The day was a cold and dreary Sunday. Clouds hovered overhead all day long threatening rain. The wind blew little white flowers off the tree in our neighbor's back yard. Lindsay and I decided to go out on our back stoop to sit and talk, like we've done a million times before. The stoop leads to a pea gravel area surrounded by a fence (to keep the dogs in).
Lindsay has a pair of forearm crutches and she decided to use them because they left her arms free to do things. We sat with each other and talked about our life, what's coming next, and how we're going to handle everything. A few sprinkles found their way to us and we decided to go inside before it started really raining. Lindsay started to get up on her one foot and grabbed the crutches and put them on. She lifted herself onto the stoop and reached one hand toward the house for support. One of the crutches slipped on the wet pavement and her body twisted in an attempt to right herself, the crutches, still attached to her forearms became tangled in her body. Her amputated leg was right over the stoop. Then she fell toward me and her stump landed square on the stoop taking all of her weight. She let out a scream and her body began collapsing. I tried to grab under her amputated leg to protect it and ended up cradling her in my arms. I let her head down gently onto the pea gravel and lifted her legs up. She was on her back screaming and crying, her eyes rolled back in her head a bit and she had a hard time catching her breath between the screams and cries. She grabbed for her amputated leg and let out a wail while asking, "Is it bleeding, is it bleeding?". We started to unwrap the Ace wraps that were wrapped around her stump looking for signs of fresh blood. My heart started racing as she continued to cry and scream, "It hurts, it hurts!!".
Just then the rain started coming down without any warning. I could see droplets falling on her shirt and felt the drops falling on my back. Between the two of us we got the Ace wraps off and got down to the dressing. She pulled her stump toward herself and looked at the end of the stump. There was only dried blood from the days before. No fresh blood. She screamed again and more tears flooded out of her eyes and down the sides of her head. The rain kept pelting us with big thunderstorm type drops. I wanted to see if she could get up but had no idea on how to help her. I felt helpless. She started rolling from side to side holding her amputated leg. I took out my phone and dialed 9-1-1.
The operator asked me where the emergency was taking place and I gave her our address. She asked what the nature of the emergency was and I told her that my wife just had her leg amputated a week ago and she fell right on it. The operator assured me that the ambulance and fire truck were already on their way. She kept me on the phone, asking me questions about Lindsay's consciousness and if there was any other injury from the fall. I answered her questions holding the phone in one hand and placing my other hand on Lindsay's thigh so she knew I was still there.
Within 5 minutes, which felt like an eternity, I heard the sirens down the street. The noise grew louder and the rain grew stronger. Our shirts were becoming soaked and Lindsay continued to writhe in pain. The paramedics arrived and went into the front of the house and the kids, who had no idea what had happened, saw the first responders and were taken by surprise. I heard the dogs barking their "warning" barks and went into the house to get them away from the paramedics. The operator had told the paramedics that we were on the west side of the house. I made my way back to Lindsay and as I got to her a couple of paramedics were arriving with a stretcher. The stretcher was having a hard time in the wet, muddy grass so they stopped it on the other side of the fence and went through the little fence doorway to Lindsay. They knelt down beside her and began to assess her injury, asking if she hit her head, asking her her name, asking her the day. She answered all of the questions correctly. The paramedics decided the stretcher wouldn't fit though the fence doorway and produced a small red tarp with handles on the ends. They rolled Lindsay to the right and placed the tarp under her back then rolled back to the left and onto the tarp. Two paramedics grabbed the handles and lifted Lindsay off the ground. They brought her through the fence doorway and placed her gently on the stretcher. They decided that they would have a man at each corner of the stretcher in order to move it safely through the rain soaked grass. Two firemen and two paramedics took their places and got the stretcher moving.
They rolled the stretcher to the ambulance and I followed behind. We were having a church friend come over to help with some vacuuming and she had just arrived. She stood on the sidewalk and watched as they rolled Lindsay by her, a look of disbelief in our friend's eyes. By the time they got Lindsay into the back of the ambulance the kids had come out onto the driveway. Our friend cradled Ava in her arms giving her a side hug. Ava's hands were over her mouth. Ella was there in her power wheelchair trying to get a look at her mommy. I put my hand on Ella's head and told her that mommy would be all right and they just had to check her for injuries. Henry was at a birthday party and had been driven by another church friend.
I was called into the ambulance to speak with Lindsay after a few minutes of the paramedics' initial assessment. It was decided that she should go to the ER just to make sure that no damage had occurred. Lindsay agreed and I told her I would follow her to the hospital. I asked our friend if she could stay while we went and she said that would be no problem, "Go!" she said, "Go!".
I arrived at the hospital and had to wait while they processed Lindsay into a room. I was called after about 10 minutes of waiting and given directions to her room. When I arrived she was lying on the bed with her stump exposed. This would be the first time either of us has seen the stump without dressings on it. The end of it was smooth and the incision was wrapped around the front of it, held together by 28 staples. Everything was intact; no blood anywhere.
The hospital took an x-ray to make sure everything inside was good and it was. Lindsay was given 2 doses of very powerful pain meds and we waited for the bureaucracy of an ER to make its course. We were there for 2+ hours. They redressed the stump and sent us on our way.
Lindsay was in significant pain throughout the night and into the next day. She had an appointment with her orthopedic surgeon the next day and he couldn't believe that nothing happened to the stump given the sheer force that was thrust upon it.
Our lives are up and down these days and instead of taking everything one day at a time we are now taking everything one hour at a time. We're so grateful for the Naperville Fire Department for taking such good care of Lindsay as well as the ER doctor and nurses. We are especially grateful to our friends, who are two of many, that they were there to help take care of our kids.
Lindsay has a pair of forearm crutches and she decided to use them because they left her arms free to do things. We sat with each other and talked about our life, what's coming next, and how we're going to handle everything. A few sprinkles found their way to us and we decided to go inside before it started really raining. Lindsay started to get up on her one foot and grabbed the crutches and put them on. She lifted herself onto the stoop and reached one hand toward the house for support. One of the crutches slipped on the wet pavement and her body twisted in an attempt to right herself, the crutches, still attached to her forearms became tangled in her body. Her amputated leg was right over the stoop. Then she fell toward me and her stump landed square on the stoop taking all of her weight. She let out a scream and her body began collapsing. I tried to grab under her amputated leg to protect it and ended up cradling her in my arms. I let her head down gently onto the pea gravel and lifted her legs up. She was on her back screaming and crying, her eyes rolled back in her head a bit and she had a hard time catching her breath between the screams and cries. She grabbed for her amputated leg and let out a wail while asking, "Is it bleeding, is it bleeding?". We started to unwrap the Ace wraps that were wrapped around her stump looking for signs of fresh blood. My heart started racing as she continued to cry and scream, "It hurts, it hurts!!".
Just then the rain started coming down without any warning. I could see droplets falling on her shirt and felt the drops falling on my back. Between the two of us we got the Ace wraps off and got down to the dressing. She pulled her stump toward herself and looked at the end of the stump. There was only dried blood from the days before. No fresh blood. She screamed again and more tears flooded out of her eyes and down the sides of her head. The rain kept pelting us with big thunderstorm type drops. I wanted to see if she could get up but had no idea on how to help her. I felt helpless. She started rolling from side to side holding her amputated leg. I took out my phone and dialed 9-1-1.
The operator asked me where the emergency was taking place and I gave her our address. She asked what the nature of the emergency was and I told her that my wife just had her leg amputated a week ago and she fell right on it. The operator assured me that the ambulance and fire truck were already on their way. She kept me on the phone, asking me questions about Lindsay's consciousness and if there was any other injury from the fall. I answered her questions holding the phone in one hand and placing my other hand on Lindsay's thigh so she knew I was still there.
Within 5 minutes, which felt like an eternity, I heard the sirens down the street. The noise grew louder and the rain grew stronger. Our shirts were becoming soaked and Lindsay continued to writhe in pain. The paramedics arrived and went into the front of the house and the kids, who had no idea what had happened, saw the first responders and were taken by surprise. I heard the dogs barking their "warning" barks and went into the house to get them away from the paramedics. The operator had told the paramedics that we were on the west side of the house. I made my way back to Lindsay and as I got to her a couple of paramedics were arriving with a stretcher. The stretcher was having a hard time in the wet, muddy grass so they stopped it on the other side of the fence and went through the little fence doorway to Lindsay. They knelt down beside her and began to assess her injury, asking if she hit her head, asking her her name, asking her the day. She answered all of the questions correctly. The paramedics decided the stretcher wouldn't fit though the fence doorway and produced a small red tarp with handles on the ends. They rolled Lindsay to the right and placed the tarp under her back then rolled back to the left and onto the tarp. Two paramedics grabbed the handles and lifted Lindsay off the ground. They brought her through the fence doorway and placed her gently on the stretcher. They decided that they would have a man at each corner of the stretcher in order to move it safely through the rain soaked grass. Two firemen and two paramedics took their places and got the stretcher moving.
They rolled the stretcher to the ambulance and I followed behind. We were having a church friend come over to help with some vacuuming and she had just arrived. She stood on the sidewalk and watched as they rolled Lindsay by her, a look of disbelief in our friend's eyes. By the time they got Lindsay into the back of the ambulance the kids had come out onto the driveway. Our friend cradled Ava in her arms giving her a side hug. Ava's hands were over her mouth. Ella was there in her power wheelchair trying to get a look at her mommy. I put my hand on Ella's head and told her that mommy would be all right and they just had to check her for injuries. Henry was at a birthday party and had been driven by another church friend.
I was called into the ambulance to speak with Lindsay after a few minutes of the paramedics' initial assessment. It was decided that she should go to the ER just to make sure that no damage had occurred. Lindsay agreed and I told her I would follow her to the hospital. I asked our friend if she could stay while we went and she said that would be no problem, "Go!" she said, "Go!".
I arrived at the hospital and had to wait while they processed Lindsay into a room. I was called after about 10 minutes of waiting and given directions to her room. When I arrived she was lying on the bed with her stump exposed. This would be the first time either of us has seen the stump without dressings on it. The end of it was smooth and the incision was wrapped around the front of it, held together by 28 staples. Everything was intact; no blood anywhere.
The hospital took an x-ray to make sure everything inside was good and it was. Lindsay was given 2 doses of very powerful pain meds and we waited for the bureaucracy of an ER to make its course. We were there for 2+ hours. They redressed the stump and sent us on our way.
Lindsay was in significant pain throughout the night and into the next day. She had an appointment with her orthopedic surgeon the next day and he couldn't believe that nothing happened to the stump given the sheer force that was thrust upon it.
Our lives are up and down these days and instead of taking everything one day at a time we are now taking everything one hour at a time. We're so grateful for the Naperville Fire Department for taking such good care of Lindsay as well as the ER doctor and nurses. We are especially grateful to our friends, who are two of many, that they were there to help take care of our kids.
