Debbie's down again...

Debbie's down again ... but nothing serious this time.  On Thursday afternoon she was in our kitchen with the dogs, let her guard down for just a second, and then took a tumble when two dogs jumped on her from behind.  It was scary for her, though, because it was painful and she was afraid she'd rebroken her left knee (the one that she broke in May 2016).  So off to the emergency room we went...

After living her for four years, I'm not sure why we're still surprised at this ... but we were.  We walked into the ER, Debbie on crutches.  We were checked in immediately by a very friendly (of course) clerk.  We waited for three and a half minutes, and then an ER nurse called us in.  In under five minutes, the ER doctor – cheerful and confident – carefully questioned us about what happened, checked Debbie over, verified that no pain meds were needed, and ordered a set of X-rays.  A bubbly, friendly radiology intern came over to get Debbie less than five minutes later.  The X-ray equipment is state-of-the-art, with all electronic imaging – we were out of there in three minutes.  Back to the ER, where a couple of minutes later the ER doc was back and showing us Debbie's X-rays.  There was no visible bone break; at the very worst she has a hairline crack invisible on the X-ray, and he thought that was unlikely.  The main symptom he had to go on was some very localized pain, which was consistent with an injury to either one particular ligament or (less likely) the meniscus (the cartilage “washer” inside the knee joint).  He asked again about pain meds, we declined, and then we were off with a “If it’s not better in a couple of weeks, see your GP.”  Huge relief for both of us (but especially for Debbie) that there was no bone breakage.

The overall experience at that ER was so different than the (unfortunately many) visits we've made to California ERs.  Friendly, competent, cheerful people.  No long waits.  No giant waiting rooms filled with people who should have gone to a clinic or their GP.  No triage (with no queue, it's not needed!).  Spotless, organized ER rooms.  Top-notch, modern, working equipment in every room.  No feeling that you're actually a resident of an impoverished third-world country.

I've been busy the past couple of days taking care of Debbie and the animals (with some help on the latter from our friend Michelle H.).  She already looks better to me, getting around the house pretty easily on the crutches, and able to put some weight on her left leg without pain.  Hopefully this incident will be behind us very soon...