Man Down!

Blessings Darlings!

I have a VERY good first aid kit.  Full boxes of face masks and bandages and other supplies, full bottles of alcohol and such, lots of pressure wraps, 1st aid book, arm slings, eye patches, etc.

Yesterday it came into use.

I was outside hanging laundry. The Chubby Hubby decided he wanted breakfast, came up to the kitchen to pour a bowl of cereal/etc.  Discovering he was too low on cereal for a full bowl, he headed down to my office to grab a fresh box of cereal. Box in hand, he hurried back upstairs ...

and tripped on the stairs.  Landing hard and at an awkward position on his right leg - momentum making that awkward knee/leg alignment taking even more of an impact than his already too-substantial weight.  Pain ensued.

I came back in at this point, finding him gasping in pain.  Quick evaluation - whatever it is, we don't have a car to get it X-rayed right now. He didn't hear a pop (he wouldn't have, even if there WAS on, his hearing rather sucks), nor did he feel a pop (better evidence than his hearing).  RICE is clearly called for - Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.  He agreed to only some of that.  He can't work in the lab with Elevation, but I can be his servant for getting things (rest), I grabbed compression wraps from the 1st aid kit and snugly wrapped the knee (compression), and I filled a bag with crushed ice and tied it on to his knee.  And he grabbed some NSAIDs.

The compression made an IMMEDIATE difference in how the knee felt when moved.  And the knee didn't hurt when NOT being moved or when NOT bent.  He also didn't feel anything inside 'rubbing oddly' or 'rolling around' when moving.

Today the knee is not as painful when bent.  He's still avoiding bending it, it's been re-wrapped for compression after his shower, etc.  There is no 'unsteadiness' in walking on it when unwrapped.  So he PROBABLY didn't tear anything.

It seems to me that being able to immediately compression wrap the knee made a huge difference.   It didn't swell, complicating anything.  It made the CH feel better - always a good thing.  I didn't have the stress of knowing what to do but NOT having the supplies on hand, nor a car to get the supplies.  Biking or walking to the store could have been done, but being cash-strapped just now buying the supplies would have been another stress.

Also, I just got off of chat with NARIC, the National Rehabilitation Information Center.  They are a not-very-well-known font of information and referrals.  I only know about them because some of folks there are friends of mine. If you need info on ANY sort of rehab issues, they are the folks to ask. 

Clearly this 'event' is not yet over.  But at least it seems to be moving in the right direction.

Frondly, Fern