Step away from the boat....

Or actually, step INTO the boat.....stepping away from the boat is what got me in trouble to begin with.  This summer we were at the lake house.  In fact, I think it was the first time we had gotten there all summer.  On Saturday Eric, Raechyl and Adam went fishing and they ALL caught some pretty big large mouth bass but Adam had caught "BIG DADDY"....which, of course, includes bragging rights.  So Sunday morning, I told Eric that I was going to go fishing and beat that catch.....but no one wanted to go except Eric.  So he unteathered the boat as he had done a million times before and I went to get in, as I had done a million times before and for some reason, the boat started to slip away.  I had one foot on the seat and the other foot on the dock.  My choices were clear:  I could NOT jump backwards as the boat was pulling me forward so I had to jump in the boat.  However, as luck would have it, as I jumped, my foot on the seat slipped off the seat and I dove, literally, face first into the anchor.....not able to break my fall with anything.  After the initial hit, my head flung backwards as it should have.....you know - basic science.....a body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.  Well, that outside force was the anchor and it stopped me dead in my tracks.  I literally heard my face crackle.  Hands to face IMMEDIATELY as Eric continued to ask, "Are you OK?!!!!  Are you OK?!!!!!" I said nothing, just kept my face covered until the blood started pouring through my hands.  He threw me a towel and proceeded to get me out of the boat, up the dock and inside.  My nose was literally pouring blood out at the rate of a full open faucet.  After about 30 minutes of saying nothing, just scared I decided to go in and look at the damage.  When I did, I touched my nose (at the bridge) and it literally wobbled back and forth.......clue number 1 that it was definitely broken....and BAD.

So, in Eric's infinite compassion and wisdom he asks me if I needed to go to a hospital......Um, I thought, Yup.....I'm thinking my gooey floppy nose won't fix itself.  Then he asks if I wanted to go to Troy, NY Hospital (40 minutes away) or Morristown Memorial, NJ (4 HOURS away)......he KNEW we had coverage in Morristown......I opted for Troy.  A CT scan later and a confirmation of a "shattered nose and broken orbital socket" - yes, I broke my eye socket as well, not to mention ripped my left shin wide open, but there was no meat so they opted NOT to stitch but to wrap tightly to stop the bleeding and sent me off with my CT scan, my bandaged leg and towel for my STILL bleeding nose to go home.  Next day I called an ENT and went in for evaluation.  Yup, shattered nose all right.  Needed immediate surgery - next day.  There was nothing they could do for the broken orbital socket except let it heal.  This was the beginning of a VERY bad 4 weeks to follow.

The whole ordeal freaked me out.  I think it was because it was my face.  I didn't want anyone anywhere near me.  I freaked out ANY time someone or something was within 3 feet of me, so I pretty much stayed alone (far from my family and dog) for about 3 weeks which is how long it took to be able to put glasses back on and a full 6 weeks to be stable enough to blow again.

So, there you have it.  Once again, speedy gonzales got all twisted up in some sort of physical thing that , of course, resulted in yet another surgery - and that would not be my last for this summer.  Looking back, this was the worst summer in my memory.....for a multitude of reasons.  But as always, God is bigger than all this and today I am, once again, forging forward.  Not looking back because I am not going that way.  In time, ALL wounds heal, both the physical ones and the internal scars left from hurts sometimes too deep to even think about.

Until next time......