A Whirl Windy Five Days

Photo on L = normal right wrist / Photo on R = Tim's broken (& dislocated) right wrist

Sunday, Family Day for the Wards at Kaiser, Room 407

Cast of Characters:

• Tim Ward
• a dirtbike
• a trailer
• various hospital staff

Settings:

• Tim's new warehouse
• Kaiser Permanente
• NOT Hawaii
• our psyches

Time Period:

• 11 days before our VERY FIRST EVER 'faraway' vacation as a family

Plot:

• How to remain thankful amidst a major change of plans

This is one of those stories where the stars just do NOT align. But the dust has settled and we are ready to be thankful.

WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday, November 13th, between 3 and 4 pm, Tim called to say that instead of heading home for dinner he was en route to the hospital because he was pretty sure he'd just broken his wrist. After washing his dirtbike at the warehouse, he was riding the bike to put it away when his footpeg (okay, for you riders out there, it was technically the fork that) hit the trailer. The bike (and his right thumb) stopped while the rest of his body went over the handle bars.

Kraig in front, Tim scheming to pass

X-rays were taken, a Physician's Assistant, with help from some nurses, wrenched Tim's dislocated wrist back into place, wrapped a full arm cast over the broken bone, scheduled surgery for 10 days away - the soonest 'opening', tried to deal with 4 of us visitors, Dawson, Luke, friend Kraig and me (allowing only one at a time in Tim's room?!) and finally sent him home with pain meds.


And a special to nod here to Kraig who has remained an amazing friend to Tim - helping to find and build the best bikes, has overcome his loathe for hospitals more than once to be there for Tim and who is now left without a riding partner for the rest of this season. So very sorry!


THURSDAY
Adjusting to life as a temporary Leftie. Tim's right hand (the part peeking out of the cast anyway) was so swollen, his fingers looked like sausages and there were no discernible knuckles. He was also feeling lots of tingling and weird nerve fires along his arm. Tim and I made a trip back to the ER to see about releasing pressure from the cast.  A new set of Physician Assistant and nurses cut a slit along the whole underside of his cast which gave immediate relief but another restless night.

I spent this day phone calling, cajoling, begging, and pleading with Costco Travel, the hotel and airline, on how to rearrange a week long family vacation due to an 'unplanned event'. The moral of this story - let's all say it together in unison...ALWAYS BUY TRIP INSURANCE especially if you're married to Tim live-life-out-loud Ward. You cannot imagine the amazing endorsement I could provide to Travel Guard right now.

FRIDAY
The swelling and pressure was unbearable again. Tim couldn't move his fingers at all and the skin on his hand was tight and spongy, filled taut with fluid. We shoved a lego piece inside the slit to try and keep it pried further. He trekked alone to a different Kaiser location this time, for orthopedic issues in particular, where they cut another slit along the top side of the cast. Tim said this waiting room, full of arm and leg casts, was ripe with one-upsman stories and lots of jokes. While sitting with his arm up in the air, in cooperation with gravity to pull swelling from his hand, he heard someone from across the room say, 'Yes! Your vote counts!' Gratefully, no plaster could quell the funny bones in that place.

SATURDAY MORNING
After coaching Luke's soccer game (very mildly and with his arm in a sling the whole time, I promise - I was there!), Tim noticed a water blister on his thumb just under the cast. We cut open his cast once we arrived home to find blisters all over his arm. Weirdness and alarming. Straight back to the original ER only to be told that the blisters are a common occurrence for extreme swelling = that fluid has to go somewhere. Ugh! But the new cause for concern - after the FOURTH day in a row of hospital visits - was possible nerve damage from all the swelling. Ummm. The staff finally agrees to admit him immediately and surgery happens at 11pm this day instead of 7 days later as originally scheduled. Alrighty then.

Since he wasn't coming home, I drove to the hospital to give Tim some food (which he couldn't eat before surgery) and sit with him for pre-op. He shooshed me out eventually, uncomfortable with the whole care-receiving routine but not before I convinced the doctors to call me once he was out of surgery.

SUNDAY MORNING
The phone rang at 3:30am Sunday. The surgeon said things went well but he had to make 2 incisions, one, alongside his wrist, to put the plate and 6 screws in and another, at the base of his palm, to treat the nerve damage issue which he described being the same as carpal tunnel syndrome. He also told me, although fine to go home that same day, he wasn't going to release Tim until the NEXT day, Monday, since he'd gathered from all caretakers up to this point, that Tim is not the kind of guy who will go straight home to put his feet up while recovering.

This plan to 'cage' Tim worked - and the 3 of us spent Sunday with him in the hospital room. These are the pics in the collage above (except for the bottom left pic with full arm cast, taken on Thursday). Emily the nurse fed Tim a steady diet of preventative pain meds all day while we flipped through tv channels, made a trip to the cafeteria, talked and played 'Heads Up' on Luke's iPod (the Ellen DeGeneres version). You absolutely MUST have this app. It is worth so much more than $.99. OMG.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heads-up!/id623592465?mt=8

I LOVED that Sunday together. I wasn't the one in physical pain and we got to be together, no sports or other activities involved, just the four of us, together, in one room. One of my favorite days in a long time.

We were able to reschedule our Hawaii trip for Spring break at the end of March. So that leaves us with a pretty wide open holiday week, with lots of quiet white space to fill - or not. Extremely thankful that the injury wasn't worse. Tim said he learned that sitting still doesn't make the world fall apart. This really is a huge admission for someone who doesn't love quiet or sitting still.

Currently, Tim has no feeling in his thumb or index finger (but can move them). Hopefully those nerves will eventually work properly. He will remain in a cast for 6 more weeks, has lots of stitches to remove and physical therapy to endure. Not likely that he will have 100% full use of that right wrist ever again but the surgeon thinks it will be close.

And in case you're wondering, I DID purchase trip insurance for the rescheduled trip in March.

Onward to more recuperating.