me? She’s already had broken bones before (toes, in her other foot). Stupid thing to think about, but for some reason it just feels radically unfair that she has to suffer like this while I don’t.
She was just getting back into running - which is something she really likes to do. Now she’s going to have this set back. She has this life time goal of running a marathon, which has been interrupted a few times. Some of those times were because of pleasant things (such as our children being born) other times it’s because of unpleasant things (injuries). She really wants to complete a marathon and I want to see her complete one. I think she would get such a sense of accomplishment out of it. Now, with this, I’m nervous. I’m nervous that she might never run again or run without pain or what have you.
Yes, I am accepting help from family and friends. I do feel a bit overwhelmed as is probably obvious. I also feel like I need to keep my head down and focus at the tasks at hand - not concentrate on the months of recovery ahead.
I kind of feel better writing this stuff out. Thanks all.
Yeah - worth pursuing. Chances are, while they’ll try to claim it’s “at your own risk”, you could argue the underinflated issue, and their liability insurance won’t argue too much.
Really sorry to hear about your wife’s ankle. That’s a tough one to have broken, you can’t really do much weight-bearing on it. A friend’s daughter broke hers in a similar way (a slide at a pumpkin patch on a Girl Scout outing, of all things), walked on it for a few days, and was still in so much pain they went to the orthopedist… resulting in surgery and 6 or so weeks in some kind of boot (I think similar to the one I’m wearing for a broken foot right now).
For getting around: I would suggest you look into a Knee Walker. I rented one from Knee Walker Central, Roll-A-Bout is another provider (the rental was the same, but Knee Walker Central had free shipping). In my case I only needed it for a couple of weeks so renting made more sense than purchasing (400-500 apiece to buy) They’re typically not available at Durable Medical Equipment providers based on the phoning around I did. Insurance may or may not cover the cost.
The units are basically like a scooter with handlebars and handbrakes; the cheaper ones don’t have steering. You kneel on a platform with the bad leg and push yourself along with the good one. You do have to be careful on uneven surfaces - I nearly went ass over teakettle a couple of times when touring Salem, Massachusetts a couple weeks ago. I learned a wheelie-hop maneuver (jerking upward with the handlebars and pushing up with the good foot to help the front wheel over the bump).
They’re hard on the knee you’re kneeling on, but a lot more stable than crutches especially if you can’t bear any weight on the foot.
Oooh - and in case the medical folks forget to tell you: I did not know until this injury, but ibuprofen and the other NSAIDs are now implicated in delaying bone healing. The tests were pretty dramatic in rats, and while it isn’t as severe in humans, there is evidence it slows things a little. So she’ll need to stick with Tylenol for a bit, I’m afraid.
What I’m taking away from these is that intermittent use shouldn’t have much of an effect but long-term use might. Smoking is implicated far more (dunno if your wife smokes) per some of those links.
I had found links saying that rats in trials had major impact (as in, some never healed… poor ratties :().
I think the mechanism is thought to be that it suppresses inflammation, which is actually a necessary response for bone healing. Anyway, I’d use them with caution right now.
How’s she feeling now? Broken bones HURT, dammit. I hope she’s able to get by without pins, which would be an annoyance :(. I can imagine the frustration you must have felt to have to send her off by herself. On the bright side, at least she wasn’t on her own with the kids when it happened, you were there to take them while she got the help she needed.
And one bit of completely unsolicited advice… at some point, she’ll feel enough better to start pushing herself, activity-wise. Discourage this at least at first. I started feeling pretty decent, 10 days out, and was on my feet more than I should. Always with cane, and always with the aircast (orthopedic boot), and not very far - think parking near the front door of a store, walking in perhaps 50 feet to grab something, then heading out…
After 2-3 such errands, this led to me being in as much pain as the day I broke it :eek::smack:. I actually went back to the doctor, CERTAIN that I’d dislodged the healing bones. Fortunately not the case. But it was a painful object lesson.
Have you looked into a temporary handicapped hangtag? The ortho’s office should be pretty familiar with the paperwork for that and as your wife becomes more mobile, she will find it useful. I got one - have used it maybe 3-4 times when there wasn’t regular parking close enough.
