The Newtown Pentacle

Tuesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Written from a wheel chair – So… last week, your humble narrator was locking down the house in preparation of going to bed. Our Lady, and Moe the Dog, had already retreated from consciousness but I’m a night owl and had been watching some meaningless television show before surrendering to biology. Little did I know that my particular biological function would soon become quite the topic of conversation moving forward.

While watching said televisual presentation, I realized that I had left my phone on the office desk found downstairs. Cursing, as I had already locked the door leading down to ‘the engine room,’ your humble narrator stepped onto one of two short flights of steps leading downstairs, separated by a landing.

My left foot lowered onto the second to last of the lower steps, which ended up being a pretty important moment, lifestyle wise.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

My ankle rolled, and then I went tumbling forward in space. For a split second, I saw the top of my knee and the sole of my foot at the same time, as I pitched forward. I fell into a roll, at which point I saw my left foot turned opposite the direction it was pointing at just a second or two previously, and a loud cracking/popping sound was heard.

I landed on my side, rolling with the momentum. A loud ‘gahhh’ sound erupted from your humble narrator, and pain blossomed. Now, I’ve been hurt a lot over the years, and even had a heart attack once.

Nothing in my experience, however, has been as painful as – or compares – to this moment.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Instantly, shock set in. Perspiration coated the skin, my breathing assumed a quick and staccato rythym, and I reached down to grasp at my left ankle and foot. Upon doing so, the foot made a grinding/clicking sound. Agony ensued, and I sat there for a moment holding my ankle – which was also making a similar but separate grinding and clicking sound. That’s when I noticed that the ankle bone, which has historically occupied the interior side of my calf, was bulging out from the front of the shin.

It took about two or three minutes to gather myself and soon I was shouting upstairs at Our Lady for help. She arrived quickly, and upon assessing my appearance asked if we needed to call 911. My answer was yes, and after placing the call so she gathered up some personal items I’d need for a trip to an emergency department at some nearby hospital. Wallet, etc.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

An ambulance arrived, and then two EMS medics entered the house. They instantly assessed my situation as serious and stoutly carried me onto a stretcher, and into their Ambulance. On the way, a hypodermic of Morphine was injected into my arm, and a field dressing splint installed onto my ankle. My foot hung loosely during this, in the manner of a sock filled with a ham sandwich, and the splint ameliorated the painful side to side shaking of the thing as the Ambulance sped to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital, and I was transferred via back board to a hospital bed within. I was soon in a ‘room’ in the Emergency ward, and an X-Ray technician appeared with a portable examination unit. Things get hazy around here, due to all the medical grade drugs in me.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

A diagnosis was soon pronounced, and the injury was described as being a Trimalleolar fracture with dislocation. The ankle bones which protrude into the skin on both sides of the joint were now free floating, and a third bone in the foot was also fractured. The foot itself was dislocated from the joining with the leg bones of the calf. Surgery would provide the only fix, but that wouldn’t happen until the next day.

This is when they switched me off of Morphine and over to medical Fentanyl to control the pain. Before this journey through the operating room and back to HQ would be completed – Dilaudid, Ketamine, and eventually OxyContin were added to my list of drugs I’ve taken but never wanted to experience.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Surgery took around three hours, I’m told, but it’s all a haze. Recovery will take – at a minimum – six months, but it could stretch out as long as two years depending on circumstances. Obviously, I won’t be taking any walks – short or long – for a long time. What about this here Newtown Pentacle, then?

My plan for the interim is to link back into the extensive archives of past posts published here. The conceit I’m planning in terms of choosing these posts will be calendrical in nature. Three past posts chosen from a given day/month which match up with whatever the new post’s publication date is.

Thereby you’ll be seeing a lot of Newtown Creek, Queens, and NY Harbor stuff here again. I’m going to try and maintain my regular publishing schedule this way while I get back onto my foot, and I hope y’all will stay with me through this trial – something which I have no choice but to endure. I’ll try for five days a week, but cannot make any promises at the moment.

Back tomorrow – hopefully.

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“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.