Sunday, September 15, 2013

Grand Teton Adventure Part Five: Exploring Jackson Hole

Though Mike and Logel had originally planned to leave me at the campground and go back to summit the Grand, I woke up after 7 to see them still with me. They realized I was in too much pain to be left isolated like that and we spent the day running around, filling my prescriptions and scheduling my orthopedic appointment for the following day. My parents, obviously in a panic with their youngest child off in the mountains injured, hunted down a hotel room for us in town, which my grandparents graciously paid for. As soon as we hit the hotel room, the three of us took turns showering and collapsing on the beds, enjoying the internet and air conditioning. 

The next morning, they woke up at 2 AM and headed back toward the mountains. They told me that they would be returning around 4 or 5 PM, so I checked out of the hotel and headed to my doctor appointment. Luckily, the hotel let me leave a majority of my stuff at the front desk so I didn't have to drag it all around. At this point, I was wearing a sling that I had gotten at the ER. My doctor at Teton Orthopedic was awesome. He brought me images of a normal shoulder and compared them to my x-ray, informing me that I had a stage 3 acromioclavicular tear. I spent at least 3 hours practicing how to say it so I wouldn't forget. Essentially, I tore my shoulder near my clavicle and I would be out of commission for a while. The doctor recommended that I return home as soon as I could, which I wasn't very enthusiastic about. Unfortunately for the guys, who had to deal with me through all this, I was alternating between loopy on medication and hysterical off medication. My dosage of painkillers was upped even further, alternating between 800 mg of Ibuprofen and 1000 mg of Tylenol every two hours and it was very obvious when one was about to wear off. I was barely getting through the day without it. While waiting for Mike and Logel, I wandered into every store in Jackson Hole within walking distance of the hospital and I also checked out several cafes. I went to the park to sit and read where I ran into a group of students on some sort of religious trip together. They were extremely nice and they talked to me about my injuries and about my connection with God pre and post fall. I spent about three hours with them before continuing to wander around. I also updated my mom about my injury and talked to my pediatric orthopedist, who recommended some adult orthopedists in Jacksonville for my return home.  

Around 6 PM or so, I was starting to freak out. I hadn't heard anything from Mike or Logel and my mind went to the darkest places, assuming they had fallen tragically to their deaths or been eaten by bears. I was on the phone with my mom for several hours, practically sobbing into the phone that something awful must have happened when she finally told me to get another night at the hotel, shower, and go to sleep. I eventually did this and texted the guys multiple times with no avail. I was really upset, worried sick that something had happened. I finally got a call from Mike around 10 or 11 PM that they were headed back and they returned around midnight. Everything was fine, it had just taken longer than anticipated and hey both apologized. I settled into bed and drifted off to sleep while they made plans for the next day to start heading home again. 

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