spicedogs | I was in the hospital

I was in the hospital for the past few days. On July 17, I walked (stupidly) backwards down my staircase. I thought that I reached the bottom step, but I was really on the 4th step from the bottom and landed hard on my right foot, pulling my right-calf muscle. It was the most excruciating pain in my life. It even knocked the wind from my lungs. I had to put a fan in front of me to catch my breath.

I went to work the next day, even though I could hardly walk. Although, I take a commuter train to work, and I drive to the commuter train, I sometimes need to walk about a third of a mile to my office. I am lucky enough to be within walking distance from the commuter station and my office, but sometimes the train stops so far north in the station that the walk is long. Nonetheless, like a stupid trooper, I managed to go to work.

My leg seemed to be improving, but by Friday (July 20), the improvement plateaued. It didn’t get better and didn’t get worse. On Tuesday, the pain in the leg got worse, and it even started swelling up tremendously. I made an appointment with my doctor for the next day.

At the doctor’s office, it was decided that I needed an ultrasound and an X-ray to rule out blood clots and breakage. No radiologist was available, so I was sent to the local emergency center.

When I reached the emergency center, the ultrasound and the X-ray proved negative, which was good, but my blood-sugar level (I am an isulin-dependent diabetic) was at 358 (90-110 is normal) and my white-count cells were very elevated. Bottom line was that I had an infection, and, in order to avoid a possible amputation in the future (a nightmare that always looms over diabetics), I was admitted into the hospital.

Our nearest hospital was 10-miles away. I was taken by ambulance there. So, I was in the hospital from Wednesday through Saturday.

I am feeling better now, but I am not out of the woods. I am under oral antibiotics and the leg has to get 100% better.

So here I am with my leg propped in the air while I am writing my saga. Hopefully, I’ll be able to return to work soon.