A Broken Margot will Mend

March 21st through June 7th, 2025

Our original plan was to stay in Carlsbad for two weeks before heading northeast into the Midwest, but Monica had an opportunity to see some leadership from work in Amarillo in an additional two weeks. So, we made reservations to go through Amarillo and stay there for a week before continuing on, extending our stay in Carlsbad until that time came. We had a great time at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, and we would just hang out a bit longer in town before heading on. We were thinking we'd like to go to the Caverns every weekend.

Carlsbad is a friendly town but not the most exciting one. We weathered through a few bad storms with high winds and skies brown with dirt. We got the updated Starlink system to replace ours as the original one was acting up. We tried it out for a few days by running the cable out to the antenna through our driver's side window. We taped it up well, but dirt still got in during the storms. The good news was that it was working really well, so Margot made many trips to the roof to see how it worked up there. It was great so we ordered a mounting system, and Margot made a plan for how to run the cable through the roof and into the coach.

It was going to be perfect, and our Internet connectivity was fantastic. Margot had one more task to complete, to make sure water didn't get under the mounting magnets that were glued to the roof. On March 21st, she grabbed a leaf blower, Windex, paper towels, and caulk to finish the job. Monica was inside, working. It was a normal day -- until the ladder slid sideways while Margot was at the top of it.

The side of the coach was covered in dirt from the storms, and the tops of the ladder had padding on them. When the ladder slid, Margot grabbed onto the top edge of the coach and hung there for a bit. Figuring she'd drop down to the ground and probably just sprain an ankle, she let go and landed on her feet.

Instead of just a sprain, she landed and then collapsed, her left leg at her ankle obviously broken with the sole of her shoe facing her right leg. She hollered for Monica who ran out as others were running toward her from other RVs in the park. Monica got the car (neither of us thought of calling an ambulance, for some reason), and many neighbors carried her to it when she discovered she couldn't put any weight on her right leg, either.

We had to drive to three places to find someone to help before we ended up at the emergency room at the hospital across town. They got us back to a room right away, getting CT scans and X-rays done. They were very fast, and we learned within an hour or so that both legs and ankles were broken. They gave her pain medication, thankfully, because it was tremendously painful.

She came into the Carlsbad Emergency Room just a few hours after they found someone in Carlsbad Caverns with the same type of broken leg. That guy was in surgery, so they recommended waiting until the morning to get the same surgery for Margot. They had a hospital room for her, and they moved her up there to wait until the morning. Monica went home to grab a few things from home to make Margot comfortable, but she was pretty heavily medicated that night.

In the morning, she headed down to surgery and Monica was able to wait with her until she left for the procedures. She had pilon fractures in both of her legs. The talus (ankle bone) in both legs was also fractured. They were going to put Hoffman External Fixation frames on both legs to stabilize everything and then do surgery later. They did a scope to remove some of the bone fragments, and they were able to put a few screws, plates, and rods into her right leg.

Her right leg was in much better shape than her left leg. The surgeon, Dr. Cady, was able to put enough screws in her right leg that she wouldn't need an additional surgery (other than to remove the frame later). The left leg was in many more pieces, especially at her ankle, on the outside after her foot bent inward. That one would need another surgery, at least one.

The first surgery was a week before the second, so Margot stayed in the hospital for a week. Linda and dad sent flowers, and everyone was so supportive. The hospital staff was thoughtful and everyone was nice, but it was still a hospital.

Monica let the RV park know they'd be staying longer, and the park told her they had to move from their "weekly" site to a "monthly" site. Margot enjoys setting up our site to be like a home, and that means there are lots of things to put away. It was Monica's first time doing it (Monica manages the inside of the coach), so there were many phone calls and photos sent back and forth. Monica took a day to pack up, and then a neighbor in the RV park helped her drive the coach and trailer to the new site by walking in front of the RV and making sure nothing was hit. It was nice to have the support! Monica got the new site set up and all was well.

The second surgery provided some good news. Dr. Cady was happy about Margot's progress, and she'd be ready to leave to a physical rehabilitation facility after a few days of recovery in the hospital. On March 31st, she rode in an ambulance just a few blocks to Lakeview Christian Home to do a lot of rehab and heal.

When we first got to Lakeview, we were put into the only room they had available. To be honest, it was bleak. It would be a room shared with another woman with dementia, with a bathroom that wouldn't be large enough for a wheelchair. The nursing home was like a hospital, and it was depressing. Then the hospital administrator told us there was a private room in the new wing that might be available.

It was getting later in the day, and we hadn't heard about the private room, so it was looking like this one bed was going to be Margot's home for a while. As she was getting into the bed in that room, they came by with the good news. It was available. We'll take it!

The other wing was newly renovated and lovely. And her room was so nice, with a big bathroom and private shower large enough for a wheelchair. Margot ordered a powered wheelchair and settled in. The staff was lovely, and so was the facility.

Monica decided to drive to Amarillo for a few days, so Monica's dad came from Tucson to take care of Margot and Lacey and spend some time there. It was so nice to have him there and to have that support and love.

Soon after, Monica came home, and dad went back to Tucson. Margot got the external frame removed from her right leg on April 18th, and it was painful, but it was going to heal nicely, it seemed. After weeks of her leg frames getting in the way of everything, it was good to have one leg free. She had her leg in a boot to stabilize and protect it, but she was able to walk on it. She started a new round of Physical Therapy to make her leg strong again, including walking on it.

Then, Margot's daughter Allie came to stay in Carlsbad for two weeks. The visit was fantastic! She came down from Denver, even going home for the weekend in the middle of her stay. She even stayed in a room with her cat the second week in a wing of the rehab facility, which was nice for both of us. We even played Swoop a few times, of course. Allie always takes good care of us.

Margot's left leg was taking longer to heal. A hope for surgery was delayed a couple weeks, and it was depressing. But she finally had surgery on her left leg on May 21st, and all of her external framing was gone! She switched the boot to her left leg and put a shoe on her right leg, and suddenly she was out of her wheelchair and walking with a cane.

It wasn't easy, and it will still be a while before she's back to 100%. But on May 31st we packed her room and brought everything home, and Margot was home for good.

The week spent at our RV park in Carlsbad was a test to see if we were ready to leave or not. Margot had physical therapists come to the RV each day, and the work they did was phenomenal. She was seeing daily, visible improvements.

We decided it was okay to leave, so we packed everything up and drove out of Carlsbad on June 7th. We had been joking about how the area has been such bad luck for us, and maybe they wouldn't let us leave the city or county. But we successfully passed both lines and we thought they let us leave (just kidding, Carlsbad).

We were a few miles east of Hobbs and the Texas border when Margot saw one of our trailer tires rapidly losing air (we have sensors for them). We pulled over on the highway and could hear the air coming out of the tire. It took a while to get a fairly subpar job done, but at least we had a spare and insurance came through on the labor (we still had to fill the spare with air on our own). Our 3.5-hour drive took us eight hours, but finally we were in Texas for a night before continuing east.

Things are looking up!