...to an Australian hospital! On Sunday, Cath and I went to Canunda National Park in Southend, on the coast of South Australia, to participate in a Fairy Tern survey. It was a beautiful, sunny day, perfect for a stroll along the coast doing some bird surveying. The park ranger dropped us off at the sand dunes and we continued walking along the trail. We had walked for about five minutes when we came upon a small washout in the trail. I looked at it and told myself to be careful as I crossed it because the gravel/dirt looked a bit loose. Despite that, I still managed to slip and fall. I fell with my leg at an odd angle, with the knee bent sideways and inwards. Apparently Cath heard a pop, although I was too busy falling to notice it. When I landed I knew something was wrong, and within seconds the side of my right knee started swelling up. The pain wasn’t terrible if I didn’t move it, but because it was near lunch time and I was on an empty stomach I started to get very light headed and had to lie down and eat my granola bar to regain composure.
The one picture I got on the trip, about two minutes before I fell. It’s a miracle my camera survived and is still functional because I had it in my hand and smashed it into the ground when I fell.
Cath called the park ranger and he came back to pick us up. Cath drove me to the hospital. When I got out of the car I heard another pop. Maybe if something had popped out of place before it was now popped back in? While we waited to see a doctor, I had to call the Naracoorte park guides to ask them to go into my room at the bunkhouse, get my Medicare card, and read me the numbers. I hadn’t taken my wallet with me so I didn’t have my card, which apparently was a problem. Luckily they found it and that was all squared away. From now on I’m definitely going to carry my Medicare card with me wherever I go! We waited for about an hour and then I was taken in to see the doctor. He poked and prodded my leg and asked me if twisting this way hurt, if pulling on this hurt, etc. Well yeah it did! He said he thought it was either a ligament strain or tear or a crack in the meniscus. He put a compression bandage on the knee and gave me crutches to use (the first time I’ve ever had to use crutches, oh joy). I had an appointment scheduled with another doctor in Naracoorte for Tuesday, so he told me to have her take a look at it then and go from there. I went out to the reception desk to pay, handed over my Medicare card, and that was that! So easy!
I’ve spent the past two days hobbling around on crutches and hopping around in my room. It has definitely made me more aware of the fact that I’m living alone. How do people who REALLY live alone (at least I have a support network with the park people) deal with situations like this? My knee feels much better today (Tuesday) but still a little sore and swollen. I went to the doctor in Naracoorte this afternoon, and she still wants me to get an x-ray and an ultrasound to check for ligament tears or a cracked meniscus. Unfortunately I have to go to Mt. Gambier, which is about an hour away, to get them. I’m going to call the clinic tomorrow and hopefully get in within the next few days. Until then I’ll keep hoping for more improvement! And I’ll be using this down time to catch up on analyzing some bat counts that have been piling up...
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