I got into bed. I probably took regular strength Tylenol and a regular strength ibuprofen. My nurse was male and very accommodating. He put ice on my leg all evening – 30 minutes on and 30 minutes off.
But, when we got to the end of his shift and time for me to sleep, there was no ice. In nursing homes, ice machines frequently cease to function. It was summer and that's probably exactly what happened. Either that, or someone did not want to get more ice for poor me who had a very bruised and swollen right knee, shin and leg.
I tried to go to sleep. I eventually took a Benadryl to help me. I have nothing else stronger to take. I was awake every little whip stitch all night long.
An aide who takes care of me who has a sort of acid tongue, told me, "It's just a bruise!" I looked at her like she did not understand.
But she did help me by bringing me cold compresses to put on my very sore leg. They helped and even allowed me to drop off to sleep for about two hours.
I could not sleep very well and took pain medicine as often as I could.
By morning I got up like usual. While I was in the bathroom using the toilet, I could see my leg and knee. It looked like I had a bowling ball on the inside of my right knee. It looked horribly black and blue and so swollen. I felt like the Incredible Hulk because it looked like it was swelling as I was looking at it.
When I stood up, with assistance, to transfer after being washed up, I could not do it. I was hurting too badly. My nurse said to put me in bed. Of course, being TOLD got me to crying and generally feeling sorry for myself and mad about the fact that the new power chair, not set up correctly, had caused me to be injured.
But my aide for the day was an almost 60, female who had had lots of hospital, clinic, and other medical experience. She decided it was going to be a good day and I had a better one than I thought.
She iced my leg during her whole shift – 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off. While I had my legs elevated in bed, the swelling went down. But, I was still in terrible pain.
The mobile x-ray unit showed up not long after breakfast. The x-ray tech looked at my leg with a look that said OMG under her breath. She took four x-rays. But it came back that nothing was broken. It was just severely bruised.
Icing it really helped me. It allowed me to calm down and it did relieve the pain. I didn't ask for anything stronger to take. With my constipation problems, I would be afraid to do that.
I spent the whole day in bed.
In the afternoon the vendor's tech showed up. He said he was going to adjust the speed and sensitivity on the chair. I had to let him. I'm sure they thought the chair got away from me, instead of the fact that my hand could not move because I did not have enough strength to raise it.
I thanked the tech. I was still upset about the joystick's position.. The tech said nothing about returning to further adapt the joystick.
The next day I emailed the vendor to let him know what happened. I'm sure a nursing home staffer had already let him know.
But I had to use the chair. And I had to be careful doing it. I was already hurt. I did not want to get hurt again.
I was pretty shook up about ramming my shin. I wondered how badly I hurt myself. I second-guessed not going to the emergency room. But I did not want to be stuck there for hours only to have them tell me it was just badly bruised.
I got into bed. I probably took regular strength Tylenol and a regular strength ibuprofen. My nurse was male and very accommodating. He put ice on my leg all evening – 30 minutes on and 30 minutes off.
But, when we got to the end of his shift and time for me to sleep, there was no ice. In nursing homes, ice machines frequently cease to function. It was summer and that's probably exactly what happened. Either that, or someone did not want to get more ice for poor me who had a very bruised and swollen right knee, shin and leg.
I tried to go to sleep. I eventually took a Benadryl to help me. I have nothing else stronger to take. I was awake every little whip stitch all night long.
An aide who takes care of me who has a sort of acid tongue, told me, "It's just a bruise!" I looked at her like she did not understand.
But she did help me by bringing me cold compresses to put on my very sore leg. They helped and even allowed me to drop off to sleep for about two hours.
I could not sleep very well and took pain medicine as often as I could.
By morning I got up like usual. While I was in the bathroom using the toilet, I could see my leg and knee. It looked like I had a bowling ball on the inside of my right knee. It looked horribly black and blue and so swollen. I felt like the Incredible Hulk because it looked like it was swelling as I was looking at it.
When I stood up, with assistance, to transfer after being washed up, I could not do it. I was hurting too badly. My nurse said to put me in bed. Of course, being TOLD got me to crying and generally feeling sorry for myself and mad about the fact that the new power chair, not set up correctly, had caused me to be injured.
But my aide for the day was an almost 60, female who had had lots of hospital, clinic, and other medical experience. She decided it was going to be a good day and I had a better one than I thought.
She iced my leg during her whole shift – 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off. While I had my legs elevated in bed, the swelling went down. But, I was still in terrible pain.
The mobile x-ray unit showed up not long after breakfast. The x-ray tech looked at my leg with a look that said OMG under her breath. She took four x-rays. But it came back that nothing was broken. It was just severely bruised.
Icing it really helped me. It allowed me to calm down and it did relieve the pain. I didn't ask for anything stronger to take. With my constipation problems, I would be afraid to do that.
I spent the whole day in bed.
In the afternoon the vendor's tech showed up. He said he was going to adjust the speed and sensitivity on the chair some. I had to let him. I'm sure they thought the chair got away from me, instead of the fact that my hand could not move because I did not have enough strength to raise it.
I thanked the tech. I was still upset about the joystick's position.. The tech said nothing about returning to further adapt the joystick.
The next day I emailed the vendor to let him know what happened. I'm sure a nursing home staffer had already let him know.
But I had to use the chair. And I had to be careful doing it. I was already hurt. I did not want to get hurt again.
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