When You Fall Out of a Plane…

On Father’s Day of this year, I fell out of a plane - it was parked – and I only fell 5’ - but I fell on my right leg. 

We’d taken my husband Bob sky-diving, something that had been on his bucket list for a long time. Our son Chris was home from Germany for a few weeks so we planned the sky-diving trip as a surprise. When we arrived at the jump place (about 90 mins from Calgary), we were given the option to go up in the plane with Bob. Chris stayed on the ground (he was the smart one); I decided to go up. 

It was a crazy experience in the plane – we climbed to 14,000 ft really fast – all the sky-divers jumped with their tandem partners - Bob was the last one and as soon as he was out, I saw the altimeter go down 4,000 ft at a time. The ears were popping big time.

We landed about the same time as Bob – he did a perfect landing on his butt? - I could tell he was super excited. Chris rushed over to him and they were so animated – I did not want to miss out on hearing all about the experience. The pilot offered to get a set of stairs but I stupidly didn’t want to wait. I looked at the ground and figured I could definitely jump out – no problem.

In the excitement to get over to Bob, I forgot I was wearing a parachute. Somehow it got caught on the door jamb and instead of landing on my feet, I landed on my right knee. I’d been filming Bob’s landing and forgot to turn off the video on my iPhone. Apparently, there’s a black screen with great audio of me screaming in pain. I haven’t had the guts to listen to it yet. 

The incredible day we’d planned for Bob very quickly became all about Karen. An ambulance was called – laughing gas inhaled so they could lift my leg into an air cast – and a drive into a regional hospital where we spent the next 8+ hours waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Finally, they took me for x-rays and we learned that I’d broken my tibia right at the top and from front to back. The doctor called a specialist in Calgary and the next thing we were told was that I needed reconstructive surgery because the top of my tibia was depressed and walking would be a real problem.

We had to get me back to Calgary for a 7am appointment with the surgeon – somehow Bob and Chris got me in the back of the car with my zimmer cast on and we drove back to Calgary around 1am. By this time, I was on Tylenol 3s and I don’t remember much. 

They took me down for surgery on Monday evening but after looking at the x-rays, the surgeon told me he’d really like an MRI to see if there was any other damage he needed to deal with. That happened Tuesday morning and I finally had the surgery that night.

It all went well – no ACL or MCL tears - just a meniscus repair besides putting my tibia plateau back in place. I now have a titanium plate and a bunch of screws in my leg.

For the next 6 weeks, I wasn’t allowed to bear any weight on that leg so I’ve used a wheelchair, crutches and a walker to get around. Three weeks ago, I was allowed to touch the floor with the pad of my foot – they call it feather weight bearing. Last week, I was allowed to bear up to 25% of my body weight and this week up to 50%. It’s been a long and very interesting few months – not the kind of summer I had planned at all?. This is the first time I’ve ever been injured to this degree or had major surgery and I’ve learned a ton through this ordeal.

Mindfulness – I’ve needed to be very focused and in the moment all the time. That has brought a calmness to me that I haven’t had in a long time.

Patience – anyone who knows me well knows I’ve never been the most patient person. In this situation, I’ve had no choice – well I guess I could have been really impatient and been a real pain in the butt for the doctors, nurses, my husband and my son. But I chose not to be that way – I chose to be far more patient than I’ve ever been in my life. 

Gratefulness – this situation could have been far worse. I could have hit my head and had a brain injury as well as the broken tibia. But that’s not the biggest thing I’m grateful for. My son Chris was soooo amazing – he helped us get all set up for my homecoming – he postponed his return to Germany by a week – and he has been my biggest cheerleader. Then there’s my husband Bob - I’ve needed help with everything and I mean everything!! He has been the best caregiver I could ever have had – so kind, loving, compassionate - giving me whatever time or care I needed. Finally, there’s my incredible team at cmi who all took on more work and kept our business running while I was in recovery mode – especially Rebecca who postponed her 2 weeks of vacation in July – she, Melissa, Ashley, Dori, Jess and Adrienne are the very best team I could ever have. 

We take so much for granted until it’s taken away. I’m soooo learning to be grateful for every little new thing that I can do and I pray that I will remember this mindfulness, patience and gratefulness for the rest of my life.