There we were at the hospital waiting for doctors. My foot was in agonizing pain, yet all the doctors were concerned about was my neck. Somehow, something looked wrong with my spine and it took priority over my foot which had become three times the normal size. After numerous x-rays of my neck, chest, and back, it was finally determined that my spine was fine. It was then that the doctors finally looked at my foot. . .the whole night went downhill from there.
The swelling was so profound in my right foot that x-rays were next to impossible. After a long night of trying to x-ray and get an accurate diagnosis of what was wrong, the doctors released my husband and myself to my parents with plenty of pain medicine in hopes that after a few days the swelling would subside enough to see the extent of the damage. So there we were; cold, wet, unclothed (the emergency team cut them off), and in unfathomable pain.
Two days later, we were scheduled to see the first of a long series of doctors. I was sent to see an orthopedic as they knew at least that there was some definite bone damage under the swelling. My foot no longer looked like a foot, it reminded me more of something out of a bad horror movie. You could not tell where the leg stopped and the foot began and there were no toes that existed, just toe nails on a balloon.
The orthopedic doctor I was scheduled to see, unknown to us at the time, specialized in hands, not feet! This was eventually going to prove to be a poor decision as time went. The doctor was able to get an x-ray of my foot to see the initial damage done, unfortunately, he was unqualified to fix the amount of damage that existed. I underwent the first of many surgeries a few days later to start the repair process.
It was determined that I had suffered a complete dislocation of all the toes on my right foot. The x-ray revealed that each of the toe bones laid neatly on top of the next one and all rested on the smallest toe on my foot. The largest toe was broken in multiple spots and the fracture down through my arch left quite a gap in the placement of the rest of the bones. They commonly call the fracture and arch displacement a "Liz Franc" fracture. However, the doctor had never seen anything as severe as what had been done inside my foot.
I left the hospital with several long pins protruding from the surgery site in my foot and an inability to eat solid food. The anesthesiologist had clipped the uvula with the tube during my surgery and my throat was swollen so badly that if I were to try to swallow solid food I would choke. I could also in no way place my foot on any surface. Crutches were given to me for use until I could purchase a wheelchair to use. The constant jarring from hopping on crutches was not beneficial to the healing of the foot. My husband was told that I was to be under 24 hour supervision. . .from aspiring bank officer to helplessly being babysat in one fateful day!
My husband did what he could do, he took me home to my parents so that I could be under care while he searched for a new job. Back up a few days. . .he worked as a vending machine servicing agent before our accident and with bruised internal organs it was impossible for him to work lifting fifty pound boxes. The doctors told him he needed several weeks to heal before lifting anything, yet the job could not wait for him to heal. My husband went out, injured and stiff and found a new job in a warehouse that very same week. I was so blessed when God gave him to me!
My job was much more accommodating and allowed me leave to undergo surgery and treatment. I was given the ability to work from a laptop setup at home and a beeper (Yes, I am old enough to remember having beepers!) I had my own little office on my bed. . .how little did I know then that telecommuting would one day be the more preferred way to work. I missed going in to the office but I had no ability to stand at all much less walk.
"Skewers" as I called them, (the long pins protruding from my foot) were soon to be realized that they were not the way to fix what was wrong in my foot. Tomorrow, I will explain what happened within a week of the first surgery and why walking became an impossible dream.
How does any of this pertain to multitasking you ask? I worked a high-profile job and was constantly trying to keep multiple projects and tasks juggled at all times. I could always finish them tomorrow - little did I know that tomorrow would be a very different day. By constantly multitasking, I always had leftovers to complete the next day. However, we are never promised a next day.
Your brain only focuses on one thing at a time; multitasking causes your performance and efficiency to lessen because of this. Doing more than one thing at a time prohibits your brain from functioning at its fullest capacity. Rather than going back and forth between both tasks, work on one thing to a good stopping point and then move to the next task. By working on one task at a time, you will make less mistakes and get things done more efficiently.
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