Almost two weeks ago now, on Friday, February 17th, I fell down our stairs and dislocated my shoulder. Brad, Annie, and I were getting ready to go to our friend's house for dinner. Brad was packing the car, and I had been nursing Annie upstairs in her nursery. Annie and I were all finished so we headed downstairs.
We were two steps from the bottom when I slipped on my new boots and went down. It all happened so fast so I am still not entirely sure what happened. But, based on my injuries and bruises, I think that I must have been holding Annie in my right arm like usual and holding onto the railing with my left hand. I am always so careful when going down our stairs because they are steep and wooden and scary! I probably hit my left back side, as in my love handle first, then hit my left elbow on a stair which caused my left shoulder to pop out of its socket.
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| It's hard to tell, but this is my shoulder out of socket. |
During the fall, I think I probably transferred Annie to my left arm trying to catch myself. Unfortunately, as soon as my shoulder dislocated, she went falling out of my arms. Even though it all happened so fast, it felt like slow motion when she was falling. I'm pretty sure that she flipped over out of my arms towards the ground. I tried to catch her, but my arm wasn't working obviously. She hit the hardwoods mostly on her back and a little bit on the back of her head / shoulder. Immediately, she started crying, and I snatched her up and called out for Brad.
He came running from the garage, and I passed Annie off to him. Very quickly, she calmed down and he checked her out. She seemed okay, praise God! A few minutes later she was even talking and smiling. I think she was mostly shaken up and then reacting to how I reacted.
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| Again, hard to tell but my shoulder is out here too |
It was immediately clear that my shoulder was dislocated, and I was in a lot of pain. So, instead of going to dinner, the 3 of us packed up and headed to the ER. We called every orthopedic doctor that we knew but no one could see us since it was after hours on a Friday night. I checked in at the St. Vincent's ER while Brad and Annie stayed in the parking lot. I didn't want her exposed to any terrible germs. The ER was slammed and had standing room only.
Thankfully, my Dad and Jeffrey are in Boy Scouts with the head administrator of Trinity Hospital. He was able to tell us that it was not crowded and that he could help us get in quickly. Apparently, all the other ER's in the city were just as busy as St. Vincent's. So, we headed to Trinity and were admitted to a room quickly.
Mom and Dad met us as well as Emily. Emily was wonderful and immediately headed back to our house with Annie because at this point it was already her bedtime. They had a great night together playing and eating! Emily took over seamlessly which gave me such peace of mind! Annie had a great night and went to bed easily for her :) Thank you Aunt Emmie!!
Meanwhile, it took almost 4 more hours in the ER to get xrays, see a doctor, and get my shoulder popped back in. Good thing the pain wasn't that bad.
The xrays confirmed that my shoulder was dislocated, but thankfully, there were no fractures or problems with my elbow (which was swollen and hurting) or arm bones. I was in pain but it was bearable. I took a very small, child's dose of Loratab - I'm not one for much pain medicine because of the way it makes me feel - and then they gave me a small dose of morphine through an IV before they did the relocation. The IV was the worst part just as I imagined. Every time that I have ever given blood, had blood drawn, or had an IV, it has always been awful!! Apparently, my veins are not very good. The first poke blew my vein and left me with a huge bruise for a week. Thankfully, the second poke was successful.
The IV was started just in case the pain was too much during the relocation. If I couldn't handle it, then they were going to "put me under" for a quick 5 minutes.
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| We actually had a nice night together even though it was under bad circumstances! |
Thankfully, it was not bad at all and felt so good as soon as the shoulder was back in place!
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| Right after my shoulder was set! Feeling much better! |
Around 11:30, we were finally able to head home. Thank you to Mom and Dad who kept us company and brought Chick-Fil-A for dinner in the ER as well as to Emily for taking such great care of Annie!
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| Ready to go home! |
My shoulder was very weak and sore for the next couple of days. Thankfully, I was able to take it easy over the weekend, and Brad helped me lift Annie and take care of her! With each day, the soreness and range of motion has gotten much better and the bruises have all but healed at this point. I have been so thankful that the injury for me was not worse and most especially that Annie was not hurt at all. It was so scary! Thank you Lord!
I went to the doctor today for a follow-up visit just to make sure that everything is healing correctly. I was disappointed to hear that after a shoulder dislocation, your shoulder cannot heal perfectly on its own. There is always a little lip of tissue that prevents the shoulder from being completely back in place. Unfortunately, the rate of dislocation again is very high. Laparoscopic surgery may be inevitable, but I hope not! The doctor said I can wait for 6-12 weeks to allow my shoulder to fully heal and see how it is doing at that point. I am going to pray that I will not need surgery!
Overall, I am thankful that the Lord protected Annie and me and that my pain and healing has not been that bad!
