On Tuesday, I sat cross legged on the bed while Brad and Tam got work done. My hip hurt a little, like a 2 on the pain scale. On Wednesday it was still the same soreness. I didn’t think too much about it.
Yesterday was a really fun day! Tam and I went on errands together! We went to H&R Block, dropped stuff off at the thrift store, walked around the thrift store, went to lunch, and went to Walmart. I only walked into H&R Block and sat down right away, and was only in the thrift store about 20 minutes without my wheelchair. I walked into Jay Birds Diner for lunch, and used the store cart in Walmart. So I really didn’t walk that much.
Tam and I had a lot of fun doing our errands together! It was a really fun day! We took pictures in Jay Bird’s Diner of us. One picture of me in a sage dress with the necklace my dad bought me at the museum in Nashville (blog entry about that coming soon), one picture of Tam in all black with her hair swept across her head beautifully, and one picture of us sharing a milkshake. We enjoyed sending pictures of us to Brad, he he he!
When we got home, I noticed I was getting sorer and sorer in my hip. It got so bad I could hardly walk. Sitting down was excruciating, as was getting up, crossing my legs, or doing any type of twisting. My pain levels were up to 7 and 8 when doing those things.
I figured I’d take my Celebrex and some Tylenol, and Tam rubbed Tiger Balm on it. Then I went to bed and hoped it’d be all better in the morning.
Well, I woke up about every 1–2 hours during the night due to pain. I finally got out of bed at 6AM. I tried to think about what to do about my hip, and by 6:45 I had come to the conclusion that it would be best for me to go to the doctor today before the weekend rush. It was also really early and raining, so I knew the ER wouldn’t be too busy. I figured Tam and Brad like to sleep in, so I’d just drive myself.
I looked up the appointment times at the Rock Hill vs Ft. Mill hospitals. I was already planning to go to Ft. Mill since Tam got such better treatment there when she was ill than at the Rock Hill one. At 6:45AM, the Rock Hill hospital’s first appointment time was 9AM. The Ft. Mill one was 6:45 AM.
So I got ready to go and was going to just leave a note and drive myself, but figured Brad would be mad if I did that. So I woke him and told him I was taking myself to the ER. He said no, he wanted to drive me, and I said no I would drive myself. He said no because they might give me something that wouldn’t let me drive. So I said he could go back to sleep and we’d go later.
Then I looked up Uber and it was only $15 for a ride to the hospital. So I went in there to tell him I would just Uber there and back, and he was already getting out of bed! I was mad that he was going to lose sleep over it, but by that point there wasn’t anything I could do.
So I just had to wait for him to get ready. We didn’t want to wake Tam, so we just left her a note and headed out the door around 9AM. We got to the ER about 10 minutes later, and pretty much the instant I was done checking in, they called me in to check my vitals. Then I had to go to the restroom, and as I got back, before I could sit back down, they were calling me back for triage!
They put me in a curtained off area with chairs, not beds. There was just enough room for me and Brad in there. It was very tight. The doctor talked with me in triage, so it was just a matter of waiting for the X-ray room to be ready for me and them to decide what to do.
Everyone was super nice! I had Brad hold Felix during the X-ray because I knew they’d have me move my hip in uncomfortable positions and I wasn’t sure I could hold him adequately. Plus Felix was a bit stressed in the hospital, so I thought he’d be more comfy staying with Brad. And boy was I right, the X-ray was so painful since I was moving my hips around for good images.
My X-ray showed that I didn’t have any bone damage, just mild arthritic damage which is what it normally shows. They said I probably pulled a muscle in my hip area. So they came and told me they’d give me a steroid shot, a pain shot, and some muscle relaxers. Normally I say no to steroid shots as I’m concerned they might affect my bipolar disorder. I’ve never had one before for that reason. But I was in so much pain I said to heck with it, and just got the shot.
Just as the nurse was about to give me my meds and shots, at 10:15 (about an hour after we arrived at the ER), the person across from me fell out of their chair and onto the floor. They were behind a curtain as were we, but we could see and hear a bit. They seemed to be in more distress than me, so my meds got delayed which I was totally OK with. I was just concerned about the man.
At 10:45, they came back and gave me my meds and shots, and we were out of there and home by about 11AM. So it was a very quick and good experience. All the nurses were great, as was the doctor. Everyone was totally accepting of Felix. Felix handled everything like a total champ. And in the end, I was glad Brad was there with me.
Brad got two pictures of me with Felix in the ER. They are below. I am wearing the same thing as the day before just without the necklace.
I was very happy to be home, and it turns out Tam wants to be woken up if we have to go to the hospital in the middle of the night or morning in the future. Oops! I thought she’d rather sleep! But she got a lot of stuff done while we were gone, a lot of cleaning and rearranging.
Now I’m in my big comfy chair with Felix on one side and Alice on the other. I’m pretty comfortable so long as I don’t move. But that will teach me to go out somewhere without my wheelchair again! Apparently I really do need it… I thought I was getting better, but apparently my body just can’t handle it when I walk for more than about 15 minutes at a time.
Oh and I couldn’t take my wheelchair to the hospital because I couldn’t lift it in and out of the car with my hip pain. So it will probably be a while before I can go anywhere. I have to be on pain killers and muscle relaxers for 5 days.