A Fractured Hip (or "A Month on the Couch")
My name is Alex, I'm 28 years old, and I broke my hip 6 weeks ago.
For those that have seen me since then, I apologize since you're already heard this story before. For posterity, I need to capture my memory of this, and what I've learned so far, and this blog seemed most appropriate.
About 3 months ago, I started working at a great startup in Cincinnati. We are lucky enough to work in Over-the-Rhine, a transitional neighborhood in Cincinnati that's basically part of downtown, so when we have meetings anywhere in the downtown area, we just bike there. Easy. Sure, the city isn't loaded with bikers, and sure, the sidewalks are super small (if one particular road isn't so bike-friendly), but it works well, and is preferable to worrying about finding and paying for parking.
On this particular day, I was headed to a startup pitch event at Paul Brown Stadium, which is downtown, about a mile away from our office. I spent the entire morning debating if I wanted to ride a bike or drive and park. There were discounted parking rates, but biking would probably be easier. Unfortunately, I decided to ride a bike that day. And, unfortunately, while I was riding there, I decided to veer left instead of right when passing a parking ramp (where the sidewalk ended). Going right led me right onto a sewer grate that I didn't see. One that happened to have openings parallel to the street, allowing my bike wheel to easily slip into it.
I fell. It was not my first time falling off of a bike, and it wasn't especially traumatic. I fell, and I got up and shook it off, and was about to get back on, when I realized that putting weight on my left side was kind of awful. My leg is broken, I thought. I'm going to be in a wheelchair for the next 6 months. Some nice people who saw me fall helped me over to a bench, where I called my wife to give her a heads up that I probably broke my leg, and then I called my coworkers to see if they could take me to the hospital. They did and were super awesome about it.
This would soon be on my arm.
A lot happened in the next couple of hours, but basically, I made it to the ER, I had my leg x-rayed, found out my hip was fractured, and then, was finally given some serious painkillers that made everything a little more bearable. Eventually, when I arrived in my actual room (where I'd be for the next 4 days), a dry-erase board on the wall told me that I was finished biking for the day. In reality, it'd be a few months longer.
I was not happy when this entered the room.
I had surgery. I was told that my injuries were serious, and that recovery would take up to a year, and would not only forever be reminded of my injury when going through airport security, but every time the season changes (for reasons the doctor couldn't explain). I had to walk around and was told that I could put all of my weight on the left leg even though that kind of sucked. I had to painfully get around at my house for the next two weeks with a walker. I had to sit on a chair while taking a shower. I really couldn't do much of anything, except painfully get from the couch to the bathroom to the bed, which was all that I did for about two weeks.
ChoreMonster care package included a Finn hat. Loved it.
I was in a bad place. My wife was taking care of me and doing everything in the house, and for some reason I can't quite explain, things seemed extremely dire, and I realized how I've taken washing dishes or making a pot of coffee for granted. The misery of being awake and unproductive was terrible, and the fact that I couldn't sleep at all at night made it even worse. There was no escaping it--this was going to be it for a while.
If you're reading this and thinking "man, it could have been a lot worse", or even "this guy is totally having a pity party for himself", you're right. I realized that about a month after everything happened. I definitely lost about three weeks of my life that I won't get back. I still regret making the decisions that I made that day leading me to fall. I did start to see the bright side of things though: the day that I fell was the first day that I was covered by health insurance (it lapsed when I changed jobs), and I had recently moved into an apartment that's one floor--no stairs. Plus, I have an amazing wife that helped me physically and mentally get through everything. A lot of people aren't so lucky, and even in the same circumstances, they'd have a much more challenging recovery.
These staples held my skin together. Gross.
I'm still in physical therapy. I'm still using a cane, although I'm told that I'll be off of it in another week or so (at least for short distances). It's going to be a challenge getting my strength back up for at least the next 6 months, more likely a year, but I definitely learned to be a lot more positive. I'll take that with me for the rest of my life. And I can't wait to ride a bike again.
If a young person with a fractured hip finds this on Google someday, just know that it's not that bad, but that you're going to be working on it for a long time. Post-surgery, things will look really crappy, but eventually, you'll be walking with crutches, and then a cane, and things won't be so bad. Plus, physical therapy is a great excuse to start going to the gym regularly.
tl;dr I broke my hip 6 weeks ago. Gained a positive outlook on my life, and learned to not take things like walking or doing the dishes for granted.