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Like with all good stories there is always a plot twist. As expected, this story will not disappoint. You may want to grab a coffee or glass of wine. This is a long one.

So, yesterday was a big day for me for several reasons. I was having my last test, the PET test. I needed to be at the hospital for 7:20 AM. An early start time especially since I went to hockey the night before and went to bed at 12:30 AM. There was about 1h of prep time prior to the actual test in the machine. The PET machine is similar to a CT Scan in that you are lying down while the scan is happening. I took advantage of this and dozed off during the 20 min scan. Lucky for me, it was done early so I was home by 9:30.

After the scan, I decided to rest a bit and catch up on some sleep. I did not realize how it was going to be necessary to deal with what happened later in the day. I knew that I had a gathering with my work buddies in the afternoon and was going to a friend’s place for dinner so I wanted to ensure I had enough energy to last the evening.

Before meeting up with my colleagues for 2:30, I needed to stop at Walmart to pick up drugs and then I went to the library to get my first library card. I had a great time catching up with my colleagues. We stayed until about 4:30 where I proceeded to visit another friend to pick up something. I got home shortly after 6:00. At this point, Mary Ann and Cassandra were at two separate soccer events: MA at her weekly game and C at her practice. Though they were not at the same place, they are basically walking distance away from each other.

Why the details are important, I will explain shortly. There has been a lot going on at our house with my diagnosis, testing and start of chemo, the kids activities, and MA’s soccer that I had not noticed how little attention MA was getting. Everyone has been showering me with attention and gifts and she was being left out. So she found a way to get attention of her own.

Back to the Friday night activities. So, to recap where we are:

• Isabelle and Geneviève are home chopping veggies for a tray to bring to our dinner party
• I had just got home from a work gathering
• Cassandra is at her soccer practice
• Mary Ann is at her soccer game

I get a call from MA as I got in the door. She informs me that she has had an accident at her game and that she has hurt her ankle badly. With that, I got into firefighter mode. I packed up the kids and the food and rushed to get MA. We got to the first dome to pick up MA, literally. She could barely walk and was in a lot of pain. Good thing she was playing with a doctor so she had good hands taking care of her along with her other soccer friends. We switched vehicles and packed MA into the van and then rushed to get Cassy at the other dome. I ran in to find her. Naturally, she was all the way at the back of the dome. We packed her in and drove to the Orleans Urgent Care clinic. It was now 7:00 PM. It was scheduled to be open until 9:00 PM so we had time, so we thought. When we got there the doors were locked as they had reached capacity. I tried to sneak in through one of the other doors but was stopped by an employee of the pharmacy next door. I told her our dilemma to see if she could help with a solution. She wanted to help but could not. She did not even tell me about the secret entrance to the clinic from the pharmacy (wink, wink, hint, hint, nudge, nudge). I picked up on the cue and rushed into the clinic. I talked to the receptionist and her first response was go away but once I explained our situation, she at least tried and talked to a doctor to see if he/she would make an exception. No dice!

Depressed but determined, we proceeded to drop off all three kids at our friend’s place, where we were to have dinner that night. They lived close to the clinic so it was very convenient. From there MA and I rushed to the nearest emergency. I had thought of going to the hospital where I have been doing all my tests and treatments but opted to go to the nearest as MA was in agony and the pot holes were too much for her to handle.

We finally got to the hospital and that is when the fun began. Not sure if April Fool’s brings out the crazies but we had our share that night. I got her checked in and moved her to the waiting room. In there, there was a mixed bag of people: loving caring people who took care of MA while I parked the car, big crazy, mentally unstable guy threatening the staff because he could not wait, whiskey alcoholic who was kicked out of rehab and needs a fix, and mom and mentally challenged daughter who took a liking to MA.

We waited to be triaged for at least an hour. During this time MA got no relief from her pain. I did my best to comfort her and protect her ankle and foot from the crazies around so that it would not be hit. Not as easy as it sounds. Not all the crazies were all bad. Mom (do not remember her name so I will call her Mom) and daughter Michelle reached out and helped distract MA. Mom overheard MA talking about her relearning how to crochet to pass the time while I would be doing chemo. She came across the waiting room and started showing MA how to crochet. The pain MA was getting would come in waves similar to her labour pains but much worse. It was funny to watch MA crochet and then cringe in pain and then continue to crochet. Both Mom and Michelle were great with MA but they would scare me with how close they would come to MA’s injury and their lack of attention towards it. We spent a good 1/2h+ with them. They were very kind and caring, almost like guardian angels.

They were in triage before us so they got through more quickly. When they left, they hugged and even kissed MA. Luckily, we were next. I carefully wheeled her into the triage room. The nurse asked me to take off her cleat. Thinking to myself, I thought that was her job. Very hesitantly, I proceeded to undo the laces and slip off her shoe. They were brand new and this was the first time she wore them (big save!). Her soccer sock and shin pad were not so lucky. We had to cut them off. New socks but old shin pad that need replacing anyway. She finished her exam and we were off to wait to be admitted. Before leaving, the nurse gave MA a little bit of Advil (nowhere near enough to put a dent in her pain) and promised to get us an ice pack.

We must have waiting for a good 30-45 min for the ice pack. I thought it would never come. While we waited to be admitted, the triage nurse decided that MA’s case was too serious and could not wait any longer. She rushed her into getting the X-rays done even though she was not admitted yet. Off we went to X-rays through the maze of crazy people. We did not wait long and MA got her X-rays done. Unfortunately we needed to go back to admitting with the crazies to wait again. Finally the ice pack came. It was the only thing close to pain relief so far. Another 1/2h later, MA was taken to the back to see a doctor as the X-rays were back. She still was not admitted yet. I almost lost it on the nurse who drove her to the back. She was obviously in a rush and had no care for MA and did not  take care to ensure that MA did not get hurt while she moved her through everyone to get to the back.

I had to stay behind so that I could admit her. 15 min later I was back with her to see her talking to the doctor. Her original prognosis was two broken bones in the ankle and a dislocation. They were going to need to put her under to set her bones and correct the dislocation. As they were preping and before I left, one of the nurses hit MA on her foot. I am sure that all you in TO and NB heard the blood curdling screams last night. Needless to say, I was escorted out at that point with the excuse that the next step would be too much for me. I think the doctor did not want me to see him bitch slap the nurse!

When I finally got back to the room, all was great in the world. The anastesia was wearing off and the drugs had kicked in. MA was In a great mood and her foot was in a temporary cast. The doctor called for one more X-ray while he checked on an ortho consult. With the X-ray done, luck was finally on our side. The Orthopedic surgeon was in and would be able to see her soon. When we got back to the room after the X-ray, we did not realize he was already there. He came and chatted with us on the next steps. There was only one bone broken, the fibula. Though the joint was put back to a proper alignment so that her foot no longer turned outwards in a gross way, it was not perfect so surgery is needed to put in a plate to set it properly. The drawback though was that it could not be done tonight as there was 8 people ahead of us. We talked about how I have chemo on Tuesday (finally, something about me!) so he said that maybe she could get her surgery over the weekend. He said to MA to have breakfast but do not eat again for the rest of the day in case she gets called in. They were to contact us on Saturday to confirm.

I took MA home around 11:00, with a quick stop at Shoppers to fill a prescription for some good painkillers. We finally got home around 11:45 PM. MA did not have a great night’s sleep. Also, she got the call that she would not be getting surgery on Saturday. There was not enough beds for her. Not only that, 4 other surgeries were cancelled. She is considered a high priority so we are hoping that she gets in on Sunday.

I think that we have now hit the climax of this saga. It is all up hill from here. The way I see it, I can only get good news from here on. You really have to laugh about all this. I don’t think I could make this stuff up. Does make for good reading, no?

At this point, I think we will need to start taking people up on their offers to help. It is going to be a tough week and I don’t think that either one of us will be able to cook meals so if any one wants to help here, that would be great.